basic design parameters
 

Hi to all,
Are there basic design parameters for designing gliders, or do they use same basic parameters as trainers and sport model aircraft design, such as something simple as rules of thumb.

Dennis

RE: basic design parameters
 

Sort of. If you look around, the gliders that do a specific task will end up looking fairly similar. Most 60" slope racers will have roughly the same span, chord, tail boom length, tail volume, and weight.

My suggestion is to decide what you want your plane to do first. A good place to start, and a great flyer, is the 60" One Design Racer on the Torrey Pines Gulls website. All the specifications such as airfiol, area, span, chord, materiels, and weight are listed there. This plane was sold as the "Fun One", co designed by Charlie Richrdson and Paul Naton. Something in this size range will fly in light slope lift, but with ballast will fly pretty fast. I'm assuming you want a sloper due to your location; I fly at Pudding Creek when I'm in your area.

RE: basic design parameters
 

Hi, how about sailplanes or soarer's, and even like the gentle lady, or riser, and piece o cake.

RE: basic design parameters
 

Yup, and those three all look alike, right? They're basically entry level for first timers.

Each class will usually have about the same airfoils as well. What do you want to do with your design? Thermal off a histart? Slope?

The one class that might still be fluid for design is probably HotLiner. Since the climb is mostly a function of power, the planform won't hurt if you diverge some. And since nobody has really nailed down what "required elements" to fly on the dive........... Have at it.

It's funny, but when I was doing cross country a buddy asked what was the most important design consideration for that. After thinking awhile, I told him the most important design feature was "BIG". Get the sucker big enough and everything else will work good enough and be of relatively minor importance. So cross country is also somewhat open to different design details.... after the BIG one.

RE: basic design parameters
 

Well I thought about slope and thermals, maybe try one with power source on it. Which would be on the nose or pylon mount. So if I follow design parameters of sport aircraft using cord of wing for length between te of wing to le of stab using 1 1/2 of wing cord this would be same for glider model aircraft.

How about polyhedral wing how much angle would be a rule thumb or basic degree.