are there limits on the wing area (max) and the total mass (min) for the
glider?
On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 1:39 PM, Manuel Cisneros <macs8953_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> Over the last couple of years I have built a couple of specialized gliders
> for a friend of mine who's company has a yearly contest that involves
> tossing a glider off a 20' platform inside a large atrium and awarding a
> prize to the glider that goes the longest distance. The atrium is ~250' X
> 80' and about 40' tall. No, the atrium is not open to the public and is
> only usable for the glider contest as it involves flying a straight line
> across the length of the atrium, anything that circles doesn't do too well,
> I've tried.
>
> The gliders I've built are based on Oldenkamp's Zweibox, I think the lines
> (curves?) of this glider are aesthetically superior to most other
> HLG/CLG/DLG designs I've seen. I stretch the wing to 22" but otherwise the
> planform is per the original plan from MAN. The wing is 1/8" sheet with
> molded in undercamber and polyhedral, the tail feathers are 1/32" thinned at
> the tip to near translucency, and the fues is medium 3/32". This results in
> a glider that flies the length of the atrium and consistently hits the
> opposite wall at about 5'-6'.
>
> The first year one of these gliders was flown at the contest the 2nd place
> glider flew about halfway across the atrium, as I mentioned above, my glider
> hit the opposite wall. The next year someone entered a glider that made it
> almost all the way across the atrium, landing about 5' short of the wall.
> Last year another glider hit the wall about 3' below my most recent glider,
> I took this as a slap in the face and am about to start building a new
> glider for this year's contest.
>
> What I am shooting for is building a glider that will hit the opposite wall
> at around 10' (25:1 glide ratio). I'm not sure if this is possible, but I'm
> going to try.
>
> I think an indoor style, built-up design is the way to go. Does anyone
> have any pointers at indoor towline designs I can take a look at? Since
> these gliders are suppose to be tossed rather than launched (the spirit of
> the contest is such that the glider never goes above launch height) the
> model only has to be sturdy enough to survive gliding, not launching.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Manuel.
>
>
>
>
--
BEN SAKS
www.bensaks.carbonmade.com
Received on Fri Aug 27 2010 - 10:52:04 CEST