Foot launched rigid glider

[denverpilot]

Want.

Nephew found this one. And he's right. It's wicked cool!

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=740_1333399954

 

[airbornejohnny]

That's cool!

 

[kimberlyanne546]

I only glanced at it with the sound off. How much do they cost? Did it say?

 

[DavidWhite]

News headline

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

Today - A Wichita man jumped off his roof with a foot launched glider and has been aloft for nearly 9 hours over the city.


update: After frightening most animals and small children within city limits, the glider returned to earth without incident in the unnamed residents driveway.

 

[Matthew]

I've always liked this particular vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHRyEWpHeec

 

[Arbiter419]

That's wild!

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

Like.

 

[tonycondon]

News headline

funny. that would be cool. an example earlier iteration of this type of glider, the Carbon Dragon, was flown in this area quite a bit back in the 90's. Some impressive flights were done in it. with such low weight, sink rate, and light wing loading, you can take advantage of some wind gusts/lift lines that "normal" sized sailplanes just can't exploit. Although more often than not around here it would just be too windy for it.

 

[AdamZ]

Way cool!

 

[jstro]

Here's a link to a brochure, no price info:

http://www.ruppert-composite.ch/rokdownloads/public/archaeopteryx/kataloge/archaeopteryx_eng.pdf

And here's a Youtube clip of someone doing aerobatics in one... at least until the wing folded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOR5PLTn84

 

[Let'sgoflying!]

120lbs.
hmm
decent weight for a person to run with on their back.
Amazing they can get enough wing strength with such a small mass.

 

[Captain]

I wonder if it can launch in still air or if it needs a breeze. And if so, how much wind does it need to 'foot launch'?

 

[jstro]

I wonder if it can launch in still air or if it needs a breeze. And if so, how much wind does it need to 'foot launch'?

Minimum air speed is supposed to be 19 mph, so that seems to imply a safe foot launch really does need a good breeze.

 

[denverpilot]

Here's a link to a brochure, no price info:

http://www.ruppert-composite.ch/rokdownloads/public/archaeopteryx/kataloge/archaeopteryx_eng.pdf

And here's a Youtube clip of someone doing aerobatics in one... at least until the wing folded:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgOR5PLTn84

Ouch.

 

[tonycondon]

28:1 according to wikipedia. wow.

the first attempt at a rigid wing foot launch sailplane that i know of was the Hall Vector 1, designed by the same guy who designed my Cherokee II. It was a neat design but ended up too heavy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_Vector_1

 

[EdFred]

Gonna be a bit hard to self launch in Kansas or Oklahoma.

 

[tonycondon]

Gonna be a bit hard to self launch in Kansas or Oklahoma.

there are several hang glider foot launch sites in eastern Oklahoma but yea.

 

[Conan]

:29 into the original video cracks me up. All I can picture is the 'gear up' lever. Kyle

 

[Clark1961]

Digging around the website a bit it seems the base price is about 75,000 swiss francs. Ouch.

 

[david.h]

28:1 according to wikipedia. wow.

the first attempt at a rigid wing foot launch sailplane that i know of was the Hall Vector 1, designed by the same guy who designed my Cherokee II. It was a neat design but ended up too heavy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_Vector_1

Lilienthal?

 

[AirDC]

Digging around the website a bit it seems the base price is about 75,000 swiss francs. Ouch.

For the lazy.......
75,000 Swiss francs = $81,788.25 US dollars

 

[steingar]

Can purchase quite a few hang gliders for that, and they're all foot launch as well.

 

[tonycondon]

Lilienthal?

key word sailplane vs. hang glider. Hall's goal was to double the glide ratio of the then state of the art hang gliders.

 

[denverpilot]

For the lazy.......
75,000 Swiss francs = $81,788.25 US dollars

Ouch. Nevermind. Ha. Can get whole airplanes for that.