The Castel C-24 was a training glider built in the late 1930s in France. It was a glider of high-wing monoplane configuration.^[1] In English, Castel C-24 translated to Castle C-24. It was produced by the manufacturer Castel. Another product was built by the same manufacturer, with a similar name, which was called the Castel C-24S. It was also built in the late 1930s.^[2]

The C-34 Condor, the engineer Robert Castello's [fr] previous glider, was destroyed in an accident during a sandow launch on 27 June 1934. Though the fuselage was far beyond destroyed, the wings still remained available.^[3] Inspired by Robert Kronfeld's engineering, Castello studied a two-seater tandem fuselage in 1935 and a central plane on which the wings of the C-34 were mounted. The C-24 was followed by the C-24 Casoar, a similar glider design, now with a two-piece wing and no central fuselage. A third model with a redesigned fuselage was built by the apprentices at Caudron Renault^[4] for the Billancourt Olympic Club.^[5] On 8 May 1938 Spire and Poirot improved the French men's tandem distance record with 91 km on the COB C-24.^[6] This record was improved on 23 April 1938 by Colin and Melleton on the same aircraft with 200 km.^[7]

The rear seat, that of the instructor, is in the centre of gravity. It is accessed through a door under the left wing, where visibility and comfort are deplorable. The front seat is protected by a multi-panel canopy.^[5]

General characteristics

• Crew: Two
• Length: 8.00 m (26 ft 3 in)
• Wingspan: 19.00 m (62 ft 4 in)
• Height: 2.18 m (7 ft 2 in)
• Wing area: 23.30 m² (250.8 sq ft)
• Aspect ratio: 23
• Empty weight: 175 kg (386 lb)
• Gross weight: 349 kg (769 lb)

Performance