SCHGA Ground Skimmer August 1972

The

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GROUnD /Klftf\CR ·

· August. 1972

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Cover:

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Bob Valentine and his

11

Flexi

11

at Play Del Rey. Photo by W.A. Allen

Catching the last of the ridge lift, Volmer Jensen soars down the beach in his VJ-23 Swingwing at the Playa Del Rey site.

Photo by W.A . Allen

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SCHGA Members, Jim and John Linardos launch their Flexi-Flier at Playa Del Rey. 11

Photo by W.A. Allen

GROUND SKIMMER NEWSLETTEH OF THE SuuTHERN CALIFORNIA HANG GLIDER ASSOCIATION, INC.

EDITOR:

No. h, Aug~st., 1972

LLOYD LICHER

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Deaclline for material to go in the September issue is September 1st. but.items rec..eived after that wi.11 be included if the production schedule permits, otherwise they will be held over for the next issue. Submit material to the Editor at 12536 Woodbine St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90066. Items published in GROUND SKINfr,IER may be reproduced in other publications (unless it is noted as copyrighted or all rights reserved), provided credit is given to GROUNTI SKIMMER and the author/photographer, i f noted.

MEMBERSHIP JVIEETING NOTICE Day/Date/Time:

vvednesda,y, August 23, 1973, 7:30 P.M.

Location: Southern Calif. Gas Co. basement auditorium, 810 s. Flower St. +,os ll~geles.

Exit Harbor Freeway at 9th. St., go east a few blocks to Flower Street.and park at no charge in the lot on the NW corner of 9th and Flower.

Program: Short business meeting of announcements, to be followed by half-hour break for refreshments and build/fly talk. Program after break will include a slide show by Doug Morgan, and new movies by Carl Boenish and Volmer Jensen.

Membership cards,.featuring the Association's emblem in color, have been print~d and

wr.i..11 be distributed to all members who attend the meeting. Those unable to attend 1:ill receive their cards with their September GROUND SKIMMER. SCHGA OFFICERS Jli~ D DIHECTORS President.: Vice-Pres.: Secretary TreasureP-

Dick Eipper, Box 246, Lomita 90717, Ph. (213) 320-9313 (1733 S. Border Ave., Torrance 90501) Lloyd Licher, 12S36 Vvoodbine St.,.Los Angeles 90066, Ph. (213) 397-4848 Chris Talbot-Jones, 1963 H.ose Villa St •. ., Pasadena 91107, Ph. (213) 7925594 · Rick Finley, 2608-C Graham Ave., Hedondo Beach 90278, Ph. (213) 371-4202

Flight Director:

Gary Naeve, 8824 Aviation Blvd., Inglewood 90301, Ph. (213) 641-

5166 SCHGA COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN Historian:.

Neil Larson, 54S5 W. U.8th Pl., Inglewood 90304, Ph. ( 213) 676- 8544

Librarian:

Lynn Bale,, 2S0 0. Kennore, 1,1209, Los Angeleco 90005 ADVEHTISINC RATES

Display ads, $5.00 for 1- page. Classified ads at no charge for members selling personal mati;rials or equipment; otheruiset 25¢ per line.

GS, 8-72

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THE GREEN MACHINE

By Art Powell

My Green ~~~hine is a 21-Ft.-Span Chanute-type biplane.

It is essentially a variant on the 1~09 11 Bby Mecl1anic" ~lider, with some of the dimensions changed for various reasons. The wing chord is 32-Ft., and both upper and lower wings disassembltii ·1nto 3 -· pieces, allowing the glider to be transported in the back of the author 1 s 1970 VW camper. The rear spar was placed at the trailing edge to facilitate handling of the wing panels. · The entire tail swivels about the vertical axis for rudder control.

The wiring of the 2-cell biplane wing is across the cell faces for the inner cells, and diagonal for the outer cells.

The glider was built in the sununer of 1971 and made its debut at the Montgomery Meet that year. Owing to excessive porosity in the glider's cot.ton-covered wings, the complete inexperience of the pilot, and the lack of sul'ficient wind, the ship did not get off the ground. The pilot, however, gained a great deal of valuable ground handling experience.

Later, after starching the wings, success came with a series of short hops on a small, local hill, end±ng in the tonventional types of crashes. (The rudder control was not hooked up yet.)

Part of the reason the outer wing cells were wired diagonally was to .allow the t~ps to twist for roll control. Accordingly, the next time the glider was tobe flowp, the, control system, which consisted of the all-flying rudder working simultaneously -with the wing-warping, was connected up. It was hoped that with s::>me development 'it would produce coordinated turns. The glider flew, but was on the ragged edge of control.

A crash at the hands of a friend extensively damaged the lower wing.

Four months later the carcass was removed from under the author I s house and rebuilt.

The lower wing was recovered with polyethylene, and the wings were rerigged with about lFt. of dihedral at each tip. The glider flew quite controllably at Norco, using the rudder-dihedral control system. This configuration is its present one.

One characteristic worthy of h"ote with the rudder-dihedral control system is a. ten,dency to overbank when turning off the wind. Thi's is due to the Dutch-roll tendency' bf the dihedraled VIJi ng, combined with an instantaneous shift in the relative wind during this type of turn. :All of the pictur'es we have taken of turns show the rudder deflected against the turn to compensate for this. This overbank tendency is q;ite dangerous in that stalling the rudder would produce a crash. It is the author's conviction that' ' off-wind turns should be executed cautiously, and only under complete control. Turns into the -wind, h6weter·, don 1 t appear to be dangerous. , Overall, the glider flies controllably and well, has .gained altitude in the phantom lift of Norco, and has almost sustained along the ridge at Playa Del Rey. It appe9::r's to glide at about- 4:1 with stall around 20mph and· min.· sink 'in the neighborhood of · 8Ft./sec. In the mill is a design which should considerably better these figures,hopefullyretaining the simplicity and portability of the Green Machine.

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9.:§., 8-72

P L E A~ E. P OS T !

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ANNOUNCING

THE 2nd ANNUAL

JOHN J. MONTGOMERY

MEMORIAL HANG GLIDER CHAMPIONSHIPS August 27, 1972 11:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Site: Unnamed slope, 2! miles east of the John J. ;Montgomery Memorial Monument, at the end of Palm Ave. Take Interstate 5 Freeway ·south of San Diego and Chula Vista, exit at Palm Ave., negotiate immediate detour to remain on Palm and proceed east to endo (Alternately, take old Highway 101, National Ave., south out of Chula Vista and turn left, east, on Old Otay Mesa Road to where it passes upper end of slope. ) Sponsored by the Southern California Hang Glider Association, Inc. To h~lp commemorate the 89th anniversary of John J. Montgomery's first flight in a hang glider, made on August 28, 1883, at nearby Otay Mesa. Special Memorial Service will be conducted at the Montgomery Monument at 1: 00 P.M. The Monument is a B-24 wing mounted vertically, and is located at the northeast corner of National Ave. (Old Highway 101) and Coronado Ave. (National is ! mile east of the Freeway and Coronado is ! mile south of Palm .Ave.) A perpetual trophy will be awarded to the overall winner of the Championships,

determined by the lowest sum of placings in three precision events, pilot-selected duration, pilot-selected distance, and spot landing. Special awards will be given for best performance along a slalom course, best craftsmanship, best control system, and best placings by Rogallos, monoplanes, 'and biplanes. All participants will receive certificates.

Overnight camping will be permitted at the Monument. playgrounds.

