Good Morning, Oppo

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 07/02/2020 at 09:19 • Filed to: good morning oppo, wingspan

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Happy Thursday. In the words of Mr. Banks, “Let’s go fly a kite.”

I have no idea what is happening here aside from a Packard hauling a glider. I think the Packard may be more aerodynamic than that glider.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 09:44

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Good morning. I wonder if they had been tow launching . I don’t even know if they knew how to do that back then. Given the damage to the glider, I’d bet they are carrying it back to the shop after a hard landing.

InFierority Complex > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 09:55

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Aw, I was hoping this was some Chitty Chitty Bang Bang attempt at a flying car.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/02/2020 at 10:03

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That thing looks more kite than glider. But yes, it’s definitely had a prang. 

ttyymmnn > InFierority Complex 07/02/2020 at 10:03

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That’s a really dark movie. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 10:12

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If it were solely a kite, there would be no need for the gap in the lower wing. It may have been a glider that was being tested as a kite. Early gliders were controlled by weight shift and the pilot needed space to move around.

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/02/2020 at 10:15

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What I meant was that it was more kite than airplane, meaning that it doesn’t look like a very effective airfoil. 

user314 > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 10:17

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Only thing I was able to find was this:

ttyymmnn > user314 07/02/2020 at 10:24

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I found this on the FAA website, and that’s all they said too. Likely one of the many hobbyists who thought they could build a plane and found out they couldn’t, but got a little press along the way. Which really emphasizes just how amazing was what the Wrights did, with no formal training. Smart guys who understood the value of careful observational science.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 10:28

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Ah, I get it. Funny thing was that airfoils back then were really flat. Just look at the glider I posted above.

I knew that the Wright brothers built their own wind tunnel for testing, but what I learned this morning is why. Their original design depended on calculations by other people and through their own experimental flights, they determined that the previous work was wrong . They built their own wind tunnel and testing instruments so they could run tests on different wings so they could find a design capable of generating enough lift for the glider to support itself and carry a pilot. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wright-brothers/Early-glider-experiments

ttyymmnn > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/02/2020 at 10:36

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What a difference a year makes. The 1901 glider is on the left: poor lift, high drag, tugging backwards on the mooring lines with a high AOA . The 1902 glider flies almost directly above the holders, nearly level,  with a significantly improved lift to drag ratio.

TheRealBicycleBuck > ttyymmnn 07/02/2020 at 11:06

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Not to discount what you’re saying, but a lot of what you’re seeing could be due to wind conditions and control settings. Getting the trim set right can be quite tricky. I learned that the hard way flying R/C planes. The only thing worse than having too much up elevator dialed in when you first throw a new glider is having too much down elevator dialed in. One gives you a moment to correct before it stalls, the other results in an immediate nose-dive into the dirt.

I do find it very interesting that they have clear leading and trailing edges o n the 1902 as well as a proper rudder. The wings are also longer with a shorter chord. The elevator also has a shorter chord. It’s not clear what’s happening on the leading edge of the elevator, but the trailing edge of the 1902 elevator looks like it’s free instead of attached. Maybe it’s held in place by wires, it’s hard to tell.

All of this is evidence that they did realize the importance of controlling the aircraft.