[JoeF]

This evening I noted in an email to two pilots a copy of one page of my wing sketchbook.
I had shivers upon settling on some core details regarding Wing5v1; a finality of choices was seen and sketched. "I see!"

A trial bird is going to be built, as too many things just came together nicely .... on paper ...
The volume of the busable Wing5v1 is going to be less than priorly thought.
And instead of 5 ft for largest dimension, the tallness of tote will be 4 ft. in one carry configuration; another toting configuration will be less than 3 ft verticality.
And I will board the bus HANDS FREE. And rig time at Dockweiler will be less than I had been thinking.

shiv·er1
noun
plural noun: shivers
1. a momentary trembling movement.

[Bob Kuczewski]

https://finsterwalder-charly.de

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All Finsterwalder gliders can be packed down small to 2,00 x 0,35 x 0,25 m with the Snap-Lock System as well as the usual lengths of 5,50 m and 3,80 m.

The Snap-Lock System has been perfected over many years by Finsterwalder, the sail is removed from the glider frame. This is especially long lasting for the sail and makes possible the use of stiffned leading edges.

The Snap-Lock System with specially developed quick release fasteners designed by Finsterwalder makes it possible to dismantle or assemble the glider without the use of tools within 10-20 minutes.

The Snap-Lock System is very advantageous when it comes to transporting, storing, checking and repairing.

More detailed information in the » test reports from the specialist press!

Today this is the only super short pack system for hanggliders, that is used on a broad base.

In our shop in Munich we will be happy to demonstrate the short pack system free of charge (appointment necessary).

Does anyone have a Finsterwalder? It would be interesting to see one in person.

[JoeF]

[Bob Kuczewski]

Here's are some drawings from a patent by a well known hang glider pilot:

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The patent is not for a hang glider, but some of the skills used in this invention might be useful for designing and building Wing5.

[JoeF]

Code the "5" wing theme as Wing5. Busable. Aim: HG more portable than PG within a conservative glide scene. Aim: first level: Dockweiler conservative flying. All pack: polite busable less than 5 ft in length. The project has very limited scope; results are not intended to compete with open HG soaring. The goal is to have a system for gliding in conservative winds at Dockweiler for soft-S and straight gliding, not ridge soaring nor high altitude flying; the system is to be low mass with easy setup and packing for polite easy city-bus transporting by one person.

========================== This note is to date exclamation of progress. Notions are all over the place; many avenues are open for explorers.

On June 11, 2021, time-stamped recorded notes backed up in three places concern some design notions that seem to exceed core objectives of the Wing5 or W5 or Wing 5 design project. When flight has occurred, details will be opened. I just wanted to share my today's thanksgiving and excitement within USHawks community. In a marathon run of designing exploration in the last three days, pages 64 to 69 probably hold the seeds that are fueling this present sharing of excitement; those pages will be shared some day in disclosures upon some version of Wing5 flying at Dockweiler.

Feel free to meet the objectives of Wing5 before I do!

[JoeF]

Well, well: My recent designing notes has a cluster of concepts that I found this morning parallel the notions found in the MPA Phoenix literature (which we have mentioned earlier in this topic thread). But such being the case, there is a kind of neat confirmation occurring. There are some slight differences in my notes from the detail options found in the MPA Phoenix literature; exploring our differences may lead to some nice solutions. One conclusion: there are some fun inflatable Wing5-realm HGs awaiting to be made by others and myself. So in bow to the Phoenix, the following matter is resurrected in the moment:
HERE

Note 1: If the "flats" are wanted to be vanquished, perhaps shaped foam filler strips could be applied to the wing under the taut helper skin that envelops the core inflated wing. Maybe just in the top of the wing in the first 30% of the chord. Such filler strips might not be worth the effort; but with- and without- comparisons should be tried and reported by me or some other explorer. Experiments with partials might become interesting: 30%, 40%, etc. , all top-but not bottom, both top and bottom full. Gains might be miniscule.