Restrooms are at adjacent

A~ards ceremony after flying on Sunday will be at the Hayloft B-B-Q Restaurant (Dutch treat), a short distance north of the Monument~

GS:,

8-72

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FAA STATES POSITION ON HANG GLIDERS AND "SKYSURfINl~"

The August, 1972, issue of SKYSURFER, newsletter of the.' Boston Sky Club, contained a reprint o.f the.fo11ov1ine very important letter from the FAA Administrator to Michael MarJ-:c~1ski, editor of SKYSURFER: "This is in reply to ?Our letter t-o the .Adrninistrc1tor, elated 12 April, • II ] .

1972 , coverine s~ysur inr,. II f.

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"We have been r;ivinp; thot1,o;ht to the possible need for ree;ulations on hanp; gliding operations. At this moment, hoPever, we feel that "skysurfing" is a snortine activity co;flparable to intentional parachute jumpinc.

"It-is.not our desire to subject activities which make momentarv or brief tise of the airspace to Federal reBulations beyond what is necessary tb protect air traffic and the Reneral public~ "I would like to express my gratitude ·'fori 'Youri comments anrl. inter~st ' in aviation safety.

"Sincerely, (sir;ned) .JohnW. Shafer1 , Aclministrator" Thus it appears that most ultrali~ht glic'lir flying actiVity ·is not subject to pilot .and aircraft l:i.censinr; requirements of any sort.

In the letter the. words "momentary" anc'l "brief" Pere not defined but the comparison of the activi t~r to !)arachute jl1mpinp; Pould indicat~·that flip;ht times similar to those obtained by·parachute jumpers would be considered brief. The limitinr; concern expr~ssed WA~ for protection of air traffic and the r;eneral public. Operating in the bouncary layer of air iust above -the earth's surface:~: avray· -from· .. · airport:s-, Should avoicl any conflict Nith "air traffic, 11 ·and· heine (·: careful n_qt to endanger the "r.;eneral :public" should keep·ha.nr; . glid:ing free fr'om rer;ulation. Let's all bear this in.rriinrl liihen flying,· and get licensed for . operation, as rer;ular gliders ~nd. · glider' pilots before attemptinr; to flu hip:h anc'l/ or lonr.;, · so as not to jeapordize this freerom.

SKYSPRFER

The August issue --of SKYSURFER, Vol. 1, No. 2, is . v~ry impre·ss:fve, . showinc considerable erowth since the on~-p~fe first issue·o{'June.

It contains 19 par:es nlns a cover featurinr: a drFlPinp: o:f Otto Lilienthal flying.his biplane hanr: r;licler. In mimeo.r;raphed format, it is published bv Man-Fli~ht Systems Fn8ineerin~ for the Boston Sky Club., Box 375, t1arlboro, l·1ass. 01752, phone (617) lJ.85-574-0.

Membership dues, includinr: a subscription to SKYSURFING, are $6.00.

Sine;le issue price is 75¢. Michael A. MarkoPski 1.s Editor, and President/General Manap:er of lffSE. Frequency will be monthly or bimonthly, depending on material received. A summary of the contents of the August issue is as follows: SKYSURFER explanation; Meet the Editor (bior:raphy); 4- hanr.: gliders static displayed at Norwood, Mass., Airport durin8 airshow; MFSE to be distributor of rilans for Taras Kiceniuk's Icarus II ancl Batso; FAA's position on sky~urfing (~uoted in the fore~oing article); Report from Ed Kytta (building an "Icaroid", a modifiecl Icarus), including some

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GS, 8-72

sugge~ted mottoes and club son~s; a 2-pare bioeraphy of Otto Lilienthal; a 3-pa~e reprint of an article from a rape Cbd newspaper describin~ the glidinf, ano soarinr; activities on the Cape in the late 1920's; "H0v1 to Make a Monoplane Eanr; Glider, 11 reprinted from an old issue o-f POPULAR MFCHANICS,meant for inspiration,· not to be built; "FootLaunched Glidinr;," by Marko-Pski ·(--a 4-pa(Te abstract of a paper to pe presented at a Symposium of _the Technolop:y of Motorless F;lirrht, at M.I.T. in October), a basic derivation of wing area nieded for typical. hang gliders anrl hop it rni;'"ht be arranp;Pd; "Daec'lelus, 11 a 3 Of oot-·span-flyin.1?:-Hing mononlane ul traJ.ir:ht: under construction: by · Thomas A. Peghiny, · includinr; 3-vieF c~raHinr>: and nersr)ective (reprinted elsewhere in.thi~ issue of rRnUND SKI~U1FR); and~ flier/membership application for the Boston Sky Club.

All in all a good packape of arlditional rearline material about bur fi~ld of interest, Well worth ~our supnort. SC~GA ~elcomes the advent of 'SKYSURFER. The More the merrier!

NEWS FROM C-0-V-E

(Carlsbad-Oceanside-Vista-Escondido) •

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bj Richard Miller The j lb-sail Rop;allo, which Doug Carmichael had. at Cal Pol~.r durinr; the school year, is now in Vista and will he used - starting today· (July 1st) - to introduce--lo-eal enthusi?sts to hill skimminp:. The lads from Carlsbad (referred to me) will be first. A handful of students at Palomar are also ready to r;ive it a try.

I believe the jib-sail Ror;allo is the old~st operational hanRglider in Southern California.-· It ~as built in May of 1966 and first flew on June 1st of that year. It was at the 1971 and 1972 Lilienthal Meets and we hope to have it at all future events - for as long as it lasts.

I v.10uld like to see a pilot-report ty:ne of article in GROPND SKIMMER by someone with a lot of experience in Rogallos, riving strong and weak points of desirn, aspects of control, etc.

(Do we have a volunteer among. our :,:,eaders? If so, nlease contact the Editor.)' . ..

July 10th. Bill Hannan of Escondido (Boy A, Zip 92025; purveyor of pla~s and thin~s for model airplanes, write for catalo~) has a hi~h interest in hanr.; .r;lidinr: - eno11p-h so that he took a couple of rides in the Ron-aJ._lo - and he is, furthermore, in a position to p;ive a p;reat deal of heln.

(He later joined SrHGA, #186.) For one thing, he believes the model m2_r1;azines are not p:ivin(T the snort enour;h emphasis and has alreadv ciuerierl Bill Pinter at- American Aircraft Mo.deller about what sot.i.nds to me like an eycellerit article. for r1nother, he v!ill ber;iri a regular colurrn in B:i.11 Northr'or,' s · tfodel Builder next month, titled "Hannan I s Hanp:ar." Still fur-ther, he has__ a.n excellent library of old avir1.tion/nodel books a.ncl archives items Phich contain much excellent mr1terial on earlu hahp: p-liders. T-1e snent an afternoon p;oinp; throur;h it Hi th the result that I sta.rted on a~ article about the Sellers' multinlane p:liders c. 1905,'08 or.so. Sellers is a much overlooked ma~ who turned out soMe trulv fascinatin~ ~liders.

GS, 8-72

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Jul:/ 2nd was a r;usty day at l\Jater 'J'Ol· er No, 2 Hill and al thour;h we got several new enthusiasts indoctrinated we also,.had.,sqm~ .minor .crashes and slir:htly bent one of the leadinp; edr,es ,' . I ,more bent out of shape than the ·,.r;lirler, hoPever, but all should be healed shortly.· 1

,-!as

BILL LISCOMB.WRITES For the ·summer, until September, I Fill be at 5 6 Per;r.;otty Beach R.d •. , Scituate, Mass. 02066. I have a new.company named Aero:i.d, Ltd. In the hanp, ·glider field I have built a li.r;hter vevsion ·o·;f the · cy1indric:al Rop;allo _-seen at the Turkey Fl:v. It Hill ·ca,rry a 150-lb. pilot ·with no difficulty ·in still air .. ,. . P..;Lans for it .are still in :the thinking stage.

