fly_tornado Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21642107-alloy-iron-and-aluminium-good-titanium-tenth?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/ed/wingsofsteel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Interesting development, FT. For little aeroplanes at least, I want to go in another direction. They spend most of their time parked. Ungainly, space-wasting items, often left out in the weather. The wings are the problem. They need a radical redesign so they can adjust to every flight condition and then fold up for storage or transport. We are still so far behind the efficiency of birds. We need to develop large feathers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Interesting development, FT. For little aeroplanes at least, I want to go in another direction. They spend most of their time parked. Ungainly, space-wasting items, often left out in the weather. The wings are the problem. They need a radical redesign so they can adjust to every flight condition and then fold up for storage or transport. We are still so far behind the efficiency of birds. We need to develop large feathers. The trouble is, any mechanisms to alter camber, sweepback, incidence or dihedral (or all!) is going to be hugely heavy for a light aircraft. I know Zenith do a folding wing option, but it would still involve removing several bolts & the struts. It would be nice to have a method that was quick and easy. In another post there was an ultralight where the whole one-piece wing swivelled above the cockpit, that could be a workable alternative for unbraced high-wing designs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Those bits sticking out the side of aeroplanes are the problem, and this bloke has a great solution. Who says a wing must be rigid? New materials might allow a semi-resilient leading edge with a folding system like an umbrella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damkia Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Can someone else see an issue with wings made of thermite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kaz3g Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Steel aircraft aren't new! http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/A180-Auster-The-Steel-Airplane-banner-plane-hangar-garage-decor-Aircraft-signs-/231027357919 Kaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Those bits sticking out the side of aeroplanes are the problem, and this bloke has a great solution.Who says a wing must be rigid? New materials might allow a semi-resilient leading edge with a folding system like an umbrella. Well my old hanglider was like that, but it was a bit of work pulling out all the battens. Perhaps in the future the perfectly engineered wing may be "grown" instead of built, and be able to fold up automatically when the aircraft is on the ground, warp to different configurations for high lift/low speed or low lift/high speed as required... even tilt and flare like a bird for spot landings... (not in my lifetime I think!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Those bits sticking out the side of aeroplanes are the problem, and this bloke has a great solution.Who says a wing must be rigid? New materials might allow a semi-resilient leading edge with a folding system like an umbrella. You and I have obviously different experiences with umbrellas:wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 The perfect wing, no battens, very strong (tested to around 10g without damage). Very portable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 They do look good............ How about negative g? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexrbetter Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 The perfect wing, no battens, very strong (tested to around 10g without damage). Very portable. Is that the latest Cirrus model? Nothing difficult about making a plane from steel, just most of you blokes think that 100kgs of steel is heavier than 100kgs of aluminium so it doesn't work from a marketing point of view. Some points of that article are wrong btw, steel content in cars is being reduced by law, not choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 They do look good............ How about negative g? No worries as long as you are not silly enough to allow yourself to get above the wing and fall into it, known as 'gift wrapped'. You have to try pretty hard to do this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Don't know about jellyfish - I remember my hangliding instructor telling me he was flying near some once and saw one fold up and drop about 300 ft before the pilot managed to get it inflated again. You wouldn't want that to happen at 200 ft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I'm a 3 axis required control freak.. Don't trust gravity unless someone will guarantee no big gusts. Folding wings worry me too if they don't know when to do it. Most aerobatic planes have a steel tube fuselage don't they? Cobweb is the strongest material they say. Roman candle . Isn't that when the chute doesn't open. They used to say it's OK if you just put your arms out horizontal and you only go in up to your shoulders . Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Don't know about jellyfish - I remember my hangliding instructor telling me he was flying near some once and saw one fold up and drop about 300 ft before the pilot managed to get it inflated again. You wouldn't want that to happen at 200 ft. I'm a 3 axis required control freak.. Don't trust gravity unless someone will guarantee no big gusts. Folding wings worry me too if they don't know when to do it. Most aerobatic planes have a steel tube fuselage don't they? Cobweb is the strongest material they say.Roman candle . Isn't that when the chute doesn't open. They used to say it's OK if you just put your arms out horizontal and you only go in up to your shoulders . Nev Is your Fisher Horizon the same as a Wright Flyer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 No worries as long as you are not silly enough to allow yourself to get above the wing and fall into it, known as 'gift wrapped'. You have to try pretty hard to do this though. I did write my response in jest:wink: But remember negative g isn't limited to being upside down, in a standard 3axis setup you can quiet easily get negative g while staying upright in calm air (push stick forward quickly) and if you were in rough enough air you could momentarily have negative g with no control inputs. I would have thought ANY negative g in a chute setup would have the occupant and the chute come closer? I am only surmising and personally have nothing against them, in fact I have toyed with the idea of going for a tif up at Manilla quiet a few times:thumb up:. (Go figure, jumping out of a plane isn't on my to do list but off the side of the hill might be:scratching head:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 I did write my response in jest:wink: But remember negative g isn't limited to being upside down, in a standard 3axis setup you can quiet easily get negative g while staying upright in calm air (push stick forward quickly) and if you were in rough enough air you could momentarily have negative g with no control inputs. I would have thought ANY negative g in a chute setup would have the occupant and the chute come closer? I am only surmising and personally have nothing against them, in fact I have toyed with the idea of going for a tif up at Manilla quiet a few times:thumb up:. (Go figure, jumping out of a plane isn't on my to do list but off the side of the hill might be:scratching head:) You get to really like the bumps because they are a good sign that you are about to enter lift. There's a bit more to it that that. It's very rare that you see the lines go slack (that would be a sign that you are getting closer to the wing in negative g); I suppose that's because you weigh a lot more than the wing and your 'area' is much less than the wing, therefore you don't get closer to the wing. It is possible to get the wing to accelerate much faster than you and for it to end up beneath you (check out youtube paraglider 'infinite tumbling') but that's what I was referring to regarding being silly enough to get the wing beneath you. Not a criticism of you or anyone else :) Regarding the tif, if you aren't too far from Manilla you could fly the Hornet into Godfrey's place (he has a strip ideal for you), and do an introductory course. I thought about paragliding for years with all the negatives instilled in me from my hang gliding back ground. I'm very glad I gave it a go.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 By the way, I too have no interest in parachuting. When I leave the ground with the paraglider, I know it is working and don't have to fall at 200k's hoping it's going to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDQDI Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 My biggest worry is that I might actually like it, the main trouble with that is it all costs money:sad: Which is also the reason I haven't been up to have a go in a fixed wing glider:wink: I can just see myself wanting more toys and it's bad enough not feeding the kids to pay for my flying, if I got into gliding I wouldn't be able to feed the wife and if I liked paragliding as well I wouldn't be eating myself:roflmao: Edit* that was said in jest, my kids do eat well, yes yes wifey too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry1 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Don't know about jellyfish - I remember my hangliding instructor telling me he was flying near some once and saw one fold up and drop about 300 ft before the pilot managed to get it inflated again. You wouldn't want that to happen at 200 ft. Whilst hang gliding in my wild youth I once stalled at 99 feet,. . . regrettably, it took 100 feet to recover. . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexrbetter Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Whilst hang gliding in my wild youth I once stalled at 99 feet,. . . regrettably, it took 100 feet to recover. . . . . . ... and then ......? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmccarthy1 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 A centipede fell off my bathroom wall once. He needed one hundred feet to recover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry1 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 ... and then ......? I ended up with "OLD MAN EMU FEET" for a couple of months. . . . . . ( along with a couple of ankles, a bashed knee and a cracked vertebra . . . . .) I thought,. . . sod this,. . .there's got to be an easier way to get off the ground. . . . . ( or more specifically,. . . re-interface with it - Softly. . . . . ) ( for explanification - refer to "Iceland Rising" thread. . . . . . .) Fil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Perry1 Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 A cockroach rang his centipede mate for a night out, . . .and after four hours had expired . . he rang back and said. . " Are you ready yet . . . ? " The centipede said. . . . ." ........................................................................................... " I'm sure you can fill that in. . . . . . Fil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Only IF it is compulsory. Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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