I am not an expert on gliders, but I would think the way to optimize would
be flying the glider with the largest wing area you can achieve with a
minimal drag, and obviously the lightest possible airframe. I pose some more
questions for you and the list:
1) Is the air in the atrium still or will air currents affect the flight? If
the glider weighs 1 gram would air currents be a problem?
2) Would a built up wing have more drag than a solid wood wing? Covering on
both sided or just on the top?
3) Since there are no loads from launch or rubber or propulsion, the
fuselage only has to resist the forces of the lifting and control surfaces
acting on it. It does not need to be a rolled tube, but would a tube would
be the lightest weight option?
4) Since drag increases as the square of the speed, the slower the glider
glides the less drag you will have. How slow were your previous gliders?
Slower than an f1d?
On Fri, Aug 27, 2010 at 2:19 PM, Manuel Cisneros <macs8953_at_yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> No, but for practicality I'll want to keep the dimensions to around 30"
> maximum (assembled) as this is the largest box I have to transport the
> glider.
>
> Manuel.
>
>
> --- On *Fri, 8/27/10, Benjamin Saks <bensaks_at_gmail.com>* wrote:
>
> 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<http://mc/compose?to=macs8953_at_yahoo.com>
> > wrote:
>
>
> 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 - 11:28:45 CEST