As far as I know, I'm the only one of the 01¢1 Riverside .r;roup still building and flying, Being a hard-core self-launcher and concerned about the future of the sport, what .J~___ g_qi,n.r; to. c.orr.e of the many fatal ·an-d·-near-fatal crashes r~s~ltin~ from auto tows? I personally believe such tows should be outlawed, and our livinr auto-towers converted to selflaunchinp;.

I would like ~o join SCHCA and receive GROUND SKIMMER, .vood w6rk and have a p;ood summer.

Keep up the

Bill

SCHGA IN ACJ'ION · by w. A. Allen "Why I Prefer Vehicles Motorless"

or "Hill the Real lJoe Splczk Please St_ep Forward?"

It Pas decided recen_tly betHeen the SCHGA Board of Directors and ,the.

Southern California Soaring Association Flipht Group to h6ld ~ day of introductory.sailplane rices especially for SCHGA members at a minimum fee per ride. This r,reP out of queries about r;ettinp; rides which had been expressed by various hanr: p-lider pilots to their cohorts with ~lid~r licenses.

He were suppos.~d. to fly at El. l 1 irap:e Dry Lake near Adelanto, Ca. on Saturday July 8th~ but the directions to it were so complicated it was decided. to meet first at El Mirap;e Soar in fr, Center.., The Center is an ex-Army Air Corps base Phere the Flip:ht Group keeps its Schweizer 2-33 two-place training sailplane- Just about everyone seemed to be able to follow the directions to the Center anc arrived an hour before the writer, who was coordinatinr; bett-reen the two clubs. I had been delayed by car problems and when I arrived, Bar1;:>ara and Leonard· Sharpe, the dedicated Flir,ht Group managers, were working

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liS, S-72

on the tPo cars usec'l for c1.uto tcPinp.

Thus, an ominous, r,:reasy tone v.ias set for the cay v1hich 1;1as rapidly Parmin.rr up to over 110° under a cloudless desert sky, On t}w ,,ay out to the (\t'Y lake adjacont to thP Center, 1-1c failed to keep the troops to.P.ctn r, leavinr ctr)o111- i-hree car ·lo,1clc:; to emulat~ Rommel 1 ,, f\frika J<orp:, de~ : 1 1ey c11.arr:ed aero::;:, the lc,rp;e clry lake, ociv1n side roacl:;, to1-1ard rn_i r.c1,·c::: arid arounci cl11rnn:; of sar,ebru::li ,311:,[)ected of hiclinp: four cars <'1nd a r,;lider, ~1ec1n,'hile, the trainer Pas launched from El 1'1irci.o;rc by aero tov, 11it:h Len Sharpe pilotin(T ancl Dan Heflinr:er p:ettinp; the first desonstration ride in the f~ont seat.

It was definitely a "soarinr: day" anc1 Len an(l Dan had a p:ood time explorinp, "thermals," colunru:; of narrn air r:~sinr- throur,h surrounc'lin.r; and relatively cooler .:1ir, :~ir:ilar to b11bhlec; risin.ri: in a o,rn of hot Hater.

After they landed, Chricc; Jones 1 as ,:ickc ,cl to take the firc=;t ride from auto t0v1.

Drivir(T the to1 · car, I fou,,cl i-1- c'lifficul t to build up the spcecl J,einp: reC1uestecl fro1:-i Len ahovc=c, c1n,1 ,.,p only .1Tot thc!m to about 1,000 ft., comparec:1 to the 1,700 usua} expected \ 7 hen wcing the 2, 0 0 0- ft. toH Hire cable.

Len nil 1 ~ed every foot of altitude he co1-1ld as Pe narle the ;five-mile run doi;m the SJ'.1.oo:th, hard-paclred "lake's" surface.

Phen the brush rinp:inr; the lake's edr:e started cominp closer and closer and larger and larp:er, explodinr: in my ~ind, my q11eries to ohser·ver Bill Hickloff in the back seat startecl r:ettinp more and more anxiouf;.

At about the t that I was· revie,,iinr; my notes frorr: Driver's Eel. on 11 hed.r-e slalomin.r; and sand-c1une l1oppinr; at 70 mph." Rill ;>ave the FPlcome nePs that Len anci C'hris hacl rlecided to get f onr backs.

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The next run i:· as Hi th Suzy ohero as passenl'Ter, and so was the next as the first ended in five feet after the nose skid came loose and dug into the ground.

On the second attempt Len Has apain askinB for more speed, but the desert-beaten, over-heateci Buick just wouldn't go any· faster, especially after the enr:ine blei:1 up, Len had enour:h altitude to release, do a 180° turn and land synpatheticalJy next to the steam-i;,ihistlirw hulk.

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After our predicament 1 ·c1:-:; d iscoverec1 , PC r0 surrecl car tm,;13 ,,i th the use of the Sharpe I s Dodrre van, c,hicl- ,:iJsc :i 11st couliln' t .1,et un the nece~sary speed in the thin,~ot air.

It soon used a dead battery as a means to its oi;-rn rel:i.ef, and t, o naralyzecl tot' cars made the r;lider as useful as a pterodactvl (or han" ri;lirler) on flat lancl, and a Phole lot less mov?ble.

So it 11a,, ciecj_rlecl that I Poulrl catch a ride to the airport to s1•mnon 2 tovrnlane and retur:r. to the l"eSclie with mv OPD car, You rruessecl i t , TilV nas tax mafTnet pas fo1ind to 'be immobilized i:' i th a flat tire anci -a brol~en fan b~J.t. /1.fter comnletinP repairs, a rlashin)' LaPrencian resc11e "as nerformed on the dry lal.r:e, deftly removinr the battery from the B1 iek at one enc1 of the lake and puttin1:, it in the Dodp:e van at the other end.

Phen 1· e rot back to, . the airport, the last diehar~ hanp ~1ioer pilot (Steve Elliott) Pas r:ettinr: his de1:1onstrFttion ric1e ·, i tr an aero toP b~r the settinr; sun.

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Besirles those mentioned, other SCHCiA'ers Fho participated Pere r-rom Dickinson, Randy Kirk, and Hal Cornel, alonr Pith others Phose names es cape me nm·, I'm sorry to say.

uS ,' 8-?2

( Conti:rnoc2)

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We had driven off El Mirar;e Dry Lake in the miciclle of a minor sand storm made to lbok more sinister than it really was.

The Sharpe's were shaking their hearls over the most exasper~tinp day thev have ever had with the Flight Groun's oneration. ·Ona rood day many launches .can be T'lacle, · and aut:o toPin.rr, is a simple a.ncl J.oH-cos t' way of ,rr,iv;ing demonstration ric'les and instrnction.

Shoulcl any readers be int~rested .in learninrr, more about: the Flir;ht Group,, ,,1hof;e :instruction costf3 less than that of a commercial soarin.r· sc1"ool, please contact Len and Barbara Sh~rpe at (2.1~) 677~2927 (3708 1/2 w;· 104th St., In1:,1enood, Ca 90303). fOr a list of ·other clubs a.nd schools in this area, .OP any part of the lJ. S. , .T-'ri te to The Soarin..r: Society of America, Inc.,, Box 6:6071, Los 1\np:eles, ('a 90066. · T,he 1.day p.fter this outing, about 10 Ro0"a.llos assembled at Lar;una "Niguel, iust over the hill from where Jack Lambie first flew the ortcina1 "Hanr; Loose" two ~ears ar:o.

It Pas ~ea1.1t if ul to Hatch the fooJ launches. throqfTh my Nikon camern, apnreciatinr: that man does not need an engine 'to flv, not even for launchinp, and we come· closer to pure· human flirrht by severinr our selves f'rom the infernal combustion enr;ine and all iti problems.

