Why fly only seated?

I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

GillCouto.com

breaking my neck trying to look up?? the hang gliders have wing above their
heads and can't see up...

BT

"Gill Couto" wrote in message
news:gusHb.24528$J77.3186@fed1read07...
I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

GillCouto.com

maybe because the Wrights didn't fly for hours at a time, and only had to
hold their heads up for a matter of minutes?

"Gill Couto" wrote in message
news:gusHb.24528$J77.3186@fed1read07...
I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

GillCouto.com

Gill Couto wrote in message news:gusHb.24528$J77.3186@fed1read07...
I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

GillCouto.com


Comfort (neck)
Saftey (see above)
Visability (see below?)
Geezers have a hard time holding their heads up

-Head down and locked

On 28 Dec 2003 00:26:29 -0800, (Buck Wild) wrote:

Gill Couto wrote in message news:gusHb.24528$J77.3186@fed1read07...
I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

I have a vague recollection of seeing an RAF jet fitted with an
experimental prone pilot position in a pod sticking out of the front.
It was on a Canberra on Meteor IIRC.

And a web search revealed this!
http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/gloster-...e-position.htm

Chris

From: Gill Couto

I want to ask you folks a question: why isn't there a glider where
the pilot flies face-down? The Wrights did it, the Horten (?) wing,
and hang gliders are about the only thing you can fly facing the
earth. I don't see why a sailplane couldn't be flown that way, but no
designers appear to even consider the possibility. Ideas?

There's also crash survivability to consider. A head first crash into an
object doesn't sound good. Feet and legs are relatively expendable compared
to the head.

One might ask, why lay that way? I assume you mean to imply that a fuselage
with a smaller cross-section, hence less drag, could then be employed. This
has sort of been done in the HP-18 series of gliders. In the HP-18 one lays
almost flat on one's back, fet forward of course, with the head tilted
upward somewhat using a head rest. The HP-18 fuse is pretty short compared
to most. Comfort can be an issue, or so I'm told. But to be fair, many say
they like it just fine.

-Doug

Technical soaring ( the OSTIV magazine ) July 2002. pg 89.

The article suggests that the prone ( face down and forward ) position may
actually provide added safety rather than less safety when an analysis of
aircraft accidents is made.

However upward visibility would be a problem ( unless there was a horizontal
mirror in front of and below the pilots line of forward sight )
Keeping your head up could be fun after 8 hours!

Most of this is in reference to the Exulans ultra-light tailess sailplane.
http://members.tripod.com/~diomedes/exulans/

Ian

In message , tango4
writes
Technical soaring ( the OSTIV magazine ) July 2002. pg 89.

The article suggests that the prone ( face down and forward ) position may
actually provide added safety rather than less safety when an analysis of
aircraft accidents is made.

However upward visibility would be a problem ( unless there was a horizontal
mirror in front of and below the pilots line of forward sight )
Keeping your head up could be fun after 8 hours!

Most of this is in reference to the Exulans ultra-light tailess sailplane.
http://members.tripod.com/~diomedes/exulans/

Ian


During the second world war the Germans experimented with gliders to
shoot down bombers. At least one of these had a prone position. The
pilot had a chin rest to take the weight of his head.

Robin
--
Robin Birch

"Robin Birch" wrote in message
...

During the second world war the Germans experimented with gliders to
shoot down bombers. At least one of these had a prone position. The
pilot had a chin rest to take the weight of his head.

I thought about that but thought maybe the structure to support the
chin-rest would then be in the 'flailing zone' in the event of an accident.
The next best thing would be something similar to the new neckbraces
motorsport drivers are using to restrain their heads in accidents, the HANS
safety device. A sort of carbon fibre neck brace.

http://jayski.thatsracin.com/schemes/hans.htm
http://www.guyons.com/hans.html

Ian

tango4 wrote:

Technical soaring ( the OSTIV magazine ) July 2002. pg 89.

The article suggests that the prone ( face down and forward ) position may
actually provide added safety rather than less safety when an analysis of
aircraft accidents is made.

I don't have access to this issue. Perhaps you could describe the
reasoning, because I have a hard time imagining how that could be. The
only thing I can think of is the pilot would be so afraid of crashing,
he'd be extremely careful to avoid any chance of an accident!

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Eric Greenwell
Washington State
USA