[JoeF]

Chris, the topic is about a getting short packs for those pilots that want short packs for their HG wings. Some X-C pilots may want to be able to short pack and handily wheel across terrain toward home after landing out; so that faction of pilots form a proper subset of pilots that would aim for a short pack. Solutions to serve that subset are welcome. This subset may not have to face the needs of the subset of pilot described in the next paragraph.

Another subset of pilots wanting a short pack are those interested in traveling to a launch site via a city bus while being safe and polite to other city-bus passengers while also not disturbing the bus driver; thus, solutions would be packed to achieve such transport. Getting off a bus and going further to launch might entail a substantial distance on foot; then wheeling or dragging, etc. could modify wing designs and the packs involved. This subset of pilots includes me. I want to wheel a polite pack to the bus, ride the bus with low profile, and then wheel the wing pack from bus departing point to the Dockweiler launch. The "low profile" and the "polite" and "safe pack" aspects are essential to be permitted to ride the city buses. Heavy packs bring on concerns for safety; pack shapes and pack exterior finish could bring unsafe interfacing with bus passenger. So, low mass and "polite" presence on the bus are leading aspects of the design movement here. If a bus driver does not like what he or she sees with a waiting passenger, the driver may not let the pilot aboard. So, compactness, neat, short, and low mass are sought for the wing pack. Packs might end up being two-sub packs; the pilot might even wear part of the wing system during the bus ride.

[JoeF]

Some beam cross-sections stack nesting neatly, but other sections do not so stack.
Some beams that do not need to resist torque may be chosen to play their parts.
Some beams that do need to resist torque might best be served with circular-ring cross-section.
Will telescoping help reduce pack volume?
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Optimized truss structures compete well against splinted air beams. The task then might be getting that "optimized" design. But sometimes the splinted air beam gives an aerodynamic form as a kind of gift, whereas truss-structured main-wing spars invite having to add other materials to get airfoil shape; and short-packing truss structures might cost more assembly and disassembly time. Many directions to explore. Some explorers will choose some first direction for structure technology. It will be fun to try out many structural themes.
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My notes here are not to be taken as any recommendation:
On the matter of aluminum telescoping, here is a link to a video for various locking types; but note that the list does not exhaust how to lock telescopic tubes into a final long arrangement.
https://www.testriteoem.com/about/telescopic-tubing-video/ AT the page, a link for each type will serve up a video about the lock type.
Some notes: corrosion, damage to column, dents, lock failure ..... are some concerns
Lock Type
A - Clutch Lock 1:03
B - Split Collar Lock 2:21
C - Cam Lock 2:57,
D - Shock Cord 3:40
E - Non-Locking 4:17
F - Spring Button 4:48
FA - Spring Button and "A" Clutch Lock 5:23
G - Snap Lock 5:49
H - Set Knob 6:15,
Mini Economy Locks 6:43
or all at once here:

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Carbon fiber:
INFINITube Telescoping Tubing by Rock West Composites

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Making Composite Carbon Fiber Tubing Inexpensively - Secrets Revealed

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Rolling your own carbon boom

[Chris McKeon]

"DRIVER BE DAMMED"

So I will once again be attempting to fly this weekend. I will be going to the Coast with George's 330 Condor. So hopefully next weekend Good-Judgement will not raise it's ugly Head, thus rendering My chance3 of achieving Flight, a non event.

So now that I am actually at least I have made non committed attempts at achieving Flight. I have been really thinking about those very bad Flights when Flying My Home site Mount Diablo. Such as those Days When I found Myself Five Thousand, or Even Six Thousand feet High over Mount Diablo's Three Thousand feet high Peak. Yet merely because I did Not have a Driver. Instead of Flying XC I would land at the Juniper ridge Bail-Out L-Z. Not have a Retrieval set-up, {DRIVER} has been the Main reasons in the past when I would not head out XC. one of the main reasons, actually it is My Primary reason that I am interested in getting My Predator set-Up so that I could short-Pack My Glider and get back to Launch. Hell if I could get My Glider short enough, I could call a Taxi.