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NEWS FROM MISSISSIPPI S'l'ATE PNIV:ERSITY

(Editor's Note: The follo•,ring are excerpts from a cTune 29th letter froin Georp:e Bennett, Ph. D. , As soci.::ite Professor in the Aerophysics and Aerospace Enr;ineerinfT Dept. at Mississipni State University.· It wa 9 a response to a qnery about v1 hether there r1as an:v interest in the ultralir;ht glider field at HSU, after John McMasters had s11ggeSted that what this country needs is a pood ultrRlir;ht Akafleir;, or academic center for research.)

EncJ,.osed. is a proposal for a hanr; glider that our students put together for the AIAA Bendix student co!:,peti tion. The· orir;in of, this ~roposal was my desipn class work durin,r: the fall of 1971~ Several components of the glider Pere constructec but the overall project i-?as too much for one s0:raester. I also found the const:iruction skills of most students are limite~. A sophomore had constructed· Jack Lambie's "Hanr; Loose" on his oPn. All this has led to a grou':' of students interested in constructinr; t-he "Biv Biren: Our interest is prini.ariJ.y to build a high-:rerf ormanc2 \'Tround skimmer c1.s He do not have steep, lonr:; slopes. The s:rioilers wiJl ensure altitude control v1i th constant speec'l. rrhe full-fl~r:i.nr- tail feathers will allow comparison t·d th control usinr: c. n-. shift.

T· We are not too interested in f'2n-nor.rered flir;r,t because the po1>1er density of small enr;ines is so hi(th, l-Je can see that .our "Bi,o: Bird" t-1ould fly in strai.r;ht-line r;round effect fli.,.rt vdth tPo • 61-cu, -in. model enp,ines.

Mv primary interest since 1·eti.1rninr; from the Pniversi ty of Illinois has-been the development of a viable ornithopter. At the present time, I have a 10-ft. radio-controlled model of an ornithopter .=i.bout to fly in tethered fli~ht over the old ~lider toP car. Also have a small NSF grant to make thr112t measureI'.1ents in the wind t,u.r.nel.

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G$')

8-72

A~ Y01f prob<:1-bly knov, Bob L~.ebeck, n}w is t-levelopinp: technolop:v for ~i~foi~.design at.Do~gla~ A1rcr2ft, an~ I ,~ere office ~ate~ ·t the Jn1.vE;r)1ty of Ill2.nois, anci as F"l result, 11e have ker,1· in to11ch on pos~i~l:' Ho;k here.

I 1'ill say that at ,rny time vo11 think the facilities nere could he of ~se to the ultralipht or soarinp; ~ovements, n~ea~e do ~ot hesitate to call or ~,rite.

We are interested in re-establishinp; this place as a technical hase for loP-si,eed work.

Sincerely,

The han2: p;licler 11 N·o1,osaJ. 11 mentioned h" Ceorp,e in hi~~; letter is 2. form~l T)cmer on the enr:;.ineerin.r: cc ip;n of a SO-foot-span rronoplarie by five students. It features a full~cantilever (no external bracing) w1n0 o:F 250 sq. ft. area, Goettingen G52 airfoil, full controls T)lus' spoilers. The conventi.onal erpennap;e is on a cable-braced boom ~nd t~e surfaces are_all-~ovi~~· Empt•· wei~ht is estim?ted at 75lbs., so ,nth a 170-;-lb. DJ.lot it Fill have c1 Pinp; lo,=,ding of just under 1 lb./ sq•. ft.

Ihth. an aspect r<:1-tio of_ 10 :1n0 a lift coefficient of 1. 515, est!ma~~d maximum L./D (gl~cie r~t10) is 9.~ to 1, and minimum sinking speE_d L:, 2.26 ft./ sec. ,_,tallJ.nf speed Hill be 13,6 mph.

Permission ~as been reC1uested to print the par0r in rROTJND SKD'.l'-!ER. If a,ranted J t ~ho1~ld. serve a~ a valuable .ri;uide for others desirin.lT to des ir,n their ot·'n han,o: p;liders.

MONTGOMERY RIF.3 SH/,PE? Jim Spurgeon writes: 11 1 would like to get in touch with anyone who is flying a monoplane hang glider with a wing area of approximately 100 sq. feet. I am drawing the 1883 Montgomery machine and hope to have plans available soon. I have laid out three parabolic rib sections of differ~ ent camber but am wondering what luck guy;3 are having with section properties. We know Montgomery used a true parabola for rib shapes and the chord was 54" but the exact parabola was not definedo I would appreciate l-1<::aring from someone with recent mor.oplaL:: experic,nce explaining what they used and how i.vell it worked, -so help me select a rib plan. Thanks a lot o Jim Spurgeon, 5590 Morro \Jay, La Mesa, Calif o 92041, phone

( 714) 466-6364 0"

Jim is, the coordinator for the Augu t 27th Montgol;lery Memorial' Ceremony' and local contact man who lined up the site for the Montgomery Hang Glider Meet and other facilities" He has had a long-standing interest in Montgomery~s work and its recognitiono

JEFF JOBE INJURED IN KITE ACCIDENT Jeff Jobe of Redmond, \Jasho, had an accident in late July, presumably while making some self-launched flights for an advertisement, using skiis on'a dolly in the Teton Mountains, and flying his Rogallo-type kiteo One of his skiis caught on something as he was about to taka-off, with the result that he broke ~is pelvis bone and one leg, Jeff had been the subject of a number of ,L,ticles in national magaziric:s last year, and his expliots while skiing/flying off mountains were included on a number of TV shows. May his recovery be rapid and complete.

GS, 8-72

- 9 -

FLEXI-FLYER COMPLETED IN ENuLAND

By David Nicholls (Editor 7 s Note: Mr. Nicholls has been.providing GRQUND,SKIJIJJMER with details concerning the 1-\Ugust 13th Birdman Rally at .his town of Selsey, Sussex, England~ His latest letter was . dated August, 8th, and-;indicated. th,at the single R;ally prize of ~~2400 would,go .-i;-;o the first competitor to exceed 50 yards, with flight attempts being made in the order that entry forms were received. The rest of his letter is of interest for the description of how itvs done.over there, and developing media interesto) I finished the building of my Eipper-Formance Flexi-Flier last week and took it into the hills a few miles north of here.with the idea of trying it outo Unfortu,~ate.~y the wind blew up to abo.ut 125-30 mph and I t};iought it c·b:etter to wa:i;t for calmer conditions. The.re were a few problems in obtaining the materials .. Aluminum tube is not. rijadily available here and took. some tracking down. The control .bar end -.fittings are not _made here so I ~ad to _make up· an alte.rnative.

Thet~ does not appear to be a hand-operated press (~~cop~e~s~~ool) fqr fitting ..':the thimbles to the ends of th~ .rigging wires, . qn ·the market in England. The rigging wires have to .be rriade up to exac~ lengths using a bench-m.aunted hydraulic press at a marine equipment deal:ero 1

The experience gained in overcoming these problems will, I hope, ·be useful when other people start building ultralight gliders in England. I am using a plastic sail for my Flexi-Flier which is a 16-foot-keel version. (The 16-foot length is convenient as the longest stock length of aluminum tube available here is 5 metres - anoth.er cornplica~ion as half our engineering industry is now using S. I. metric· uni t·s·~) · '· · have been interviewed by BoBoG. telev:ision on the ·subject of iny ha,ng glider and have passed on to their programme ·.research people just about, all the information I have gathered on hang gliders, current and histoI"ical, so you niay receive some inquiries from them. They seem t·o share my opinion that ultralight: flying will increase in this country and are colleoting film footage with a feature in mind. The B.B.C. have already filmed a reconstruction of' Percy-Pilcher 1 s 1896 hang glider as long ago as 1959.

