Thursday, May 13, 2010

The Giant Flying Wing

"Flying Wing" is a type of aircraft that has it's fuselarge blended into the wings. As a result, there is no fuselarge whatsoever. The wing itself is the entire aircraft. The Horten Brothers has built several fantastic sailplanes in the 1940's by using this concept. They have proven that Flying Wings has many advantages that conventional aircraft don't. Like the Hortens, I am also fascinated by Flying Wings.


[My 1st Flying Wing Glider Attempt]

My First Attempt
A few years ago I had my first attempt to build a Flying Wing but it turnned out to be a bit too heavy to fly in weak lift conditions. Since then my plane building technics has advanced a lot and I decided to once again building a new Flying Wing glider.

The New Design
Unlike the previous design, the new glider features a wing with a much higher aspect ratio. The wing itself is desgined to be hollow, with a aluminum spar as the main support and covered in 4mm foam. Two carbon fiber rods are also attached onto the wing's leading edge for reinforcement.


Flying








Eeventually, this new glider turns out to be quite a huge Flying Wing. It has a wingspan of about 1.7 meters, which is almost as tall as I am if holded vertically. Flying it is such a joy. It soars perfectly even in very light lift conditions. However on a windy day with lots of lift coming from the slopes, it would turn into a flying beast with very aggressive flying speed. It is also capable of doing tight loops, though it's rolling rate is relatively low due to its wide wing. I am very pleased with it's overall performance. I am pretty sure that this is one of the best gliders that I've built.


[The Flying Wing Soaring in Light Lift]

No comments:

Post a Comment