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OK, since I managed to sneak into Hank's drawing box and hit on an idea he had already been working on, let's see just how many common aviaiton pipe dreams and hare-brained design schemes we all have in common -
Since I learned about the Graphlite carbon rod material and how it can make previously marginal designs into more safe structures, I had several daydreams to re-do or update interesting but unsuccessful designs from the past:
My most recent idea is to revisit the classic Hovey Whing Ding UL biplane, using the carbon to create a much more robust structure, and one of the UL engines that actually creates some thrust. The geometry of a wire braced biplane allows a very light and stiff structure, which would be even more so using the carbon reinforcements or composite structures instead of the original "lumberyard" approach. Additional upgrades envisioned are actual three-axis control and some sort of real-world airfoil.
Another big idea I had was to do a SEMI-Horten style flying wing along the lines of his last HXc, the 15 meter span foot launch glider with a potential glide ratio of 30. However, Reimar Horten was on an aerodynamic Jihad for a pure flying wing with no vertical surfaces and "proverse" yaw coupling... a textbook two-control elevon setup. Al Bowers, a NASA aero guy who is the de facto world expert on this aircraft, calculated that achieving proverse yaw with elevon only controls required so much washout (twist) that the L/D of the entire aircraft was reduced by 16%. As a former national soaring competitor, the thought of losing 16% of the glider's performance for any reason was ludicrous to me. So that's where SEMI comes in. I want to reduce the washout back to the needed level for pitch stability, and add tip rudders or drag/yaw tip spoilers for three-axis yaw control. Building this airframe using the carbon rod material would allow a 75 pound glider to be built with far greater strength and most importantly stiffness than Spruce/plywood. Goal is to rewrite the record book for foot launched gliders.
The Emmett Tally TL-1A "Birdman" ultralight was a tremendous achievement in slow speed flight. It opened up the possibility of true low altitude, slow, controlled flight to give the pilot an extremely personal view of the terrain. The pilot used his legs to assist in takeoff and landing, then reclined himself into a low drag supine position. It had the potential to exploit "micro-lift" which is all the rage in the soaring world right now. However, the Birdman was built too lightly, out of a million pieces of 1/4" square wood, and suffered a few inflight breakups. This concept revisited with a stronger, lighter structure and a better 20 or 25 HP engine could be very interesting.
One of the most interesting concepts in affordable, fun-only flight has been addressed by Mike Sandlin and his BUG and GOAT gliders. Rolling off of existing hang glider launches and landing with the safety of a wheel and crash structure provides a safer experience. The vehicle is essentially a 1920's-30's primary glider executed from Home Depot materials, tubes, pop rivets and ripstrop nylon from the fabric store. The gliders are easy to build and apparently strong, however the parts count is high and there is far more drag than is necessary from flying wires. My idea is to use the carbon rod material to make a 21st Century primary glider (to use Sandlin's idea of rolling down an existing HG launch ramp) but with a cantilever wing, lower parts count, and still car-toppable.
My dearest long term project is to build a quasi replica of a 1930's British light racer (King's Cup and similar races) that channels the spirits of (and evokes) the Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk, the Chilton Monoplane and perhaps the lighter Edgar Percival racers... but lighter, smaller, and using the Geo metro car engine conversion. This idea started out because I'm too !($*% fat to fly a real Chilton Monoplane and too !(#$*% cheap to buy a Gipsy Major engine for a full size Mew Gull or whatever. The idea is to build something that's a combination of those classic light racers, with all the styling cues of the era, but underneath the exterior it would be an inexpensive and easily shaped composite airplane with a very inexpensive and fuel-efficient powerplant. Basically I dreamed of doing a "fake" light racer from the 30's in much the same way as Lynn Willaims' brilliant "Staaken Flitzer" evokes a fake between the wars biplane.
SO.... have any of you daydreamers conjured up anything similar to any of these pipe dreams?
Since I learned about the Graphlite carbon rod material and how it can make previously marginal designs into more safe structures, I had several daydreams to re-do or update interesting but unsuccessful designs from the past:
My most recent idea is to revisit the classic Hovey Whing Ding UL biplane, using the carbon to create a much more robust structure, and one of the UL engines that actually creates some thrust. The geometry of a wire braced biplane allows a very light and stiff structure, which would be even more so using the carbon reinforcements or composite structures instead of the original "lumberyard" approach. Additional upgrades envisioned are actual three-axis control and some sort of real-world airfoil.
Another big idea I had was to do a SEMI-Horten style flying wing along the lines of his last HXc, the 15 meter span foot launch glider with a potential glide ratio of 30. However, Reimar Horten was on an aerodynamic Jihad for a pure flying wing with no vertical surfaces and "proverse" yaw coupling... a textbook two-control elevon setup. Al Bowers, a NASA aero guy who is the de facto world expert on this aircraft, calculated that achieving proverse yaw with elevon only controls required so much washout (twist) that the L/D of the entire aircraft was reduced by 16%. As a former national soaring competitor, the thought of losing 16% of the glider's performance for any reason was ludicrous to me. So that's where SEMI comes in. I want to reduce the washout back to the needed level for pitch stability, and add tip rudders or drag/yaw tip spoilers for three-axis yaw control. Building this airframe using the carbon rod material would allow a 75 pound glider to be built with far greater strength and most importantly stiffness than Spruce/plywood. Goal is to rewrite the record book for foot launched gliders.
The Emmett Tally TL-1A "Birdman" ultralight was a tremendous achievement in slow speed flight. It opened up the possibility of true low altitude, slow, controlled flight to give the pilot an extremely personal view of the terrain. The pilot used his legs to assist in takeoff and landing, then reclined himself into a low drag supine position. It had the potential to exploit "micro-lift" which is all the rage in the soaring world right now. However, the Birdman was built too lightly, out of a million pieces of 1/4" square wood, and suffered a few inflight breakups. This concept revisited with a stronger, lighter structure and a better 20 or 25 HP engine could be very interesting.
One of the most interesting concepts in affordable, fun-only flight has been addressed by Mike Sandlin and his BUG and GOAT gliders. Rolling off of existing hang glider launches and landing with the safety of a wheel and crash structure provides a safer experience. The vehicle is essentially a 1920's-30's primary glider executed from Home Depot materials, tubes, pop rivets and ripstrop nylon from the fabric store. The gliders are easy to build and apparently strong, however the parts count is high and there is far more drag than is necessary from flying wires. My idea is to use the carbon rod material to make a 21st Century primary glider (to use Sandlin's idea of rolling down an existing HG launch ramp) but with a cantilever wing, lower parts count, and still car-toppable.
My dearest long term project is to build a quasi replica of a 1930's British light racer (King's Cup and similar races) that channels the spirits of (and evokes) the Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk, the Chilton Monoplane and perhaps the lighter Edgar Percival racers... but lighter, smaller, and using the Geo metro car engine conversion. This idea started out because I'm too !($*% fat to fly a real Chilton Monoplane and too !(#$*% cheap to buy a Gipsy Major engine for a full size Mew Gull or whatever. The idea is to build something that's a combination of those classic light racers, with all the styling cues of the era, but underneath the exterior it would be an inexpensive and easily shaped composite airplane with a very inexpensive and fuel-efficient powerplant. Basically I dreamed of doing a "fake" light racer from the 30's in much the same way as Lynn Willaims' brilliant "Staaken Flitzer" evokes a fake between the wars biplane.
SO.... have any of you daydreamers conjured up anything similar to any of these pipe dreams?
I understand that Goodyear used some of our ideas on their "space plane" project. Project Dyna-Soar ....
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