MIT UAV soaring technique

[bildan]

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26103/?p1=Blogs

[jcarlyle]

Reminds me of the Dean who was trying to convince a wealthy alumni to
contribute. The Alum said he wouldn't, because everything the school
did was impractical. The Dean, in an effort to prove they focused hard
on practicality, handed the Alum a doctoral thesis entitled
"Increasing Egg Production". The Alum opened it, read the first
sentence, and declared that it proved his point precisely. The first
sentence read: "First, assume a spherical chicken".

-John

[Matt Herron Jr.]

On Dec 6, 7:56*am, jcarlyle > wrote:
> Reminds me of the Dean who was trying to convince a wealthy alumni to
> contribute. The Alum said he wouldn't, because everything the school
> did was impractical. The Dean, in an effort to prove they focused hard
> on practicality, handed the Alum a doctoral thesis entitled
> "Increasing Egg Production". The Alum opened it, read the first
> sentence, and declared that it proved his point precisely. The first
> sentence read: *"First, assume a spherical chicken".
>
> -John

Finally! Some scientific justification for my thermal centering
technique. It is called the WFOOIA algorithm, an acronym for "Whoops!
Flew Out Of It Again". Other pilots may freely use this techniques as
long as the author(s) are properly credited... As it is open source,
pilots may also improve upon the technique, provided they share it
with the community.

Matt (Jr.)

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Mon, 06 Dec 2010 07:40:53 -0800, bildan wrote:

> http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26103/?p1=Blogs

I smell a certain lack of preliminary research: any RC glider pilot will
tell you that pressure sensing TE varios for models have been available
for a long time. It would seem to be a lot easier and less power-hungry
to sample one of these than to calculate climb rate from GPS output.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[bildan]

On Dec 6, 12:13*pm, Martin Gregorie >
wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Dec 2010 07:40:53 -0800, bildan wrote:
> >http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26103/?p1=Blogs
>
> I smell a certain lack of preliminary research: any RC glider pilot will
> tell you that pressure sensing TE varios for models have been available
> for a long time. It would seem to be a lot easier and less power-hungry
> to sample one of these than to calculate climb rate from GPS output.
>
> --
> martin@ * | Martin Gregorie
> gregorie. | Essex, UK
> org * * * |

Whether this blogger has a good understanding of thermalling technique
or not, it's interesting that UAV makers (Presumably for the military)
have an interest in UAV's that automatically find and use thermals.
It makes sense they should be interested. Maybe thermal finding
instrumentation will come out of it.

[Andrew Blanchard]

Autonomous Soaring has been around for awhile.

Take a look at:

http://soaring.goosetechnologies.com/

Cheers,

Andrew

[shkdriver]

It looks to me like someone in the study confused the little thermal strength indicator cones of the graphic with individual thermals.

[Andy[_1_]]

On Dec 6, 2:40*pm, shkdriver >
wrote:
> Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
> shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott W.
>
> --
> shkdriver

Read the pilot handbook?

[HoUdino]

OCSA did a few auto tows off a dry lake with an SHK a few years
ago...climbs like a homesick angel!

LT/HU

[GM]

On Dec 6, 4:40*pm, shkdriver >
wrote:
> Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
> shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott W.
>
> --
> shkdriver

Should not be a problem. Keep in mind that when the SHK was designed,
winch-launching was the primary take-off method in Germany. Even some
of the earlier glass ships like the ASW-15a did have only a CG-hook
while the aero-tow hook was an option.

[Michael Clarke]

At 21:40 06 December 2010, shkdriver wrote:
>
>Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
>shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
>Thanks,
>Scott W.

Scott,

I had a 17m SHK many years ago. The difference between minimum and maximum
all up weight was about 20 lbs which made one very careful about spinning.
I never had problems launching behind a car, but a very experienced pilot
at Lasham spun his in from a wire launch.

Are you fully experienced on winch launching? A modern high power winch is
rather different to the F100 trucks we used to use for launching, and I
would say that the SHK could bite a little more than some gliders if you
are too sudden with your pull up or if you pull too hard. A V tail is not
the same as a normal T tail, and I imagine that turbulent air off the wing
at a high angle of attack could possibly cause issues.

I enjoyed the glider very much, but you need to be very careful rigging
the main pin (if you are not aware of this then please do research the
issue, it is on the internet - we had a fatality in the UK this year I
believe because of mis-rigging with this system which is very easy to do)
and watch the CofG and spin characteristics. It will bite if you deviate
too far from best practice on winch launching. The BGA has published very
good notes on winching.

If you already have experience with the SHK and / or you are a higher
hours pilot, then it is fine so long as you treat it with a little more
respect than, for example, a K6e.


Mike

[Andy[_1_]]

On Dec 6, 2:40*pm, shkdriver >
wrote:
> Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
> shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
> Thanks,
> Scott W.
>
> --
> shkdriver

A caution not specific to the SHK but it may apply. For the first
winch launch in any new glider type pay particular attention to seat
back and rudder pedal adjustment. There should be no possibility that
you will slip backward during the launch.