The Problem that almost all of us run into regarding making the Decision to Fly X-C or to not Fly XC. Is regarding retrieval. So to be able to Self Retrieve, would open up a whole slew of possibilities. I love to be able to say; "DRIVER BE DAMMED, I'M FLYING XC"

Check this thought out; I am now a Six Foot Three and a Half Inch Tall Predator 158 Pilot, Who weighs less than 200 Pounds. I am working on getting My Body Weight down to 185 Pounds or less. This is doable, I will keep doing the things that have helped Me loose weight. But I have no intention of going back on the "POUND DIET". Because of the Pound Diet, one must survive phase one, { Dying} during the first Phase of the {Pound Diet} Yea just do not screw up the Diet by Dying. For Dyeing just after Phase one of the; {POUND DIET} would really suck.. But on the other hand You can not argue with the Pound Diet's Performance, heck it Works!. I do not miss those Hundred Pounds or more.

[JoeF]

https://www.easycomposites.co.uk/

[JoeF]

Image is not intended to be clear, but to mark a moment.
Image notes regard mostly a Wing4 pack for polite city-bus toting and wheel land trekking: Sensing 150 square feet wing for "Dockweiler-only conservative flight"
Tote case: 4 ft by 2 ft by 1/3 ft: less than 2.7 cubic feet.
Add four small wheels when wanted to let the tote case become an 8-sq-ft street dolly or cart on top of which may be placed added gear or self. Consider means to brake a downhill coasting cart with pilot on top of the coasting dolly/cart.
Add four small wheels to the 2-ft bottom when holding the case vertically in the 4-ft dimension.
Add four small wheels to the 4-ft. edge if carry from handle with 2-ft vertical hung from hand, if wanted.
Beams of wing fit inside; spar case fits inside five layers accordion; sail fits inside folded half and then five layers. KP, TCF, CE, WTR, WTL, Keel. (king post, triangle control frame, compression element segments, wing tip right, wing tip left, keel; two-part telescopes: KP, WTR, WTL, and Keel). Couplers and line sets may be inside also. Air pump fits inside also either as a separate item or as a Bill Cummings keel-pump where the telescoping two parts are formatted to be an air pump. Not shown on the unclear image is an understood High Hat pitch assistant at top of KP.
At site after wing is assemble: carry case optional uses: teepee tent, sign with messages, sun shade to keep water and food cool, privacy place, nap-time head cover, shade for friend, sandwich sign for ads, ...
Alternative to wheels for tote: travois with abrading element on case edge.
Two side handles to mimic standard luggage: two attitudes of handle carry: 4-ft tall or 2-ft tall.
Decorate the outside of the tote case to invite visibility with an accepting polite color.... and perhaps message that would be understood: art carrier, music carrier, some innocent product carton, pleasant photograph, "Contact me about hang gliding: email....", or "Kites for Peace and Love!"
Case and inflated spar might become water raft elements; beams and sail might give sailing to the raft.
The unclear image shows a 7-circle suggestion for an alternative pack where an added case would not be used; but the spar case and sail wraps the 4-ft log-like tote form. At this writing, I am preferring a separate case that has alternate secondary uses.
Idea: Have a small card printed showing the pack and the unpacking to wing for flight. Offer the small card to the bus driver and to inquisitive bus passengers, etc. Have US Hawks website noted. Have my email on the card. Same message might be printed in large print on both sides of the tote case. Recreational hang gliding lives!

[JoeF]

Giving up some secondary play with the tote tool, the frame of the tote tool could be channel items for the hang glider's keel. Then, perhaps, the parts of a wing-tip could be a Bill-Cummings air pump. Have the inflating valve at the wing tip; pump the wing tip parts to inflate the spanning spar.

Tote01.jpg (27.42 KiB) Viewed 1113 times

The tote-tool frame might arrive from some of the ladders that I have. The fill of the rectangle broad sides of the tote tool might play as wings for the High Hat subassembly and/or fins, ...

