This tandem two-seat advanced training glider was the standard aircraft in this category for the French gliding clubs during the 1960s, and was developed from the WA 21 Javelot. Designed by M Maurice Collard, the first prototype Bijave made its maiden flight on 17 December 1958 and the second prototype, incorporating some improvements, first flew on 18 March 1960.
The Bijave is of conventional mixed construction very similar structurally to the Javelot; the cantilever wooden shoulder wings are in three pieces, with 4° 30′ dihedral on the outer wings and none on the centre section. They have single box spars and D type leading edge torsion boxes, with birch plywood covering forward of the spar and fabric covering aft of it; the plain spruce ailerons are also fabric covered. There are no flaps, but perforated Schempp-Hirth wooden air brakes retract into slots above and below each wing; wing tip ‘salmon’ fairings are also fitted. The fuselage is a welded steel tube framework covered with fabric, and with a glassfirbe nose cone. The two pilots sit in tandem under individual blown Plexiglas canopies, the rear seat being raised a bit to give its occupant a good view forward; a full range of instrumentation, a compass, oxygen and radio can be carried. There is a retractable monowheel with rubber ring shock absorption and a SATMO motor-cycle brake mounted aft of a rubber-sprung wooden nose skid, and there is also a steel tailskid. The cantilever wooden tail unit has a fabric-covered rudder, and the all-moving one-piece tailplane has large antibalance tabs.
The type soon went into production and over 300 were eventually built.
WA 30 Bijave
Span: 16.85 m / 55 ft 3.5 in
Length: 9.5 m / 31 ft 2 in
Height: 2.74 m / 9 ft 0 in
Wing area: 19.2 sq.m / 206.7 sq ft
Wing section: NACA 63821763615
Aspect ratio: 15.0
Empty weight: 295 kg / 650 lb
Max weight: 550 kg / 1,213 lb
Water ballast: None
Max wing loading: 28.6 kg/sq.m / 5.85 lb/sq ft
Max speed: 149 mph 130 kt / 240 km/h (in smooth air)
Max aero-tow speed: 93 mph / 81 kt / 150 km/h
Stalling speed: 32.5 kt / 60 km/h
Min sinking speed: 0.75 m/sec / 2.30 ft/sec at 47 mph / 42 kt / 78 km/h
Best glide ratio: 30:1 at 47 mph / 40.5 kt / 75 km/h
All Aero 