I

understand that I am the or;i.ly one to enter an aircraft built to a proven design in the Selsey Birdman Rally. The remaining entries are·,_sil+ ;o,riginal and untried. There should be some novel ideas and shapes to be~een and I await them with great interest. The only other unknown factoir ,now is the weather. Right now it is cold ::ind stormy with a JO-mph wind, which is mo.st unusual for August. As promised I- 7 11 send a full report of the Rally with photographs as soon as it 9 s all over!

I

BIRDMAN . RALLY-; SKLSEY, ENGLAND, AUGUST·-13, 1972 Preliminary Report by Ann Welch (Received ju~t ~efore going to press) As a means of collecting money for a worthy ~ause, and providing several thousand. spectators with an afternoonv s good clean fun, the Bir.dmap Rally was a great success. It was a competition to see who could fly 50 ··yards from an almost standing start ·on a 30-ft.-high pier jutting out into the -.10 -

(Continued)

GS, 8-72

ocean from Englanct 1 ·s·-m:mth··coast;·-··EntrAnts··were asked whether their attempt was serious or not. Most were not serious, and ranged from remarkable devices of nil· structural int·egrity to ptlots clothed in genuine bird feathers-with arm..,.lerigth feathered wings. There: were a few serious contestants, mostly with variations on a Roga.llo theme, but from a standing start iii the lightest of ·winds·-everr·thcy could not make bettei<than 45-degree-angle glides. All contestants and most of their bedraggled craft were pulled ·f':rom the water by the lGcal Inshore Lifeboat men, who had a highly entert?-inihg afternoon 7 s training-.:....how often, after all, does a lifeboatman. ha~e tq rescue a human by his feathers? (Coverage of the Rally appeared on the TV evening news in America. on the 15th.)

In ·case this admirable afternoon 7 s ent1:::rtainment in the English sunshine ,. {it was warm too) gives the impression that the Low··and Slow movement. in ·Britain is nothing but a public spectacle~ -it should, perhaps, be sa{dthat . serious Rogallo builders here can now be numbered on the fingers of at lea$t ·.'.two hands. Geoff McBroom 9 s Rogallo is now making_ slope-.wind flights of l_ -.Titinute 50 seconds, and the stronger winds of Autumn should produce . soine · real soaring. Geoff is·· making sailwings on a batch: pr9duction basis, and selling them for ~t3 50 with a course of inst ruction included, ·

On

September_· 3rd the Southdown Glid:thg Club Will be celebrating the fiftieth ahniversary of the 1922 Itford meet-in which a world duration record of 3 hours 21 minutes was set up by the Frenchman Maneyrol flying a tandemwing glider. If the weather is right, hang gliders will be flying at Itford in 1972 and hoping to soar. · (In a separate letter received at the same time Ann expressed regret that she would be unable to attend the Montgomery Meet near San Diego but she will try to come for the next Otto Meet,. .She . had tried the Bristol Rogallo but not with great success so far" Most people in England are building R6galloi becauaathey are cheap and simple. The Icarus film and plans for Icarus, Ba:tso an'd Flexi-Flye r sent to her are borrowed constantly, on the condition that fees will'be paid to the designers i~gliders are built from·them. The British-Gliding Association in workihg on a definition for ultralights and Ann 9 s thought is that it should be a simple one, such as ·. tt an aircraft in which the undercarriage and take-off power are provided ~- · solely by the legs of the pilot: landings with the · 1:e~s retracted are per:.. mitted~' $he .. has asked Lloyd Licher for any views h~· might have as to · actions which might be taken .by CIVV (FAIYs Glidin.,e;_Committee), ...\?_j_ther in recognit;i..on of ultralight gliders or in the provisidn of records~ SCHGA members with thoughts on these subjects sho·uld transmit them to Lloyd so they might be considered in the formulation of .i.nt~r.n.e.:~ional sporting regulations for ultralights o)

S0f\RIN0 CLUB IN FLATL;,Nn REJECTS tfaNU LiLITIER.§.

The July issue· d'f -PROPtESS WASH, newsle.tter of the Adrian (Micho) Soaring Club contains an item about a committee selected to poll the club member:ship dh what type of sailplane they would like ·tb replace: their departed 1-~6~, A number of singleplace and rnultiplacc sailplane rriddels were listed ·as being suitable for the club, with a· note that alternate :suggestions were possible:' however, "Hang Gliders will not be con.sidered unt'il there is a Mount Adrian, ••• 11 GS, ,8-72

- 11 -

As mentioned in the last issue of UROUND SKIMMER, Joe Faust had arranged to incJude a number of pieces of literature from other sources with his LOW & £1Q~ #15, expected to be mailed during the week of July 10-14th. These pieces included 2000 copies of the June issue of GROUND SKI:rvIM.E:R and an SCHGA membership application form, which cost SCHGJ\ c1 considerable amount in money and time of members who produced them for this purpose" The mailing has not been made and it now appears that it will not be as originally agreed to. One of the other flyers was mailed with I&s· //16 as a paid advertisement and some other contributors of flyers/material have been offered the same service. The commercial dealers may be able to afford the loss or pay more to have their literature distributed but SCHGA cannot. The cost to produce the 2000 GROUND SKIMMERS and forms was a significant part of the clubVs treasury and was authorized only on the basis that the number of new memberships expected to be realized from the mailing would offset the cost.

Thus the club has been placed in a precarious financial position because of this decision and the mailing not being made in a timely manner as we had been led to believe it wouldo Joe 1 ~, explanation centers on an assertion that the only deadline he set was for receipt of items to b~ included in the mailing, he never specified a mailing date. He said on August 11th that the copies of Delta Kite Flyer News Noo 2 had still not been received (didn't meet the July 10th deadline) and were needed to dilute the mailing" otherwise he would be committing suicide as a publicationo It is unfortunate that this situation developed for it is having the opposite of the desired effecto We 1 11 just have to make the best of it and hope that the club will be reimbursed for its costs. Chalk it up as another lesson learned in the school of hard knocks.

BIRILJ1.ERODYNAMICS An article with the above title in the June issue of SOARING magazine, by a Professor Eo Fo Blick at the Univer:3ity of Oklahoma, prompted some letters to the editor from Jack Lambie and Lloyd Licher which were printed in the August issue. Some comments in Lloyd 1 s letter resulted in John McMasters writing a "letter" of response that grew to a monumental dissertation on "Some Comments on the Aerodynamic Design of Large Soaring Birds, Ultralight Sailplanes, and Man-Powered Aircrafto 11 What to do with it? Its length" speculative and pedantic nature make it inappropriate for SOARING, Low· & SLOy{ and T?CHNICAL SOARING, according to John, yet it contains information that deserves publication for the contribution it makes to the body of knowledge about low-speed aerodynamics. We couldn't justify :erinting it as a regular part of QRO.!ll:ll_SKI~ER because it would cost about $50 for the 24 stencils, 12 reams of paper:1 ink and extra postage to mailo If some means were found to raise funds for just that purpose, the volunteer labor to type, mimeograph and collate could probably be found. The alternative will be to try and summarize it, which would hardly dojustice to the original but would be better than leaving it in manuscript form.