I learned this one the hard way. I had quite a few hours in the Std
Jantar, all aero tow. On my first winch launch I slid backward so my
feet were not in contact with the pedals. I continued the launch with
my elbows frantically clawing for grip on the cockpit side walls but
was able to remain in control. Every other glider I had winched had a
more upright seating position so I had never seen this problem before.

Andy

[Martin Gregorie[_5_]]

On Wed, 08 Dec 2010 06:20:37 -0800, Andy wrote:

> A caution not specific to the SHK but it may apply. For the first
> winch launch in any new glider type pay particular attention to seat
> back and rudder pedal adjustment. There should be no possibility that
> you will slip backward during the launch.
>
I've heard this said about the Discus 1 as well, but though I've winched
them quite a bit I've not experienced it myself so it must only apply to
pilots who prefer a seating position that's different from mine. I can
imagine that with the seat fairly well forward the straps would be pretty
much horizontal behind your shoulders and so won't to a lot to stop you
sliding up the back of the seat.

Bottom line: Making quite sure your straps are tight is even more
important for winch than aero-tow due to the higher initial acceleration
and much steeper climb-out.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[Frank Whiteley]

On Dec 8, 3:57*am, Michael Clarke
> wrote:
> At 21:40 06 December 2010, shkdriver wrote:
>
>
>
> >Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
> >shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
> >Thanks,
> >Scott W.
>
> Scott,
>
> I had a 17m SHK many years ago. The difference between minimum and maximum
> all up weight was about 20 lbs which made one very careful about spinning..
> I never had problems launching behind a car, but a very experienced pilot
> at Lasham spun his in from a wire launch.
>
> Are you fully experienced on winch launching? A modern high power winch is
> rather different to the F100 trucks we used to use for launching, and I
> would say that the SHK could bite a little more than some gliders if you
> are too sudden with your pull up or if you pull too hard. A V tail is not
> the same as a normal T tail, and I imagine that turbulent air off the wing
> at a high angle of attack could possibly cause issues.
>
> I enjoyed the glider very much, but you need to be very careful rigging
> the main pin (if you are not aware of this then please do research the
> issue, it is on the internet - we had a fatality in the UK this year I
> believe because of mis-rigging with this system which is very easy to do)
> and watch the CofG and spin characteristics. It will bite if you deviate
> too far from best practice on winch launching. The BGA has published very
> good notes on winching.
>
> If you already have experience with the SHK and / or you are a higher
> hours pilot, then it is fine so long as you treat it with a little more
> respect than, for example, a K6e.
>
> Mike

Good advice. There was an SHK winch fatal many years ago (Scotland?),
where the pins were not fully home. The winch at Scott's club is not
overly powerful, nor is it wimpy for a small block V-8. I've driven
it. We had a phone chat a couple of evenings ago. Although it's been
29 years since I last winched in SHK S/N 1, I think I was able to
provide the normal cautions and caveats. Sure was fun to soar 5 hours
from a 50p ($1) launch;^) Scott's done his homework and actually did
quite a few winch launches during his training in both the trainer and
a light single seater, which is atypical for most US pilots. He's
also driven the winch a fair amount. He doesn't have many hours in
the SHK yet and is not in a big rush to jump on the winch with it.
The club didn't use the winch much during the past year, but has
committed to using it much more in the next, so he's looking forward
to winching the Sh*t Hot Kite (Schempp-Hirth Kirchheim manager's
description, not mine).

Frank Whiteley

[Derek C]

On Dec 8, 2:20*pm, Andy > wrote:
> On Dec 6, 2:40*pm, shkdriver >
> wrote:
>
> > Anyone have any experience/thoughts to share about winch launching a
> > shempp-hirth SHK? My example has CG tost hook on gear leg.
>
> > Thanks,
> > Scott W.
>
> > --
> > shkdriver
>
> A caution not specific to the SHK but it may apply. * *For the first
> winch launch in any new glider type pay particular attention to seat
> back and rudder pedal adjustment. *There should be no possibility that
> you will slip backward during the launch.
>
> I learned this one the hard way. *I had quite a few hours in the Std
> Jantar, all aero tow. *On my first winch launch I slid backward so my
> feet were not in contact with the pedals. *I continued the launch with
> my elbows frantically clawing for grip on the cockpit side walls but
> was able to remain in control. *Every other glider I had winched had a
> more upright seating position so I had never seen this problem before.
>
> Andy

Same thing happened to me in a DG101 a few years ago. Did a whole
winch launch keeping the stick just off the backstop with my
fingertips and with my feet nowhere near the rudder pedals. Always do
your straps up really tight for a winch launch, and if possible set
the rudder pedals a bit closer than normal. Only use firm cushions
behind you.

Derek C