The Schweizer SGM 2–37 is a two-place, side-by-side, fixed gear, low wing motor glider. A total of twelve were produced between 1982 and 1988, including nine for the United States Air Force Academy, which designated it the TG-7A. The TG-7A was retired from USAFA service in April 2003. The basic airframe was later developed into the SA 2-37A and B covert surveillance aircraft.
Development
Schweizer had flown a Schweizer SGU 1–19 as a motor glider in 1946 without putting the design into production. In 1958 the company carried out a design study of a powered aircraft using the wings and tail of the 1–26 designated as the Schweizer SA 1-30, but after some test flying and modification it was not put into production. A two-seat version of the 1-30, the Schweizer SA 2-31 was completed in 1960 but not put into production due to competition in the light aircraft market. Both the 1-30 and 2-31 were designed as regular light aircraft and no further motorgliders were built by the company until 1982. The SGM 2–37 was designed at the request of the USAF for use at USAFA, in both the powered and glider trainer role. To save both money and development time the aircraft used a number of existing aircraft components:
Wings adapted from the Schweizer SGS 1-36 Sprite, including extensions to bring it from the Sprite's to and leading edge cuffs to improve stall characteristics
The design was intended to be available as a civil aircraft as well as a military aircraft. The USAF version was delivered with a Lycoming O-235-L2C 4-cylinder aircraft engine of. The civil version offered the same engine or an option of a Lycoming O-320 of or a Lycoming O-360 of. The aircraft is of all-metal aluminum monocoque construction. The engine cowling is made from fiberglass and plastics are employed in some of the nonstructural components. The 2–37 features a baggage compartment behind the side-by-side seating. The aircraft does not have flaps, but instead has top-and-bottom wing-mounted balanced divebrakes, similar to other Schweizer glider designs. Performance includes a cruise speed of 114 mph while burning 4 US gal per hour with the O-235 engine. The 17.9 aspect ratio wing provides a glide ratio of 28:1 with the propeller feathered, and a minimum sink speed of 3.16 feet/sec. The USAF Technical Orders indicate a glide ratio of between 19.3:1 and 19.7:1. The SGS 2–37 was marketed by the company as being suitable for the following roles:
Soaring, the journal of the Soaring Society of America, described the SGM 2–37 as: "Very versatile, very promising, very expensive". The publication's review noted that the $70,000 base price did not include a feathering propeller, gyro instruments, wheel fairings, long range fuel tanks or other optional extras.
Operational history
Examples of the TG-7 were used by the US Army from 1985 on covert surveillance duties under the Grisly Hunter project. The two aircraft were then transferred to the US Coast Guard by mid 1989, were modified and were re-designated RG-8A. The aircraft were used on coastal patrols from the US Coast Guard base at Miami wearing a grey low visibility color scheme, as shown in the adjacent image taken in 1989. There were nine aircraft still registered in the US in April 2008. Current owners include the Tuskegee Airmen National Historical Museum and designer Leslie E. Schweizer.
