Brad[_2_]
March 25th 10, 08:10 PM
On Mar 25, 11:56*am, "noel.wade" > wrote:
> Having worked with Bob & Brad a bit on these projects, I have to say
> that it seems weird at first to have homebuilders working on these
> things...
>
> But what you have to realize is that this is nothing new. *Burt
> Rutan's composite designs have been built thousands of times by
> amateurs all over the world. *Many well-known sailplane builders (from
> Applebay to the big European manufacturers) started out as amateurs or
> college students.
>
> Composites have been around for decades and there's a lot of good
> published information on how to work with them and what their
> properties are. *As long as you meet certain quality minimums when you
> work with composites, you end up with good parts. *Bob & Brad have
> done remarkable work in figuring out how to apply cost-effective
> construction methods (commonly associated with Rutan's "moldless"
> systems) over to molded designs. *They've done vaccuum-bagging,
> vaccuum-induced resin-infusion, and other supposedly fancy techniques;
> and IMHO they've discovered that there's no magic to it - just
> diligence and a LOT (a __LOT__) of elbow-grease! *About the only thing
> they don't do is autoclave-cure parts; but I don't think that's
> something the European glider manufacturers do either, right?
>
> Also, its important to note that the HP-24 project is not an attempt
> to push the state of the art. *There's no trimming of margins or
> pushing for every last bit of performance. *The team is using known
> airfoils, established practices, and tried-and-true construction
> methods (often lovingly copied from very popular sailplane models, and
> improved where practical).
>
> I'm curious to see how the wings hold up under a sand-bag load test;
> but seeing the project come together over the last 3 years (sometimes
> being in the room), its exciting - though sometimes smelly and sticky
> - stuff. *If I don't get rich in the next couple of years and buy a
> top-line sailplane, I'll be thinking hard about an HP-24 kit! *The
> idea of an LS-6-like sailplane at a lower cost than my DG-300 is
> enticing...
>
> --Noel
Thanks for the kind words Noel.............and for the help in the WA
shop on those occasions! My expectations of the HP-24 will be to give
all you 15m guys I fly with a real run for the money. The Apis does
pretty well, but I really look forward to the day when valley
crossings and ridge jumping to the east doesn't result in me chewing
the skin off my lower lip!
Brad
S/N #1
> Having worked with Bob & Brad a bit on these projects, I have to say
> that it seems weird at first to have homebuilders working on these
> things...
>
> But what you have to realize is that this is nothing new. *Burt
> Rutan's composite designs have been built thousands of times by
> amateurs all over the world. *Many well-known sailplane builders (from
> Applebay to the big European manufacturers) started out as amateurs or
> college students.
>
> Composites have been around for decades and there's a lot of good
> published information on how to work with them and what their
> properties are. *As long as you meet certain quality minimums when you
> work with composites, you end up with good parts. *Bob & Brad have
> done remarkable work in figuring out how to apply cost-effective
> construction methods (commonly associated with Rutan's "moldless"
> systems) over to molded designs. *They've done vaccuum-bagging,
> vaccuum-induced resin-infusion, and other supposedly fancy techniques;
> and IMHO they've discovered that there's no magic to it - just
> diligence and a LOT (a __LOT__) of elbow-grease! *About the only thing
> they don't do is autoclave-cure parts; but I don't think that's
> something the European glider manufacturers do either, right?
>
> Also, its important to note that the HP-24 project is not an attempt
> to push the state of the art. *There's no trimming of margins or
> pushing for every last bit of performance. *The team is using known
> airfoils, established practices, and tried-and-true construction
> methods (often lovingly copied from very popular sailplane models, and
> improved where practical).
>
> I'm curious to see how the wings hold up under a sand-bag load test;
> but seeing the project come together over the last 3 years (sometimes
> being in the room), its exciting - though sometimes smelly and sticky
> - stuff. *If I don't get rich in the next couple of years and buy a
> top-line sailplane, I'll be thinking hard about an HP-24 kit! *The
> idea of an LS-6-like sailplane at a lower cost than my DG-300 is
> enticing...
>
> --Noel
Thanks for the kind words Noel.............and for the help in the WA
shop on those occasions! My expectations of the HP-24 will be to give
all you 15m guys I fly with a real run for the money. The Apis does
pretty well, but I really look forward to the day when valley
crossings and ridge jumping to the east doesn't result in me chewing
the skin off my lower lip!
Brad
S/N #1