Powered hang glider

For microlight trike, see ultralight trike and ultralight aviation.
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A foot-launched powered hang glider

A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang glider harness with a motor and propeller in pusher configuration. An ordinary hang glider is used for its wing and control frame, and the pilot can foot-launch from a hill or from flat ground, needing a length of about a football field to get airborne, or much less if there is an oncoming breeze and no obstacles. Although the main appeal of FLPHGs is to the already experienced hang glider pilot, interest in these machines is growing rapidly, particularly in areas where there are no hills for foot-launching.[citation needed]

The pilot can cruise in good weather at speeds of 40 to 72 km/h (25 to 45 mph), but powered harnesses have limited power, range, and thrust, so are best used as self-launch devices to achieve enough altitude to find a warm-rising air thermal for soaring.[citation needed]

History

Main article: History of hang gliding

Glider flights have been recorded since as early as 875 AD.[1] However, most early glider designs did not fulfill safe flight, largely because early flight pioneers did not understand the underlying principles that made a bird's wing work. Starting in the 1880s technical and scientific advancements were made that led to the first truly practical gliders. Otto Lilienthal, a German engineer, duplicated some of his contemporaries' work and greatly expanded on it from 1874. He rigorously documented his work, strongly influencing later designers including the Wright Brothers. For this reason, Lilienthal is one of most well-known and most influential aviation pioneers. His type of aircraft is now known as a hang glider.[citation needed]

In 1951 Francis Rogallo and Gertrude Rogallo together applied for a patent for a fully flexible wing, the flexible wing or Rogallo wing. In 1957 NASA began testing in various flexible and semi-rigid configurations in order to use it as a recovery system for the Gemini space capsules. The various stiffening formats and the wing's simplicity of design and ease of construction, capability of slow flight and gentle landing characteristics, did not go unnoticed by hang glider enthusiasts. Some designers soon adapted Rogallo's flexible wing airfoil onto elementary hang gliders, producing the most successful hang glider configuration in history.[citation needed]

Adding propulsion

Icarus V hang glider powered with a G8-2 rocket engine, 1979[2]
John Moody's powered Icarus II in Southeastern Wisconsin Aviation Museum[3]

While powered microlights (ultralights) developed from hang gliding in the late 1970s, they were also a return to the type of low-speed aircraft that were common in the earlier years of aviation, but which were superseded as both civil and military aircraft pursued more speed.[4] For a second time in aviation history, during the 1970s, motorization of simple gliders, especially those portable and foot-launched, became the goal of many inventors and gradually, small wing-mounted power packs were adapted. These early experiments went largely unrecorded, even in log books, let alone the press, because the pioneers were uncomfortably aware that the addition of an engine made the craft liable to registration, airworthiness legislation, and the pilot liable to expensive licensing and probably, insurance. Inventors from Australia, France and England produced several successful microlight motor gliders in the early 1970s [5] and very few were portable wings.

Don Mitchell

Surprisingly, what really launched the powered ultralight aviation movement in the USA was not the Rogallo flexible wing but a whole series of rigid-wing motorized hang gliders.[6] The Icarus V flying wing appeared with its tip rudders and swept-back style wing was used as a base for some powered experiments. Differently, a rigid biplane designed also by teenager Taras Kiceniuk, Jr--the Icarus II—was a foundation for a modification in Larry Mauro's UFM Easy Riser[7] which biplane started to sell in large numbers; Larry Mauro would power his tail-less biplane; one version was solar powered called the Solar Riser. Hang gliding record holder Don Mitchell [8] fitted his BF-10 [9] with a motor, though he still used the pilot's legs as undercarriage, an arrangement which persisted until his B-10 Mitchell Wing [10] appeared. Then there was the Manta Fledge IIB, the Pterodactyl series, and the Quicksilver created in 1972 by Bob Lovejoy. However, foot-launched powered hang gliding as we know it today had been unsuccessful prior to 1976 because three basic elements were unrefined:

  • Most hang gliders had poor performance.[11]
  • Small engine technology was underpowered and unreliable.
  • Piloting skills and experience were limited.

