[JoeF]

BEF008
Octagonal. Eight straight sides per sided wing. The BEF008 symbol is not indicating the TCF in the skyview, but only in the front view. These BEF symbols are intended to give freedom for angles, lengths, positions. In any particular instantiation of a BEF there may be other things involved to finish a HG. Notice that each sided wing has a frame member which may be called a KQ beam (king-queen beam or post); these may per perpendicular or canted related to the generalized wing surface. Wing surfaces may be symbolized flat, but such is only in the symbol; surfaces may be curved, thickened, variably thickened. Wing sails may be SS (single sailed) or DS (double sailed) or even TS (triple-sailed).

Distinguish BEF008 from BEF010 where BEF010 uses ovals/circles/rings of smooth curving. BEF008 uses straight segments for the sided wings. The frame segments making up the octagons may individually differ in material specifications and lengths; the segments might all be the same or might differ one from the other. Angles may vary. Still, an aim is the tiny packing for tote within the spirit of this topic discussion thread.

Octagonal sided wings; K-Q posted per sided wing. TCF.

BEF008.jpg (15.03 KiB) Viewed 770 times

===================================
BEF009
The symbol does not in the skyview indicate the TCF that shows in the front view.

BEF009.jpg (10.38 KiB) Viewed 770 times

===================================

Anyone in the world is invited to discuss these two BEFs as is or as dressed to a finish HG.

====================

[JoeF]

BEF011
KP-QP subassembly and other rigging lines are suppressed in the symbol.

BEF011.jpg (11.66 KiB) Viewed 763 times

The bowsprit may or may not be present. The frame boom going aft may be single boom or split duty with two booms or truss or other means. The BEF011 will stand for both formats; the bowsprit may be so short as to be absent. BEF011 may be SS or DS or TS. But we will leave biplane HGs and triplane HGs and quadruplane HGs to be abstracted into other BEFs. So, BEF011 is a single decker. Note: BEF symbols do not show potential ribbing or batten efforts. Note: TCF is not shown in the BEF011; pilot control systems are also suppressed in the symbol. Note: The spar spreaders are shown in the BEF011 symbol, not the ribs/battens. Compare with BEF012 shown far below in this post.

QuicksilverHangGliderDesignBobLovejoyBEF011lives.jpg (22.37 KiB) Viewed 763 times

BEF011 lives in Bob Lovejoy's Quicksilver hang glider.
https://www.nestofdragons.net/rigid-wings-overview/footlaunch-listing/quicksilver/
=======================
Cousin in which BEF011 lives might be Santos Dumont's Demoiselle

"Santos Dumont offered the plans to the public free of charge. They were published worldwide -- in America, they appeared in Popular Mechanics -"

Plans in June 1910 issue of Popular Mechanics; seven pages on the matter; but apparently the article continues in the next issue, the July issue, which see also.

And hundreds of other single-deck aircraft have BEF011 living in them, powered aircraft and gliders and sailplanes. The two-spar main-wing base attached to a boom to an empennage: thus not flying wings sans tail. But to aim for tote packing BEF011 hang gliders having max pack dimension of 5-ft and being politely pilot carriable on a city bus is to rule out heavy builds.
======================
======================
BEF012 KP-QP subassembly and other rigging lines are suppressed in the symbol.
Note the difference of this from the BEF011.

BEF012.jpg (31.79 KiB) Viewed 761 times

===============================================

1910PopMechKiteMimicDemoiselle.jpg (115.3 KiB) Viewed 758 times

[JoeF]

Some attention on BEF004 via a HG by David Cronk, the Cronksail 1. It seems that the BEF004 resides in his HG.

BEF004.jpg (12.67 KiB) Viewed 754 times

Span 31 ft
Area 155 sq ft
Aspect ratio 6.2
Empty weight 55 lb
Pilot weight 140-200 lb
Wing loading 1.25-1.65 psf
Sweepback 25 deg per side
Airfoil single surface, 9%, reflex
Structural materials: 6061-T6 aluminum
L/D Max 8 @25 mph
Min. sink 3.67 fps @ 20 mph
Stall speed 17 mph

Designed back in 1973 by David Cronk,
this glider was inspired by Richard Miller's Conduit Condor.
Utilizing a Quicksilver type semi-flexible wing with controllable tip rudders,
excellent performance and handling were realized.
Flown extensively by Pat Conniry and David Cronk in 1973,
the glider is now retire and on display at The Hang Glider Shop in La Habra, California.

