ionbeam
2 FUN
I see 'Zilla is starting to stutter.
This plane allows some (rich) people to fly without needing an airport so they can fly in all the cool places not supported by such. I'm sure that this plane will cause confusion in flight qualifications required, with some places seeing this as a glider and others as a fixed wing sail plane.
Having options in how to launch the plane frees up the areas they can fly in. Looking at the 'face launch' and the running launch it looks like the wing has a take off speed of around 12 mph. A student hang glider is normally >18 mph and a performance hang glider in the 10 - 12 mph range. Taking off with a 40 lb hang glider has no comparison to taking off with a 100 lb plane strapped to your butt. It would be interesting to see how they select nose weight. With some small familiarity with hang gliding, when I look at the foot launch and foot landing all I see is pain. Broken legs, broken pelvis and a good opportunity for internal injuries should things not go well.
Interestingly, the flying all takes place in mountainous areas where 'face lift' off the mountains and thermal lift in the valleys is good. You don't need much altitude to get into a lift zone a la hawk and then you can gain altitude from there. I'm thinking that this plane wouldn't do so good in Florida or Kansas. Flat places like this would really be better with a tow plane and a drop-off at 2k feet which now is the same as using a Standard Class glider . From there it would be a glide ratio flight to the ground unless you can find thermals. I would guess that the glide ratio of this plane is in the 28:1 area. A basic hang glider runs glide ratios around 12:1 and performance wings get much better from there. A Standard 15m glider will have a glide ratio of at least 30:1, typically around 38:1 and can go over 44:1.
If you like to go to wild places to fly and money doesn't matter this is your ride. If you expect to foot launch/land be sure your insurance is paid and emergency crews can actually get to you. DAMHIK.
This plane allows some (rich) people to fly without needing an airport so they can fly in all the cool places not supported by such. I'm sure that this plane will cause confusion in flight qualifications required, with some places seeing this as a glider and others as a fixed wing sail plane.
Having options in how to launch the plane frees up the areas they can fly in. Looking at the 'face launch' and the running launch it looks like the wing has a take off speed of around 12 mph. A student hang glider is normally >18 mph and a performance hang glider in the 10 - 12 mph range. Taking off with a 40 lb hang glider has no comparison to taking off with a 100 lb plane strapped to your butt. It would be interesting to see how they select nose weight. With some small familiarity with hang gliding, when I look at the foot launch and foot landing all I see is pain. Broken legs, broken pelvis and a good opportunity for internal injuries should things not go well.
Interestingly, the flying all takes place in mountainous areas where 'face lift' off the mountains and thermal lift in the valleys is good. You don't need much altitude to get into a lift zone a la hawk and then you can gain altitude from there. I'm thinking that this plane wouldn't do so good in Florida or Kansas. Flat places like this would really be better with a tow plane and a drop-off at 2k feet which now is the same as using a Standard Class glider . From there it would be a glide ratio flight to the ground unless you can find thermals. I would guess that the glide ratio of this plane is in the 28:1 area. A basic hang glider runs glide ratios around 12:1 and performance wings get much better from there. A Standard 15m glider will have a glide ratio of at least 30:1, typically around 38:1 and can go over 44:1.
If you like to go to wild places to fly and money doesn't matter this is your ride. If you expect to foot launch/land be sure your insurance is paid and emergency crews can actually get to you. DAMHIK.
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