Barry Palmer

Main article: Barry Hill Palmer

In 1963 and during his free time, aeronautical engineer Barry Palmer built and experimented with a foot-launched powered hang glider at Bloomfield, Connecticut. It was powered by a 7 hp (5 kW) West Bend engine and mounted on top of a Rogallo-type flexible wing hang glider; the propeller was 3 feet (1 m) in diameter and was made of balsa wood, covered with fiberglass and mounted in pusher configuration. But the engine was quite underpowered and the craft could not achieve flight.[12] It is now estimated that a modern flexible Rogallo wing hang glider requires at least 6 hp (4 kW) at the prop shaft and about 45 lbf (200 N) of thrust just to maintain level flight. Barry Palmer build during 1967 what is likely the first weight-shift powered trike aircraft.[13]

Bill Bennett

In 1973, Australian Bill Bennett, who was one of the most skilled pilots of the time and the largest U.S. hang glider manufacturer, was following in Barry Palmer's footsteps and attempting to motorize a flexible hang glider. Bennett built a McCulloch engine backpack that drove a small caged propeller. It did not, however, work particularly well, as the prop was almost completely masked by his back, and what little efficiency remained was further reduced by the thick wire guard with which Bennett was prudent enough to surround the propeller. In practice, when used with the best hang glider of the day, it was nothing more than a glide extender.[citation needed]

In the late 1970s, light two-stroke engines started to become more powerful and reliable and hang glider pilots were developing their skills to such an extent that they no longer considered it normal to crash each time they flew. The only unanswered questions were where to fit the engine, the size and pitch of the propeller and how it was driven.[citation needed]

John Moody

On March 15, 1975 John Moody successfully added a 12.5 hp (9 kW) West Bend engine with a 71 cm (28 in) propeller to an UFM Easy Riser biplane hang glider designed by Larry Mauro. Moody opened the throttle and ran until he lifted from the frozen surface of a lake west of Racine, Wisconsin, and he flew for 30 minutes. Then on July 27, 1976 John Moody demonstrated[14] ultralight aviation at the annual EAA fly-in convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, with a foot launched McCulloch 101 powered Icarus II [15] in front of thousands of aviation-loving spectators, starting the modern ultralight aviation revolution in the USA. Later he added wheels to the aircraft and by the end of 1979, there were almost 100 competing companies selling powered ultralights (microlights) but very few were foot-launchable.

Steve Hunt

During the mid-1970s in England, Steve Hunt experimented by fitting a Scorpion glider with a McCulloch chainsaw engine driving a keel-mounted ducted fan via a reduction gear unit, but he stopped development "because it was too heavy". However, he visualized the need for a clutch unit to facilitate starting and to reduce shock loading on the drive system.[citation needed]

Soarmaster

Soarmaster standard FLPHG power unit

Meanwhile, powered hang glider flight was progressing in the United States and in 1977 the Soarmaster company located in Scottsdale, Arizona, produced the first commercial foot-launched powered hang glider, the Soarmaster. The unit was recommended for fitting on an Electra Flyer Cirrus or Olympus hang glider, as the mounting brackets and thrust line calculations had been done for these two gliders only. The Soarmaster company had developed a two-stroke engine unit with splash box-lubricated chain reduction system, clutch and long drive-shaft that bolted just below the hang glider keel. It produced about 10 hp (7 kW) for about of 80 lbf (360 N) of static thrust and sustained climb rate as high as 150 ft/min (0.762 m/s). The keel-mounted transmission rendered the aircraft pitch unstable under power so a fine balance existed between applying too much power, causing the aircraft to overtake the pilot or not enough power for flight. Though marginal and difficult to fly, the Soarmaster was an encouraging development, until strange accidents began to happen; when the pilot pushed out or stalled the wing, propeller-related injuries to their feet ensued, earning it nicknames such as ToeMaster and SawMaster. It turned out that when the pilot went weightless or stalled under power, the glider would tuck forward violently because the line of thrust was well above the centre of gravity.[citation needed]

Jerzy Kolecki

In 1979, a powered backpack called the Motolotnia - White Eagle, designed by Jerzy Kolecki, became available for sale.[16][17][18] It consisted of a 90 cc McCulloch chainsaw engine with a direct drive 61 cm (24") wooden prop, producing a quoted 77 lbf (340 N) of thrust; the rate of climb was about 150 ft/min (0.76 m/s) and flight duration was limited by the small fuel tank and engine overheating after several minutes. Other powered harnesses to reach the market in the 1980s were The Ranger[19] and the Relax 220.[20]

