Tests im Windkanal bestanden – Jetzt untersucht das DLR Lilienthals Flugkünste Freitag, 20. Mai 2016 http://www.dlr.de/dlr/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-17880/#/gallery/23031 The wind tunnel tests proved Lilienthal's glider "to be surprisingly stable and airworthy." "It is an aerodynamically absolutely clean structure that was inherently stable in all flight regimes." The glide ratio was almost 4:1, "comparable to a paraglider." "The flight characteristics are similar to those of a typical [primary training glider] of the 20s and 30s - constructed decades after Lilienthal flew."
Perhaps Thomas or another German speaker can help me out, here.
Nach den ersten Untersuchungen deutet für Dillmann alles darauf hin, dass Lilienthal nicht stark genug gegensteuern konnte: "Lilienthals Gleiter konnte gut und sicher bei Windstille oder Gegenwind fliegen. Für andere Windverhältnisse wie die Thermik an seinem Absturztag reichte die Manövrierfähigkeit einfach nicht aus."
The researchers do not know for sure what caused Lilienthal's fatal crash. They believe the glider would have handled fine in smooth air, but concede that wind or a thermal may have exceeded the range of rudder control or the range of pitch control Lilienthal could exert by shifting his weight like a gymnast on the parallel bars, .
The glider that Lilienthal was flying when he died was the normal or standard glider. The only control on this machine was weight shift. Some of his machines did have aerodynamic controls but not this one. The crash was said to be from a height of 15m after a stall caused by turbulence. The stall on this glider is very abrupt as the leading edge shape is not rounded like a modern aero foil. It is some times incorrectly reported that he was flying one of his biplane designs.
Also note that the tail plane is hinged in the upward direction giving no corrective force at high angle of attack. Had it been fixed the airflow would have provided a corrective force preventing the glider nose getting too high and stalling.
The pilots fore arms are supported by cuffs with the hands gripping a strut in front. The pilots back has small pads preventing rear would movement of the upper body. The hinge is through the shoulder and elbow joints which limits the c.g. movement to the lower body. With parallel bars a greater fore and aft c.g. movement can be achieved than Lilienthal could.
"I have always regarded the balloon, and the exclusive attention which it so long attracted, as a hindrance rather than a help to the development of the art of flight."
~ ~ ~ Herr Otto Lillienthal
"The flying man," Los Angeles Times (CA), 3 Jun 1894, 13.
================ Thanks to Rick Masters for finding the Los Angeles Times quote. Such may bolster the future of hang gliding in Los Angeles.