Background
Waibel was born in Frankfurt. His father Karl Waibel had worked with Wolf Hirth in the 1920s.
Waibel was born in Frankfurt. His father Karl Waibel had worked with Wolf Hirth in the 1920s.
He then studied at Akaflieg Darmstadt.
Gerhard began flying models in 1948 and in 1951 helped with the building the SG38. Gerhard"s father arranged in 1962 a practical course in a steel plant for him and Wolf Lemke in Sheffield where in the evenings they started designing the Doctorate-36 Circe. After much development back in Germany, Waibel flew the Doctorate-36 to the victory in the Open Class of the German Championships in 1964.
He joined Schleicher in 1964.
His first design, the Anti-Submarine Warfare 12, was based on the D36. He then designed almost all the racing gliders for Schleichers up to the Anti-Submarine Warfare 28 which first flew in May 2000.
The "West" in a Schleicher designation shows that he designed lieutenant He retired in August 2003 after 39 years service.