Johan Åhling

Mosquito powered harness

The first truly successful foot-launched powered harness was the Mosquito, designed and produced by Swedish inventor Johan Åhling, of Swedish AeroSport. It did not have a keel-mounted motor, but the complete power unit was incorporated in the harness' frame. The harness was hooked on to the glider by a regular hang strap, placing the center of mass well below the keel, the ideal position for effective weight-shift control and thrust transmission. Åhling's Mosquito flew first in 1987, but it could only muster 10 hp and a few problems had to be worked out. When the Mosquito was released again in 1990 with a reliable 15 hp (10.2 kg, 118 cc) go-kart engine [21] its appeal grew first amongst European and Australian hang glider pilots, and it was not until the late 1990s that the Mosquito started to become somewhat popular in North America, that by then, was obsessed with larger and heavier ultralights and undergoing a decreasing hang glider pilot population. Åhling's Mosquito was later redesigned and released in 2000 as the NRG.[citation needed]

Others

The JetBug, UK, 2003

As of 2008, there are a few harness designs similar to the Mosquito/NRG, each sporting unique strengths, and produced by other FLPHG manufacturers.[22] The latest generation of powered harnesses bear names such as Wasp,[23] DoodleBug,[24] Raven,[25] X1,[26] Zenon,[27] Explorer LD,[28] Fillo,[29] and Flyped.[30]

On April 30, 2003 a modified DoodleBug named "JetBug" took to the skies over England while powered by a 95 pounds force (420 N) thrust gasoline turbine engine. The JetBug was produced in collaboration between Flylight Airsports Ltd. and MicroJet Engineering; it was piloted first by Ben Ashman and then by Stewart Bond. Its flight autonomy was only of ten minutes at 1 Liter/min. The JetBug is an occasional guest at air shows across England.[citation needed]

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World records

La Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) is the international standard-setting and record-keeping body for aeronautics and astronautics, so it also oversees the official records by foot-launched powered hang gliders, currently under the RWF1 category.[31]

Unofficial Records

Unofficial FLPHG World Records - Confirmed but not validated by the FAI.

  • On 5 August 1978 French pioneer Bernard Danis mated a Soarmaster unit to this 168 square feet (15.6 m2) SK 2SS wing and climbed to 1,825 metres (5,988 ft) above sea level at the Southern Alps.[32]
  • May 9. 1978, David Cook becomes the first pilot to cross the English Channel while flying on a foot-launched powered hang glider; he used a VJ 23F glider.[33]
Gerry Breen - London to Paris in FLPHG (August 25, 1979)
  • On 7 May 1979 British pilot Gerry Breen set a new distance record for FLPHG of 325 kilometres (202 mi) from Wales to Norwich, a non-stop world distance record that still stands today; using a Soarmaster, the flight took about 4 hours with a tailwind of about 25 knots (29 mph) and reportedly consumed 25 litres (5.5 imp gal) of fuel.[34] Three months later, on August 25 through 28, inspired by the film "Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines" and sponsored by British Airways, Breen flew his powered hang glider from London to Paris: Wishing to use a British made aircraft, Gerry Breen and Steve Hunt set about building with their version of the powered Soarmaster, but had no clutch. The unit, including glider, was considerably heavier than the Soarmaster and Olympus glider combination but the wing was much more robust. The hang glider was a Hiway Super Scorpion with a 10 hp (7 kW) McCulloch 125 cc engine mounted on the keel just forward of the hang strap.[35] The journey was plagued with mechanical failures but Breen overcame them and completed the trip.[36]
  • In July 2002, Italian hang gliding champion and conservationist, Angelo d'Arrigo, guided a flock of 10 endangered Western Siberian Cranes, bred in captivity, with an Icaro hang glider equipped with an NRG powered harness 5,300 kilometres (3,300 mi) from the Arctic circle in Siberia, across Kazakhstan to the shores of the Caspian Sea in Iran, avoiding Afghanistan and Pakistan where they fall victim to the abundant guns. For the most part, he relied on the sun and wind for propulsion in order to teach the young cranes to soar long distances. This exhausting $250,000 USD experiment lasted for six months and finished in winter 2002.[37][38]
Patrick Laverty - altitude world record: 5,348 metres (17,546 ft), U.K., May 24, 2009
  • On May 24, 2009, Irish pilot Patrick Laverty broke the foot-launched powered hang glider altitude world record. He used an Aeros Discus 15 hang glider coupled to a supine custom-made harness equipped with a 29 hp ROS 125 engine with the Supa-Tuna tuning lights system on a WB32 carburettor. Takeoff was at sea level and he flew to an altitude of 5,348 metres (17,546 ft) ASL over Talybont, Ceredigion, Wales, UK.[39] He carried oxygen and 10 litres of fuel, per U.K. regulations; his variometer indicated 30 to 50fpm climb rate at the time fuel ran out.
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Systems