Lloydvs comments that precipitated the paper dealt with his belief that the slotted (branched) wing tips of birds that bend up under air loads cannot · increase effective aspect ratio or 1/TI ratio ( glide angle). John goes into the theory of branched wing tips and spanwise camber (curved dihedral), examining their drag and efficiency and how the cambered wing might be used to good advantage on MPAVs (or longer-span hang gliders)o Extensive appendices treat the subjects of slow-speed turning flight and spanwise cambered - 12 -

(Continued)

GS, 8-72

wings in some detail, show the results of some tests on special biplane wings that indicate lower drag than for 11 equivalent" single wings, and review~, Liebeck 1 s theoretically deriv,ed ~iirfoils for maximum L/D (.one aE.' high as 352). It all points to the need for much more work in the area of testing and meaDuring so we can kno\iJ instead of speculati 0 g, about thing,~; in lowspeed aurodynamics" ii CHG/, might consider cCcccc:pting thi:3 ·is a challenge and doing some pioneering in titiG field, in ke ing with it~~ :::;ic: purposes" Those interested in ~' rt:i_cipating should e their de;iir<, kno 1 m to Lloyd Licher who will try to org:mj_ze a practica1 program of experimentation. omHTHOP'l'ERS

By coincidence, information about two different ornithopter (bird-like, wingflapping machines) projects Vias received within a period of two wueks in July. The first was from George Bennett at Missis~ippi State University, mentioned in his letter quo-::;ed on page 8 of thi~, issue of GROUND SKIMMER., A J-vietr drawing and two photos of the ne~rl.y complete 10-foot~~pan}f~did~ controlled model accompanied the letter. It i;,:, of straightforward aircr:fft c6nfiguration with a rectangular wing und horizontal and vertical tails.

Weight is 12 pounds and power is by a 1.2-H.P. Veco 61 engine. The drive system is 2.6:l planetary with cJutc11 and 40~1 worm. Flapping amplitude is ±450 (units not specified). Wing airfoil is the Goettingen 624 section.

The wing has a large main box spar and a smaller rear spar, both of which appea~ to articulate (flap) with lever arms cif about 2 11 inboard of the pivot point~3 :it the fuse1ag8 sides, these spar ends being connected to the drive mechani0m by push-pull rod:,o The ribs, spacec, about 6" apart, are attaclle d to the front spar v:i th lateral pivot pinE:: :;o they can change their incidence relative to the spar by about 30 degrees (at the wing tips) as the wing flap::,. The resulting motion should provide both thrust and net lift ;lt will be interesting to learn the resul~s of their flight tests. o

One of the probleas inherent in ornithopter design is the effect of inertia a~ scale is increased. The larger an ornitho~ter becomes the more power it takes 'to actuate the flapping mechanism, in more than linear fashiono The larger :i bird is the less flnpping it does and the more it must 1'.ely on soaring ability to remain airborne o man-carrying ornithoptc"r will have l.S proble·m .;.,l 01~.~, c:h r: 1)·:,rhapS C·To"'·c; /;rc·,cnbaum J"r to Scl ~·;n l ._, 1lni'que .- _ --T \_. .._,. ' . :; of'North Hollywood.? Calif" (?350 Atoll Aveo, Unit 7, Zip 91650, phone (213) /64-1600) has the solution with his novel new feathers and 11 ?teryx Mach int: o11 The following is from a i~ly 11th letter t Joe wrot to Bruce Carmichael, with copy to Lloyd Licher, to use as desired: -

J ~

\,

,_:,.

,

....i.... ,_ _

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Dear Bruce: Confirming our telcon tl1is date we would like to offer two potentially us2fu.L experimental results to the lightweight glidec constructors Plca;::ie add your comment~ if you feel so inclinedo o

We have engaged in man-powered flight studies for some time.

(In fact, i".:v,1ry time we t1aitcd for a to'ii.,) le at work on our man-powered flight vehicle project, the arithmetic gradually drifted toward lower wing loadings, with an attendant increase in the propulsion design problem. It became:; apparent with surprising abruptnes;,:, onEc day that the wing flapping loads to provide sufficient thrust were very low. We decided,9 history to the ~ontrary, to build one more ornithopter. The design will be described

cs, 8-,.72

(Continued)

- 13 -

in another letter" What is pertinent here is that we used feathers to provide thrust, some lift, and stabilizing control. The structure of these feathers looks like this: /

/ ...... • 00811 music-wire hoops

---5/16" x .030 2024 tube

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f/

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It is covered with a porous filamentary rayon cloth.

-

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"---_--.---·./ ____ \ .. __ - ____,,.. _'-......____ .! ___ 1-/~--\_ '- -__- _·__·...

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\ Section

Please note that these feathers were designed for a maximum lift value of Our test feathers weigh 14 oz., have i oz. drag at JO ft. pe·f sec., develop a maximum lift of 5 lbs. (10 sq. ft., JO ft./sec.) at 12 degrees, and a drag of 5 lbs. from 12 to 90 degrees. _The remQ.ining lift required for our ornithopter is derived from a moving 24-ft. center section with a specially designed airfoil and 60 sq. ft. area. This por'"'." tion is not porous.

i 1~. per sq. ft.

A porous covering provides gust reduction, through ventilation, and, properly used, will smoothly transition from maximum lift to normal (90-degree) drag. Try this: a piece of flat paper held parallel to the floor and released will flutter downward, moving back and forth as the closed circula- . tion forms and reforms in an unstable manner. Now do the same with a furnace filter. The filter will fall vertically and land flat. True, it does not develop as high a lift coefficient as a flat plate but at a wing load~ ing near 1 lb./sq. ft. it does not need to. Try Handi-Wipes, a towel material, for experiments. It is similar to the cloth used on our feathers" Our'feathers use .008 11 music-wire hoops with a retaining kink formed to hold them aligned in holes drilled through the 5/1611 x .OJO aluminum tubing.

The hoops are slightly bent along their plane to form some camber, as in the section shown.

Our first attempts had various leading-edge stiffeners, and much effort went into drilling precise small holes that fitted the wires tightly and then we swedged the wires in place. These efforts failed. We had forgotten that bird feathers do not have leading edges.

Fortunately we tried waterproofing at this time and it led to some interesting results. Any applied spray that reduces the filamentary character of the material reduces the attainable lift coefficient. Also the stability.

During the waterproofing studies we made a rudimentary feather without leading-edge tapes. This unit also had aver¥ sloppy fit (I made it personally and so excused inexcusable sloppiness). The leading hoops could flop up and down a few degrees, thus:

The line drawn around the vanes is intended to show what we think is the area/ of bound circulation, an n air" airfoil. Minor instabilities in the boundary layer are stabilized through selective ventilation through the

- 14 -

(Continued)

GS, 8-72 ·

porous cover due to lo cal pressure c.Li.:::iG L'l uuvi.ou;.;, 0Hcl. L,, shear in the boundary layer, tend to be stabilizing.

UG Cd ,..cu._;

,~.L

vd~

Since We are building an ornithopt;e.r in which the vanes oscillate, the above-described behavior was ideal, so we built 34.more just like it.

For a more conventional low-wing-loading application the fabove result5 will work quite well" Remember that gust r¢lief requires maximum lift coefficient reduction and., thcrt is what hap:r1cns.

Do not try feathers covered top and bottom,, worked for us.

Only .tlat'"".plate .porous covers

We will run taxiing tests. on our ornithopto:r in Se'ptember, 19?2.

We will write a paper on the design and construction then~ whether or not it flies. VJ.e know it will fly" \J.e know it will flap. 'It moves on the g:r'ound. Will it t<;tke off? I? 11 let ·you know.' · · Sincerely,

Joe· Greenbaum, J.r o, Silver Badge /J,186 ..

.

STRESS POINTS ( f:o,int.s llorth Stressing).

. ..

(Contributions to. this coiuinn ·are solicited from the·readers.)

1" There are flying\ kites (flat plates.). and there are airplanes. in the former, vieight shifting i's { can be) .adequate for maneuvering, but in the latter ~ 2ositive ,!g£tho·Q of lateral .control is 2 must"

.

.

