Glider Shapes

This sort of follows up on the future of soaring thread, but is more
focused on the sailplane design aspect.

Ok.....here is the scenario: the powers that be have decided that once
again the soaring community needs a sailplane that represents Joe
Sailplane Pilot. Joe sailplane pilot wants a sailplane that will get
him where he wants to go, but on a budget. Joe's a smart
guy..............he knows a thing or two about sailplanes; having
spent
considerable time poking and prodding their various bits and pieces.
He
decides he wants a composite ship, now he
want's......................what????

Here is where you fill in the blanks.............if for no other
reason
than to whack away at the keyboard.....or not!

Cheers,
Brad

On Jan 4, 11:41*am, Brad wrote:
This sort of follows up on the future of soaring thread, but is more
focused on the sailplane design aspect.

Ok.....here is the scenario: the powers that be have decided that once
again the soaring community needs a sailplane that represents Joe
Sailplane Pilot. Joe sailplane pilot wants a sailplane that will get
him where he wants to go, but on a budget. Joe's a smart
guy..............he knows a thing or two about sailplanes; having
spent
considerable time poking and prodding their various bits and pieces.
He
decides he wants a composite ship, now he
want's......................what????

Here is where you fill in the blanks.............if for no other
reason
than to whack away at the keyboard.....or not!

Cheers,
Brad

Performance is the obvious one. Other than that, I would say ease of
rigging, cockpit comfort, and prototypical looks. It's gotta look
cool! )

Brad wrote:
This sort of follows up on the future of soaring thread, but is more
focused on the sailplane design aspect.

Ok.....here is the scenario: the powers that be have decided that once
again the soaring community needs a sailplane that represents Joe
Sailplane Pilot. Joe sailplane pilot wants a sailplane that will get
him where he wants to go, but on a budget. Joe's a smart
guy..............he knows a thing or two about sailplanes; having
spent
considerable time poking and prodding their various bits and pieces.
He
decides he wants a composite ship, now he
want's......................what????

Here is where you fill in the blanks.............if for no other
reason
than to whack away at the keyboard.....or not!

It would be shaped like this:


$24,999


:-)

Honestly, if it's a composite ship, even with fixed gear, mid 30s:1
performance or better should be a reasonable expectation.
New, same performance, and just a bit more $$ than the Mosquito I sold a
couple years ago? Easy.


Shawn

$24,999

:-)

Honestly, if it's a composite ship, even with fixed gear, mid 30s:1
performance or better should be a reasonable expectation.
New, same performance, and just a bit more $$ than the Mosquito I sold a
couple years ago? *Easy.

I like the way you think...................I have some ideas for
shapes rattling around in my head.

Brad

Brad wrote:
This sort of follows up on the future of soaring thread, but is more
focused on the sailplane design aspect.

Ok.....here is the scenario: the powers that be have decided that once
again the soaring community needs a sailplane that represents Joe
Sailplane Pilot. Joe sailplane pilot wants a sailplane that will get
him where he wants to go, but on a budget. Joe's a smart
guy..............he knows a thing or two about sailplanes; having
spent
considerable time poking and prodding their various bits and pieces.
He
decides he wants a composite ship, now he
want's......................what????

Here is where you fill in the blanks.............if for no other
reason
than to whack away at the keyboard.....or not!

Cheers,
Brad


Start with perhaps an obvious observation.

If the end result doesn't look kinda like something that's already
popular (Discus, LS-4, ASWG-XX, etc.) then it's not likely to be as
popular as one would hope. Consider Genesis and PW-5. They are good
gliders, but the odd shape sways people away from them.


With that said...

Gotta have retractable gear.

I'd suggest 40/1 is a minimum target, mid 30's is not going to sway
people away from the number of ships that already exceed that.

Be able to accomodate most pilots. Pilot comfort w/ chute is a must.

Easy rigging and automatic hookups

No flaps

Have room in the fuse for future model expansion to include a sustainer
at least and a small fixed tank for gas.

No gel coat would be a huge plus, particularly for the harsher climates.

Standard control system layout (no parallelogram stick)

Nose and CG release options

No nasty handling characteristics.

Sprung gear and a good brake

Tilt up panel (at least as an option)

Room for 2+ batteries.

Plenty of ventilation

Gary Emerson wrote:

snip

Standard control system layout (no parallelogram stick)

I agree with most of what you posted (although if performance is OK
w/out retract, i.e. near 40:1, I would say save the bucks/complication)
But why no parallelogram stick? I really appreciated it in my Skeeter
in rough air.


Shawn

Shawn wrote:
Gary Emerson wrote:

snip

Standard control system layout (no parallelogram stick)

I agree with most of what you posted (although if performance is OK
w/out retract, i.e. near 40:1, I would say save the bucks/complication)
But why no parallelogram stick? I really appreciated it in my Skeeter
in rough air.


Shawn

only because it's not "typical" it's a marketing issue, not an issue
with the viability of the design.

most of the glass ships out of germany save some grob 102 club's are
retract - besides, I think the performance hit for fixed gear will be
significant - include gear warning switches as standard...

On Jan 4, 8:53*am, (Doug Hoffman) wrote:

Sounds like an HP-24. *Except the flaps.

And we are planning an unflapped version, our molds are based on that
provision.

Thanks, Bob K.
http://www.hpaircraft.com

Standard control system layout (no parallelogram stick)

Excuse my ignorance... what is a parallelogram stick?

Bartek

brtlmj wrote:
Standard control system layout (no parallelogram stick)

Excuse my ignorance... what is a parallelogram stick?

Bartek

The standard configuration has the stick pivoting forward and aft as
well as side to side. The parallelogram stick SLIDES forward and aft,
but pivots side to side. Some people really like it, but it's a minor
design by numbers.