Currently, there are two harness configurations: prone (face down) and supine (sitting). Both configurations allow the pilot to takeoff and land on his/her feet. Foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG) harnesses are built around a light metal frame with the engine and propeller mounted on the rear in a pusher configuration. Current powered harnesses weigh 22–32 kg (50-70 lb) not including the safety parachute and fuel, and fold neatly into a 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) long harness bag with a handle. Most powered harnesses in production are equipped with the 'Radne Raket 120' two stroke engine which is based on Husqvarna XP3120 chainsaw parts. It has a displacement of 118 cubic centimetres (7.2 cu in) and produces about 15 hp (11 kW) at 8900 RPM if equipped with a tuned exhaust; when coupled to a 1:3.5 belt-driven reduction drive and a 52" x 22" propeller, it produces about 100 lbf (440 N) of static thrust. For heavy pilots or pilots operating from higher than 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) MSL fields, a powered harness equipped with an 18 hp (13 kW) engine is recommended.[40]

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Electric motors

  • Richard Kruger-Sprengel (Helix Propeller) and German designer Werner Eck, have produced at least two electric powered paraglider (EPPG) prototypes,[41]

Timeline for electric-powered foot-launched gliders

  • 1979 April 29: at Flabob Airport, California, Larry Mauro flew the Solar Riser with an electric motor powered by storage batteries charged from the sun. The Solar Riser was a modified Easy Riser hang glider.[42]
  • 2001 Richard Kruger Sprengel electric drive for paraglider.[43]
  • 2006, June 6: in Canada, Casaba Lemak takes off using an electric paraglider.[44][45]
  • 2006, December 19: Prototype electric paramotor from Helix-Carbon GmbH shows electric motor during the Coupe Icare in Saint Hilaire, France.[46]
  • 2007 at the German Free Flight Trade Fair in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Werner Eck and Jochen Geiger displayed electric drives for hang gliders and paragliders.[47]
  • 2007 Razeebus Aircraft[48]
  • The E-Lift hang glider system by Toni Roth, Fronreute, Germany [49]
  • 2009 E-flight Expo displayed some electric paragliders.[50]
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Patents

  • US Patent 4262863 Filed: January 16, 1978. Powered hang glider with reduction drive by Charles J. Slusarczyk.
  • US Patent 4417707 Filed: January 26, 1982. Human powered hang glider by Ken Leong. This type of powered hang glider is powered by the muscle exertion of the hang glider pilot. This patent references earlier teachings affecting powered hang glider design.
  • US Patent 5170965 Filed: April 30, 1991. Hang glider which can fly by human strength by Hiroaki Yasuda.
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See also