'2" Always try to land into· the \Vind o This· will minimize ground :s'peed and the running necessary to effect 'the landing" Beware, however,, the

wind gradient ( decrease of' Hind speed as you descend to ground level), the only protection for which is enough excess ..airspe-ed that. you· don Vt · stall as you enter the lower layers of slower ~oving air. This has an· opposite, favorable eff~ct during downwind land,ings but the. increase- inground speed is usually so much that a stand-up landing in.a hang glider is not possible. · )o At the present time few people. realize how very easy it is to take-· off and land in an ain·1orthy and controllabl8 hang glider, under proper conditions.· It is, in fact, probably the easiest of all airc~aft to take off and lanq. .. The unsympathetic person might pounce on the phrase· "under proper co'nditions, 11 but every aircraft type of which we know today is limited, by law as vell as common sense, to a set of proper conditions, and the hang glider should be no-exception. Given a proper site and a good breeze, a skillful pi16t· in a ~~il-designed glider can be off the ground with about as little fuss as is involv6d in getting a surfboard moving.

CORRECTION -

Re_guested by Richard Miller

July GS (pa 5) carries an account by Mr. Jim Foreman of Amarillo, Texas, whom I have never met, which states that I requested him to "take the heat off me" by publishing p_lap~ ..for . _.the Bamooo But-terfly. Mr" Foreman? s memory seems to have done a 180. For one thing there was no 11 heat. 11 At the time.in question (1966-67) I received occasional.requests for plans and sent these .. free of charge. Mr. Foreman t,,,rrote to· me requesting ,permission to print and sell these plans, of whi,ch he received a copy. I granted this permission, which was the sum total of my participation in Bat Glidero

__ GS , 8-72

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NEv1 MEMBEHS

SCHGA welcomes the following new members:

153. Patrick Page, 393 Cronin Dr., Santa Clara 95051, ?48-3188 154. Gerry Ross, 1137 Jamestown Dr•, Sunnyvale, 940&7~ .245-0146 155. Kasmer De Lisse, 1138 N. Gordon St. Los Angeles, 90038 1$6. Larry Walker, 8223 Wv. Norton, Los "'ngeles, 90046 157. Robert J. Rechs, 5926 Woodman, //'10, Van Nuys, 91/.iOJ., 994-0788 158. Stephen u. Elliott, 625 J. Buena Loma ~)t., Kltadena, 91001, 798-2912 159. George Uveges, 2401-B, Oak St., Santa M0 nica, 90405, 396-9744 160. Walt Gabrielson, 921 N. Ave. 66,. Los Angeles, 90042 161. Vicki Talbot-Jones, 1963 Rosevilla, :'asadena, 91107, 792-S.594, Family Iv\ernb.

162. John M. VViegand,J 558 S. Helberta Ave., Redondo Beach, 90277, 372-3658 163. Jeff Wilson, 1008 Hacienda Dr. Simi, 93065, 526-1353 (805) 164. Robert L. Wills, 1811 Beverly Glen Dr ., Santa Ana, 92705, 544-0344 (714) 165. Mark A• Northrop, 4224 Encinas Dr., La Canada, 91011, 790-4830 166. Albert C. Hutain, 3.026 ]. Garey Ave~, Pomona, 91767, 593-5873 (714) 167. Bill Nickloff, Box 255, .Jl.eseda, 913J5, 985-7'?05 168. Rick Lech, 11707 York B-ve., l!A, Hathorne, 90250, 676-3741 169. John L. Brammell, Sr., 4241 Irving Place, Culver City, 90230, 836-2069 170. Arthur u. Powell, 15050 ;rionte Vista ll:;!e., #29, Chino, 91710, 597-2304 (714) 171. Chuck Hollinger, 2538 Carnegie Av1j., Costa lviesa, 92626, 545-3364 (714) 172. · Jack Lambie , 9460 Artesia, Apt. E, Bellflower, 90706, 92$-6040 173. Marty ~aynor; 1407 Oaklawn Place, Arcadia, 91006, 355-8211 174. Scott Sayre, 28 Vv. Longden Ave., Arcadia, 91006. 447-4422 175, Justin Cox, Box 130, Hales Corners, \/is, 531JO 176, Ed Vickery, 3 Uhite Birch Dr., Tolland, Conn. 06084, (203) 872-3853 177~ Tom Simko, c/o General Delivery, Carmel 93921, (408) 624-7170 Family Member 178, Suzy Shero, 676 Foxwood Dr,, Pasadena 91103, 790-0248 179. Bob Newgard, 368 Rutherford, Redwood City 94061, (415) 368-7561 180. Lee Redmond, 430 s. Norton, Los Angeles 90020, 380-7778 181, A, J. Amdahl, c/o Trace Tooling Corp., 9853 Alpaca St., South El Monte 91733 182.

Gabrielson, 16 W, Union, Pasadena 91101, 256-9025 183, Robert :a. \lister, Box 878, San Jose 95106 184. Nolan Horton, Jr., 1334 Lincoln Blvd., Santa Monica 90401 185. Mary Anna Maloney, 1550 N. Garfield, Pasadena 9110L~, 798-7654 186. Bill Hannan, Box A, Escondido 92025, (714) 7L1,6-4959 187. Dr. E. E, Pritchard, 917 Vale Terrace, Vista 92083, (':14) 724-6200 188. Craig Cusick, 2013L1, Gresham St., Canoga Park 91306 I,Ei,JBERSHIP ROSTER CORRECTIONS The following corrections .should be made to the rosters printed in previous issues:

67.

95, 113, 132.

Joe Leicht, 114 H, Valerio, Santa Barbara 93101 Owen Andersen, .357 S, Curson Ave., 118-B, Los Angeles 90036 Will Battles (corrects spelling) Rita Ballard, 3007 Glenn Ave., Santa Monica 90405, 392-9832 SCHGA HEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM

Included with this issue of GROUND SKIMMER is a form for persons to use in applying to join SCHGA, If you are already a member, please pass it on to a friend who might be interested, If you are not a member, it is for you. Membership in SCHGA is a bargain:

-16 ;:.-

GS, 8-72

A LISTING OF i,LL KNOWN MAN-POWERED i,IRCR1\FT

By John McMasters, June, 1972 Flown --1. Lippisch Ornithopter, 1929 (Ger) 9. Malliga, 1967 (Austria) 2. Haessler-Villinger 11 Mufli 11 , 1935 (Ger) 10. Sato-Maeda SM-OX-1, v69 (Jap) 3 ... Bussi-Bonomi 17 Pedaliante 11 , 1936 (Italy) 11. Nihon U. Linnet IIr,v70 (Jap) 4. :Southampton U" "SUM:PAC", 1961 (U.IL) 12. Nihon U. Linnet IV, v71 (Jap) lJ. Veybridge, 1971 (UoK.) 5. Hatfield 11 Puffin 1 11 , 1961 (U.K.) 6. ,Hatfield 11 Puff:Ln IIH, 1965 (U. K. ) 14. t!oodford/RAF 11 Jupiter" 9 72 7. · Nihon °Linnet 1,;, 1966 (Japan) (UK) 8. Nihon Uo "Linnet rrn, 1967 (Japan) 15. Liverpool U. 11 Liverpuffin" 9 72 Built or Under Construction 1. Gerhardt Cycloplane, 9 23 (hexoplane, US) 11. Southend Mayfly, 9 64 (UK) 2o Gerhardt, 1928 (quadraplane, US) 12. Nakamura, (Japan) J. Sultan ornithopter, circa 9 )5 (Ger) 13. Privett biplane, 9 72 {US) 4. Hartman ornithopter, '5?, (UK) 14. Nihon U. Linnet V, (Japah) 9 5. :Perkins inflateable (4), 5 ?-6? (UK) 15. Hertsfordshire Toucan, (UK) 6. Spenaer-Bailey helicopter, (UK) 16. No:cthrop I. of T. Flycycle, (US) ;7. Davies helicopter, (UK) 17. Ottawa, (Can) 8. Vine, (S Af) .