[JoeF]

Note shown has subsequently been edited, but shown is almost all of the content:

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Further tote considerations may allow new wing tips for a resultant of Wing4 to about 191 sq. ft, using extant spar case. Span: [4+20+4] ft=28 ft. New projected area: 4+14+155+14+4= 191 sq ft. AR becomes about 4 via 28x28/191. And the L/D: wait to experience: whatever.

Tip control might be by button to centroid of tip triangle.
Tip triangle could base a further sail area; and such sail addition might stay the mainsail and thus maybe preclude a stay strut that had been anticipated at the interior right angle of main long tip rib and spar case; such strut may not now be needed as the added tip triangle could found a staying tension to the long main wing-tip rib.

Tote case might have four right triangles to form the broadsides becoming the public visible sides of the toted pack. Two of such triangles for High Hat, perhaps. Two of such for new wing tips. Options of triangle fill vary from rigid foam with camber to simple sail with zero camber but with button camber control for roll and yaw---many variations may be explored. The right triangles would have legs of 4 ft and 2 ft with hypotenuse of about 4.7 ft.

The hypotenuses of the two triangles of one side of the tote package would cross the hypotenuses of the two triangles of the other side of the tote case.
Still, channel may frame the tote tool; and such channels would still be for keeling the HG.

Wing4TipTrianglesControlof191.png (8.43 KiB) Viewed 1109 times

[JoeF]

Current bet for Wing4-184 (or so) first version will pack to a new estimate to 1x4x1/3 for a 1 1/3 cubic-foot pack at 12 inches by 48 inches by 4 inches. That would be pleasant. And such would be with the extant too-heavy spar case which I made out of too-heavy PVC jumper-house material. The spar case too-heaviness just might have a strong torque resistance asset; but future efforts will explore reducing the spar case weight from the unwanted too-heavy 11 lb situation. Attached herein is a mid-nap note made today; the note mentions "3 inches" but my estimate is that 4 inches will be the deal. Some changes from yesterday's wing-tip triangle: the triangle won't be using three sticks, but two only while basing parasitically on the long tip rib. Image of note was included for the record; sorry for any fuzziness.

[JoeF]

Take sticks A and B; let them be the same dimensions or not. Form a longer stick by various means.
Means #1: Have A and B overlap; whip the overlap; perhaps whip up longitudinal stop-shortening; or perhaps insert shear pins or bond stops.
Means #2: Butt A and B and apply a coupler. Couplers may be of various means: overlap, threaded, ... Couplers may be temporary or permanent. Couplers may be of similar materials as make A and B or may be of various other materials.

The new longer stick has the coupling or overlap region as an anti-buckle region. The new stick is approximately doubly tapered because of the overlap or coupler method for many of the means of forming the longer stick. Longer sticks may be one-way telescopic or two-way telescopic, or one-way tapered or two-way tapered. Ease of dismantling the longer stick to shorter sticks varies.

Uses in Wings5-or-4-or-3 HG wings of longer sticks made up from shorter sticks varies by design. Mastery of making longer sticks from shorter sticks may help bring satisfactory solutions for the present thread's topic.

LongFromTwoShorts.jpg (2.09 KiB) Viewed 1031 times

[JoeF]

Let an inflated beam be splinted with various compression members on its spar case for most of the full wing's span. But consider allowing the center be non-supported by any spar-case compression members for the purpose of deliberately buckling the the one long full span air beam; have the buckling occur by deliberate squeeze by a complex keel which keel would extend a bowsprit. Have the squeeze-buckling be set so as to provide a tip washout angle to tips of the airbeam where at the tip is a flattened closure (not bulbous closure). Allow the central buckling line result in a dihedral and sweep for the macro wing. Note that the air pressure of inflation will be equal on the left and right portions of the wing's main spar as full communication of inflation air persists despite the chosen buckling.