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See earlier posts in this topic thread.
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And a note:
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Historical clarification on bowsprit hang gliders:The
Faust–Koman hang glider should be recognized as the
first bowsprit-framed hang glider of the modern era, excluding purely conceptual or patent-only precedents such as the Whitehead patent illustration.
Unlike earlier drawings or proposals, the Faust–Koman glider was:
• fully built and flown
• structurally intentional in its use of a forward bowsprit
• cross-spar-less by design
• publicly demonstrated (including the Dial Soap commercial)Later bowsprit designs — such as the Miles Gryphon lineage, Antares, and the Bautek Astir — came afterward and can reasonably be seen as
independent rediscoveries or evolutionary descendants of the same structural idea.
Whitehead remains historically interesting as a conceptual ancestor, but
Faust–Koman marks the first operational implementation of a bowsprit hang glider in modern hang gliding.
I spawned the HG from Whitehead. Mike and I built and tested. I flew it three days after conception for the commercial shoot. No ribs. No battens. No tail. No reflex. Adverse yaw. Nylon ripstop sail. The wing was good for the shoot, but not ready for high safe flight. 1973 Dial-Soap ship. The film-ad producer was ready to go rent a crane to hang me for the shoot; but I said "No, I can fly it."
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Astir
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