Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/254584
30 Vol.3 No.2 / Februar y 2014 GLIDERS AND SAILPL ANES 101 history. The second was his coachman, who after his fl ight gave notice, saying, "I was hired to drive horses, not to fl y." You noticed I said passenger; Sir George had not worked out all the problems of control. His glider was essentially a free-fl ight glider. In the late 1800s the most infl uential glider builders were Otto Lilienthal and his brother. Otto had more than a thousand successful fl ights in his hang gliders until his last. Before he passed away, he said, "Sacrifi ces must be made." The limitations of weight-shift control and legs as landing gear are being relearned even today. Lilienthal's work was very infl uen- tial on the Wright brothers and other early aviation pioneers. Building and learning to fl y their gliders fi rst was the real key to the Wrights' success in 1903. THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOARING AND SAILPL ANES BET WEEN THE WARS One of the unintended consequences of the Versailles Treaty after World War I was the development of gliding and soaring in Germany. The treaty and economic condi- tions greatly restricted power flying in Germany, which led to the formation of glider clubs as an outlet for the then growing interest in flying. After 100 years, we now take flying pretty much for granted, but in the post-World War I era, it was "a really big thing." Of interest to EAAers is the fact that many of the early gliders were homebuilts. One of the leading sailplane designers of the interwar period was Dr. Alexander Lippisch. His career in aviation was sparked when he saw the Wrights' flight demonstration in Berlin before WWI. In the early days of World War II, he designed the Messerschmitt Komet, a rocket-powered motorglider that achieved more than 600 mph in 1941. The Me 163 was the first of the rocket-powered X-planes that led to the space shuttle motorgliders. The rapidly increasing performance of gliders and the discovery of thermal lift made cross-country fl ights possible. Glider clubs were also instrumental in generating a skilled pool of pilots, aircraft designers, and technicians for the Luftwaf e to come. There were similar glider activities in the United States and other countries, but Germany is still a leader of glider de- velopment and fl ying. THE COMPOSITE REVOLUTION AND SOARING TODAY There were some attempts before and after WWII to bring laminar flow out of the theoretical world and the wind tun- nel and onto practical wings of wood and metal construc- tion. This met with limited success until composite materi- als were experimented with in Germany in the late 1950s. Series production of fiberglass sailplanes with extensive laminar flow wings began in Germany in the early 1960s. The fact that sailplanes are raced has led to the refinement and improved performance of the top-level competition sailplanes of today. Many of the aerodynamic and structural improvements we see in aircraft today were pioneered in sailplanes. THE ROLE OF HOMEBUILDING IN GLIDER DEVELOPMENT Certainly, Sir George and the Lilienthal and Wright brothers started out as glider homebuilders. I mentioned that many of the club ships of the interwar era were homebuilt. The original name of our group was the Sailplane Homebuilders Associa- tion. The availability of used sailplanes at reasonable prices reduced the interest in homebuilding gliders. That is what led to our name change to the Experimental Soaring Association. There still is strong interest in homebuilding sailplanes, both with and without engines, as a way to achieve ef cient, eco- nomical, and fun fl ying. There are plans- and kit-built gliders, sailplanes, and motorgliders available today, and if we can grow this part of the homebuilding movement, more will be available in the future. THE POTENTIAL FOR HOMEBUILT GLIDERS AND SAILPL ANES TO RE-ENERGIZE PERSONAL FLIGHT Flying is expensive. One of the major costs is the aircraft en- gine, but "Gliders don't need no stinkin' engines!" They also need little if any avionics. Experimental amateur- built (E-AB) gliders should be the least expensive way to fl y. The complication is the need to get them up initially. In the United States, aero towing is the most common launching method for gliders. The cost of operating the towplane with its aircraft engine adds signifi cantly to the cost of gliding. Will the FAA let us tow gliders with E-AB towplanes? A more economi- cal launching method common in other parts of the world is ground launching. It can be as simple and inexpensive as a tow- line and a pickup truck. If the fl ight volume justifi es the cost of a winch, which has an automotive-based engine to power a drum of cable, the cost of launching can be very economical. The tradition in American glider clubs is to build their own winches, which sounds like homebuilding mixed with hot- rodding to me. The Marske Monarch is a very light fl oater type, tailless sailplane of cloth- covered composite construction. It is available as a kit. Photography courtesy of Murry Rozansky E A A E X P _ F e b 1 4 . i n d d 3 0 EAAEXP_Feb14.indd 30 2 / 3 / 1 4 3 : 1 7 P M 2/3/14 3:17 PM