First Glider

I once saw this sign in a homebuilder's shop:

If God had meant for there to be fiberglass gliders he would have planted
fiberglass trees.

another sign in the same shop:

One test is worth one million expert opinions.

-Bob Korves

"Bob2nd" wrote in message
...
"you can trust a tree"--George Coder, in Soaring ad for Standard Austria,
circa
1967

Bob Korves wrote:

If God had meant for there to be fiberglass gliders he would have planted
fiberglass trees.

If god had meant the trees to fly, he wouldn't have planted them to
earth... :-)

Stefan

Fiberglass is fine. Christamss trees of glass last a long time.
Give me wood anytime.
GA

Robertmudd1u wrote:
the Robin DR400 which is, at least for the
wings, made of wood and fabric.


And very good woodwork it is. Interestingly tho the wheel panta are carbon
fiber! Go figure.

Robert Mudd
Oh, yes the full George coder quote is "Woods still good, you can trust a tree"

Having helped to build one of those wings (for a Jodel 1050) I can attest to the
cost of manufacture. For one-off manufacture wood is fine - can even be
therapeutic to make something with your hands and simple tools. For economical
production, composite must win hands down.

For one-off manufacture wood is fine - can even be
therapeutic to make something with your hands and simple tools. For
economical
production, composite must win hands down.

No argument there. However it is sometimes very diffacult for manufactuer to
switch technologies.

Robert Mudd

Another wood related quote:

"Good wood, properly used, never fails"


ruce Greeff wrote in message ...
Robertmudd1u wrote:
the Robin DR400 which is, at least for the
wings, made of wood and fabric.


And very good woodwork it is. Interestingly tho the wheel panta are carbon
fiber! Go figure.

Robert Mudd
Oh, yes the full George coder quote is "Woods still good, you can trust a tree"

Having helped to build one of those wings (for a Jodel 1050) I can attest to the
cost of manufacture. For one-off manufacture wood is fine - can even be
therapeutic to make something with your hands and simple tools. For economical
production, composite must win hands down.

Robert Ehrlich wrote:
Mark James Boyd wrote:
...
Stay away from wood. There's a reason it is uncommon
in current aircraft manufacturing.
...

Maybe uncommon in the USA, in France the most common 4 seats
airplane is probably the Robin DR400 which is, at least for the
wings, made of wood and fabric. Also widely used as a tow plane.

Oh, and keep in mind that this is just my opinion. I'm sure
there are lots of happy wood plane owners who love the things.
To each his own...


--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

Robertmudd1u wrote:

the Robin DR400 which is, at least for the
wings, made of wood and fabric.

And very good woodwork it is. Interestingly tho the wheel panta are carbon
fiber! Go figure.


I think this comes from historical reasons. The DR400 is the last of a
family that started with the "Bébé Jodel", named from the beginning of
the names of its 2 conceptors, Joly and Delemontez, which was designed
for cheap amateur construction using a Volkwagen automotive engine. This
one had no wheel panta. The DR400 keeps something of this origin in its
name : D is for Delemontez and R for Robin. I think the basic structure
of the wing is still the same, although the size has changed.

I think this comes from historical reasons.

I understand this; wood wing carbon fiber wheel pants. It is just that at first
sight the mix is rather odd. High tech wheel pants and old fashion wing.

Robert

High tech wheel pants and old fashion wing.

In fact the wing is much more high tech than the planks that have historically
been strapped onto various Cessnas and Pipers
It is tapered and has washout in the tips such that they are not providing lift
(and thus drag) at cruising speeds. You thus find that their cruising speed is
higher for the same horsepower engines than most convential (for that read spam
can american) aircraft.
They are also very robust and we have decided to refurbish our 3 x DR400 tugs
rather than buy new ones as they do the job so well.
The only downside to wood and fabric is that they do not take kindly to being
kept outside in inclement weather.
Now if only we could fit a water cooled deisel and airbrakes we would have the
ideal tug
Nigel