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References

  1. ^ Abbas Ibn Firnas flew in 875 AD near Cordoba, Spain. (Ibn Firnas crater on the Moon is named in his honor).
  2. ^ Jet-powered Hang gliders from the 1970s: http://www.rocketbelts.americanrocketman.com/OFM/HANG_GLILDER.jpg
  3. ^ The Southeastern Wisconsin Aviation Museum
  4. ^ In 1898 Augustus Moore Herring adapted a compressed air engine to a weight-shift biplane. Images: [1]
  5. ^ French aviation historians on FLPHG
  6. ^ British Microlight Aircraft Association, History of Microlighting
  7. ^ http://www.delta-club-82.com/bible/701-hang-glider-easy-riser.htm
  8. ^ In April 1946 Mitchell completed construction of his 'Flying Wing' (not the Mitchell Wing hang glider which was developed in 1975). The American FAA issued an Experimental Airworthiness number for it. The wing was flown as a glider by Mitchell, Bolwus and Paul Tuntland. Then Mitchell mounted a Nelson 2-cycle engine on it and flew it as a powered glider with wheels for landing gear.[2]
  9. ^ In the early 1940s Don Mitchell first became involved with flying wing glider design and construction. But WWII interrupted his research and experiments. Then in 1974, with the advent of hang glider mania, the Mitchell Wing resurfaced. It was at that time Dr. Howard Long took an interest in the half-forgotten project and asked Mitchell to make him a flying wing hang glider. The result was the foot-launched Mitchell Wing, controllable by a 'joystick'. The Mitchell Wing astounded the world of hang gliding. George Worthington, holder of eight world records in hang gliding and author of the book In Search of World Records, wrote in the book..."I predict that the Mitchell Wing will be the highest performance foot-launhced hang glider we'll see for a long time." He was right and it was from this preliminary design that Mitchell developed his later powered models: The B-10 and Mitchell U-2 Superwing.
  10. ^ Don Mitchell - U.S. Pacific [3], B-10 Photos: [4]
  11. ^ Flex-wing hang glider technology underwent a performance jump in 1980, when Ultralight Products released the revolutionary Comet hang glider.
  12. ^ Interview with Gerard Farell on Jan. 23-24, 2007. "Foot launched powered Para-wing around 1963, 7 hp (5 kW) West Bend driving a 3-foot (1 m) dia. glass over balsa propeller. Main structure is 6061-T6 aluminum tubing, 4 mil polyethylene. The craft was not particularly portable, the wind was always coming down the slight slope in Bloomfield, CT, and the project was terminated as I was re-engineering it with a bigger engine and as I got a job offer to move to Miami and design, build and fly the wheeled wings (trikes)."
  13. ^ Recorded by the FAA as: Palmer Parawing D-6, serial 1A, N7144, was registered on 4/24/1967. No limitations were noted.
  14. ^ Article in PDF format: Powered hang glider, you can launch it any where [5]
  15. ^ Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Icarus hang glider development
  16. ^ Power Up Company, United States Patent # 4546938
  17. ^ Powered backpack Motolotnia 80 White Eagle photo of advert in Flight Line magazine, march-June 1982 [6]
  18. ^ Jerzy Kolecki, founder of Kolecki New Aviation Engineering, Sweden)
  19. ^ The Ranger, designed by Bruce Hudson, UK. Powered by the Solo 210 cc engine: [7]
  20. ^ Relax 220, designed by Yves Rousseau.
  21. ^ Radne Raket 120, 118 cc, 15 hp (11 kW), 10.2 kg + exhaust and reduction drive [8]
  22. ^ FLPHG manufacturers
  23. ^ Wasp designers: Ed Cleasby and Chris Taylor - Wasp Flight Systems and Sperwill.
  24. ^ DoodleBug designer: Ben Ashman - Flylight Airsports Ltd.
  25. ^ Raven designer: Randy Haney - Powerplanes
  26. ^ X1 designers: Kenneth M. O'Sage II and Dave Little - Hidden Mountain Flight.
  27. ^ Zenon designer: Sotos Christoforou - Sky Gear.
  28. ^ Explorer designer: Bob Bauer - Airtime Products. Created in 1997; discontinued in 2004 and released again in 2007 as the 'Explorer LD',
  29. ^ Fillo manufacturer: Milan Vita.
  30. ^ Flyped Manufacturer: Paul Kiraly
  31. ^ FAI microlight world records, RWF1 (Weight-shift control, foot-launched and flown solo) [9]
  32. ^ Bernard Danis
  33. ^ French aviation historians on FLPHG
  34. ^ Interview with Gerard Farell on November 2006.
  35. ^ This powered hang glider, registered G-BGNL, is now held by the British Hang Gliding Museum.
  36. ^ Despite this achievement, Breen and Hunt recognized the deficiencies of the keel mounted engine and when Breen saw a picture of Roland Magallon's trike in the French hang gliding magazine Vol Libre, he mentioned that the days of the Soarmaster 'were numbered.'
  37. ^ Interview with Angelo d'Arrigo
  38. ^ Siberian Crane Flyway coordination
  39. ^ The altitude was recorded by a digital altimeter, a GPS and the flight was filmed as well; Video:[10]
  40. ^ 18 hp Harnesses such as the 'X1' or 'Wasp Venom' equipped with the Vittorazi EVO 100 cc for about 130 lbf (580 N) thrust at 7,000 ft (2,100 m) MSL
  41. ^ Werner Eck, designer of an Electric PGG
  42. ^ History of Solar Flight
  43. ^ Werner Eck, Electric Paramotor Efforts
  44. ^ Electric PPG Description
  45. ^ Electric Paramotor Flies and Electric Powered Paraglider inventor - Csaba Lemak
  46. ^ Helix Propeller
  47. ^ E-drive developments
  48. ^ Razeebus
  49. ^ Back to the Future
  50. ^ E-Flight Expo at AERO Friedrichshafen 2009
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Last modified on 7 April 2013, at 11:10