18. Voisin/Pain biplane-canard (Fr) 9.· Laviolette biplane, (Can) 19. Hill, v72 (U.S.) 10. McAvoy MPA-1, 1963 (US) Design Studies l. Hurel, 1945 (Fr) 13. San Diego State U. (US) 2. Raspet, 195? (US) 14. Cornell U., 1971-72 (US) J. Shenstonei 1955 (UK) 15. Colorado State U., 1971 (US) 16. North Dakota State U. 1971 (US) 4. Nonweiler, 1957 (UK) 5. Haessler Mufli Mk II, 196? (Can) 17. Prescott College channel wing, 6. Spillman, 1961 (UK) 1970 (US J 1,L Smith ornithopter (US) 7. Lippisch, 1964 (US) 8. Mead (Tufts U.) 1964 (US) 19. Sherwin sport MPA, 1971 (UK} · 9. Mitrovich (US) 20. MP hang-glider (UK) 21. Loughborough U. (UK) 10. MIT, 1969-present (US) 11. Oklahoma Uo channel wing (US) 22-. Fitzpatrick ornithopter (U~) 12. Purdue (US) 23. Smith helicopter (Australia) IiJJ:iscellaneous 1. Baltimore channel 1r1ing (US) 4. Tom Urban (US) 5. Noravetz (US) 2. Freedom, N.H. (US) 3. Rockford, Ill. (US)

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GS, 8-72

DAEDELUS .. (Rep.rint·e.d from -SKYSURFEB., August, . . 1972) . . . . . . . .:.

By Thomas i1: Peghiny Durip.g the recent rebirth of hang gliding most of the planes consisted of Rogal:t.o· sail wings and a few low-performance 11 chanute-type" biplanes. Then came the "Icarus," a beautifµl swept-flying-wing biplane with good flying . characteristics, but loaded.with struts and wires" One advantage of this design is that it weighs only 50 lbs. One of its .problems is· that it's. hard t'o transport and a l.ittle difficult to build. But it was the first truly soarable sky surfer. Then came Volme.r Jensen and his· VJ-23,. a very high;,.performancs ship but it weighs 100 lbsX And is,3: little expensive to build. The performance is grea.t and the conventioni=l.l .'-controls are a -dream come true. Wouldn 7 t it be nice to have an aircraft with all of their qualities ~nd almost none of their disadv~_J:1tages? Enter "Daedelus, n a 30-foot, · cantilevered; ~wept-wing monoplane. ' Based on the. flying-wing experiments by James Marske and William Daniels., it was inspired by· Richard Miller and the Conduit Condor. It w~l1;. have conventidnlal cont·ro:Ls, 150 sq. feet of wing area, an A/R of 6 and an J/D upwards of 15, with a safety factor of 4 and only weigh 50-.60 ,lbs. Impossibl~ you say? \'Jell, using a trussed main spar of aircraft alu~inum, foam ribs and nylon covering (and later fiberglass for greater strength), it's not. It's basically Marske 9 s wing planform·and airfoil but changes in areas and construction make it my own design. It should be flying in a couple of months with a little help from my friends. Later on I plan to make a pod and canopy that would really clean her up and give an·L/n of-elose to 20. The structures are _being analyzed and stre.ssed by my friends at Manflight Systems Engineering . ......... .• ,,

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(Editor's Note: Jim Marske, 130 Crestwood Dr., Michigan City, Ind. 46360, sells a 56-page booklet, 11 Experiments in Flying Wing Sailplanes 11 for ~~2. 50, plans for his Pioneer II Flying Hing, 13-meter high-performance sailplane for $95, and a brochure for $1.50. Articles on his flying wings appeared in the, Dec., 1960, and. May, 1969, issues of SOARING, and letters were in the Aug. and Oct., 1969, issues. His configuration was also used by Klaus Hill for his current all-metal MPA/hang glider project.)

GS, 8-72

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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION FORM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA HANG GLIDER ASSOCIATION, INC. Check category of membership desired, fill in and submit with appropriate dues (make checks payable to SCHGA, Inc.) to the Treasurer, Rick Finley, 26C8-C(4) Graham Ave., Redondo Beach, Calif. 90278. ~~ Member,

$2 dues for 1972. Includes subscription to monthly newsletter, GROUND SKIMMER, plus voting privilege.

___ Family Member, $1 dues for 1972. For members of the immediate family of a Member, residing in the same household; receives same benefits as a Member except the newsletter.

Copies of the bylaws of the Association are available upon request and will be furnished to each member.

SCHGA # _

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Phone ( _ ) _ _ __

Zip

State

Date of Application

Age

In case of emergency, contact (Name) Phone ( __ )_ _ __ Issues of GROUND SKIMMER already bought or received: Survey Information Requested (optional):

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Have you flown an ultralight glider?

If not, do you desire to fly one?

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If you own a completed ultralight glider or are building one, please indicate here If it is under construction, what type it is indicate here what % done %, and estimated month of completion---Check FAA pilot certificate/ratings held: Glider:

Stu._;

Airplane:

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Pvt. _ _ ; Pvt._;

ComrrQ.._; Comrnl._;

CFI____ CFI_;

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What could SCHGA do to be of more service to you, personally, in your ultralight interests and activities?

#4-U (7-72)

,,.,..,..:-0.

GET ,-., HUNG '~ ' UP! 0

IF BIRDS CAN FLY, SO CAN I '

g t,9

DOWN WITH POWERED PLANES IS SEU FLIGHT ONLY FOR THE BIRDS ? SKYSURF !

LEARN TO FLY OR JOIN THE NEW SPORT IN A VOLMER J-11, "SO-LO"

GO FLY...,AKITE! ~

*Build the world's first fully controllable hang glider * Standard aircraft controls *Fully engineered * Can be built in 6 weeks spare time * Material cost approx.$200.00 Send $2.00 for literature, specifications, and photo.

LIFT YOUR SPIRITS, TRY BANG GLIDING

;::...

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VOLMER AIRCRAFT, Dept. GS-1 104 East Providencia Avenue, Burbank, California

REAL PILOTS FLY HANG GLIDERS

'IC4KUS n' Claims Record

EIPPER·FORMANCE FLIGHT Sf STEMS

Taras Kiceniuk Jr . , makes 72 min.

"RECORD" flight from Torrey Pines July 2, 1972

Complete Discription of Construction $10.00

'BATSD'

BOB LOVEJOY'S "HIGH TAILER"

"Bamboo Rogallo Hang Glider" Plans $5.00

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Taras Kiceniuk Jr. Palomar Observatory Palomar Mountian, Calif.

92060

Photo of 11 Icarus II 11 by W.A. Allen

Dacron Wing Covering,Nylon Verticals NEW SHOP IN TORRANCE NOW OPEN. 1733 Border Avenue , Torrance, Calif. 90501 SHOP HOURS:

213·32D 1313

9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday thru Friday · 9:00 am to 4:00 pm Saturday closed Sunday

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The GROUND SKIMMER No.4 August, 1972 SCHGA, Inc. Box 246 Lomita, Calif. 90717

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PA:RICK PAGS

153

:, 9 3 C R'.) I.JI rr : R .

SA N7A C!.i1R'i , CA:..:F . 9505:.

THIRD CLASS MAIL

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

August 26-27, 2nd Annual John J. Montgomery Memorial Hang Glider Championships.

Site near San Diego to be announced.

September 23-24, Torrance Air Show, to include static display of hang gliders by SCHGA

• November 25-26 2nd Annual Hang Glider Turkey Fly . Site in Los Angeles area to be announced.

GROUND SKIMMER is the monthly newsletter of the Southern California Hang Glider Assoc., Inc. and is mailed to SCHGA members as their benefit of their membership. Applications for membership should be submitted to the SCHGA Treasurer, Rick Finley, 2608-C Graham Ave.,Redondo Beach, California 90278. Dues for 1972 are $2.00 Checks should be made payable to the SCHGA, Inc. Copies of the bylaws are available upon request and are furnished to each member.