Scheibe Flugzeugbau was a manufacturer of sailplanes and motorgliders in Germany in the second half of the 20th century. Founded by Egon Scheibe at the Munich-Riem Airport to produce his Bergfalke design in 1951, the company had produced over 2,000 aircraft by 1985.  After Egon Scheibe died in 1997, his sons-in-law took over the firm. By 2006, they were ready to relinquish control themselves due to their advanced age, but without a successor, the firm ceased operations. Hartmut Sammet subsequently founded Scheibe Aircraft GmbH in Heubach, taking over maintenance of existing Scheibe aircraft, and the manufacturing rights to the Scheibe SF 25.  

The Scheibe Spatz (German: "Sparrow") is a German glider with a mixed metal and wood construction that was built in 1952 until 1962. Later versions were known as the L-Spatz, the letter L standing for Leistung, which is German for "performance".

Scheibe Flugzeugbau built the Spatz A in 1952. Two years later in 1954 the first L-Spatz 55 was airborne. Three hundred L-Spatz 55s were built in Germany, 155 in France under the name Avialsa A.60 Fauconnet, and 16 in Italy as the Meteor MS-30 L Passero; production was discontinued in 1962.

It is a single-seater cantilever shoulder-winged sailplane with a cruising (max L/D) speed of 45 mph. It has an empty weight of 157 kg and a maximum take-off weight of 269 kg. The single spar wing and tail were constructed using fabric-covered wood, whereas the fuselage consisted of steel tubing covered with fabric.

The L-Spatz 55 has good climbing performance due to light construction. The glide angle is 29:1. The longest known cross-country flight was more than 600 km from Burg Feuerstein, Germany to France.

Many gliding clubs operated the L-Spatz 55, well known for its easy handling, including easy recovery from a spin.

SOURCE: Wikipedia