Note 2: The helper "wrap" (as I am calling a cylinder of skin in my notes) that wraps the core inflated wing may be to six individual smaller wraps, each wrapping 5 ft of the span, say. Each wrap then could be coiled for tote. The wraps become taut upon full inflation of the core inflated wing. The wraps may stay simple and stay in place during flight session via simple friction with the surface of the core inflated wing. At packing: deflate core wing, remove the wraps; stack the wraps; coil the stack of wraps to result in one 5-ft long low-diameter coil.

Note 3: The core wing deflated has several pack methods; each method could be explored and compared as to ease, final pack shape, etc.

Note 4: And via an earlier Frank Colver note about "Vectran" here is contemporary link HERE2

[JoeF]

Materials?

Compare and contrast the offerings between the following two companies:
https://www.alpackaraft.com/rafting/materials/
I'm not sure if Alpacka Raft sells raw materials or not,
and
https://www.diypackraft.com/shop/mercha ... mple-pack/
And it is yet clear to me if this guy sells raw materials besides misc. offcuts.

Alibaba and others sell raw materials. Minimum order quantities (MOQ) can become a challenge.
Bainbridge? https://bainbridgeintusa.com/industrial-fabrics/
https://acmemills.com/technical-textiles/
https://www.globalsources.com/

Technical fabrics, technical textiles
Industrial fabrics, industrial textiles
Films
Sailcloth
Coated fabrics

Etc.

TPU coatings may be of high interest on some HG projects. One-sided. Two-sided. Compare and contrast.

Choosing the right material for a part is not always an easy task....
Earlier in this topic thread, Frank Colver had a recommendation over some materials from Alpacka Raft.
But the game is ever on ...

Nylon-based fabrics win over Vectran for some uses. Vectran may win for other parts.

==============================
Sew
Sew-free
Glue
Bonding
Welding
Ultrasonic
Radio frequency
Hot melt
Chemical bonding in steps
Hot-air
Adhesives
Stitch and weld
Tapes
Clamping
Stapling
Riveting
Nailing
etc.
?
==================================
Hang gliders "Made in USA" ?????????????????????????????

[Frank Colver]

I usually visit Alpacka Raft each September when I'm in Southern Utah (Alpacka is "nearby" in Mancos CO). Covid prevented the trip last year but I fully expect to do my annual trip to Utah this next Sept.

Joe, if by September you have some specific questions you would like me to ask the owners, feel free to give them to me before I leave here in early September.

I think a light, inflatable, or partially inflatable HG holds a lot of promise.

Glad to see you back in this project.

Frank

[Bob Kuczewski]

Here's a PDF of the Phoenix inflatable from Joe's link above.

[JoeF]

I did a pro-con comparison-and-contrast on two schemes.
Scheme: .... Phoenix, etc.
Scheme: ... Wrapped-Splinted Aggregate This won the deal to be first to built. I aim later to build out other schemes.

Wrapped-Splinted Aggregate WSA is thus the chosen deal for contemporary build.
Materials will be collected and formed to become [b]Wing5-WSA#1[/b] There will be iterations as lessons are learned: Wing5-WSA#2, ...

I will explore Los Angeles Garment District for spar--case material.
First bladders will be low-cost unsatisfactory polyethylene bag material. Later iterations: TPU bladders.

Aggregated splinted spars will be locked into group format by a system of strap nub-slot (SNS) for chordwise and single-cord-into-double-cord-adjacent-locking (SDCL) for spanwise locking upon inflation. The aggregate of splinted-inflated spars will be globally wrapped; the wraps will have appliques of-skinned-compressible-foam in two spanwise regions to cure airfoil unwanted "flats" ... something Phoenix group did not apparently solve. The wraps tauten to airfoil upon full inflation of the aggregate of spars. Added to the wrapped aggregate of spars will be a segmented reflex platform (RP).

A high hat (HH) will also be used in the flight system.
Pitch safety will arrive from a balance of the HH, RP, SNS, and SDCL.