Lots of 5s
Now, what if we played with BEF004 in some light of Cronk's exploration, but in some new avenues. Consider DS instead of single surface; have the lower surface taut and stayed by through lines from bowsprit to spar stations to aft keel Consider stuffers to get airfoil, no ribs, no battens. Depend on adding a bowsprit and through stay lines to an aft-keel boom to keep spar positions and sail tautness; have the upper sail somewhat loose chordwise to allow insertion of wing stuffers. Minimize reflex and go High Hat at top of KP. Go CFRP instead of aluminum. Drop the tip rudders and install Faust V at near wing tip to variably control airfoil. Experiment with stuffers inside the space between sails to find airfoil most satisfying. With the saved masses let the span drop some. Explore 6 ft chord instead of the 5 ft. chord after trying the 5 ft. chord. Then explore 7 ft. chord. After exploring with the 130 degree nose, play with other sweeps and some dihedrals. Have many experiments. Study results. Report and discuss results. Get the mods into packs that meet the 5-ft or less deal. The Cronksail 1 was not tiny packed, but full-wing-panels car topped. Reach with mods for toting politely on the city bus.

With the said reflex reduced, the mods might explore High-Hat solutions atop the KP.

With said potential mods, the BSE004 stops living in the mod. Instead we see BSE014 living in the mods rehearsed just above.

BEF014.jpg (33.71 KiB) Viewed 753 times

[JoeF]

Woke up from nap with a sense of "got it" regarding a solution that meets this topic's target. Five quick pages of scribbled drawings and notes. And then I cam to the forum and looked at the end of the above post and recognized how my subconscious gelled and polished what I shared yesterday. But a few details came to be added.

BEF014 seems to live in the waking notes' solution. Past the wonderings in the prior post are some considerations which I will soon explicate. I am excited about the scene and may soon have a third HG abuilding; I have two underway: the fat inflated splinted deal and the framing of a ram-air deal. And now it looks strong that the BEF014 will base a third HG for the tiny-packet deal

Briefly:
BEF014 lives in this HG
Bowsprited keel
Packs to 5 ft or 4 ft, choice
Pleasant mass result.
Two options to stuff for airfoil. One is easy inflatable, but this is not favored; if used, then use hoop of flat cloth non-adhesive tape with anchoring to a same-tape hoop over the LE spar; variable pull lengths could be handy. The other: pulled Mylar segments: pull to LE spar and anchor to the spar; vary pull to vary airfoil. Mylar segments tote flat. ; Segments may vary in size and specification and position to gain taper, twist effect, and camber size.
Double-sail via sock for each sided wing; anchor sock at keel.
Rigging method allows socking. Stub anchoring loops and run lines suffice.
Soft-lines for rigging lines.
No frame spar spreaders.
King post
TCF queen posting. Will try rope base to avoid one frame member.
Options, if needed or wanted, but sans at first: battens, fabric rib walls, hard ribs. These will be avoided for first build.
Bowsprit
Four spar (two per sided wing)
Sweep maybe 10 degrees per side. Nose angle: 160 degrees, perhaps.
Dihedral: 2 degrees perhaps. This will easily be varied for experiments.
High-Hat for pitch assist, an option
Faust Vee control, if needed, for some enhanced yaw control
Near-aft-keel region for SS for pitch stability, as needed.
=========================================
It would be delightful if someone built and tested a HG of the above points before I do; such shared in our forum would be fun. I will be sharing the build-and-test progress as time marches on.

I will give a name to the deal after satisfactory gliding and toting occurs; such will amount to the "birth" of the HG.

[JoeF]

I guess a working name is needed, so notes may be connected. So, call the above-post-introduced wing: BEF014ASockA. When the wing is at a satisfactory instantiation for some defined flight conditions and flown successfully in such conditions, then a new name will be conjured and expressed.

Onward notes for BEF014ASockA:

Exception to the BEF014 symbol for BEF014ASockA may be an erasing of the through-put lines across the wing chord. That is, do not have the spar-spreading lines cross the chord of the wing. Rather, simply connect the spar-spreading lines directly: lines from bowsprit to LE spar. Then lines from TE spar to aft keel. Let the haulbacking of the socked spars with that line arrangement suffice to tense the stuffed sock. The symbol for the BEF014 has haulbacking lines going across the the wing chords; the change would be to let the sock substitute for the line indicated in the symbol. Being produced will be a BEF014A symbol indicating the deletion of the chordwise through-put lines allowing the sail to substitute for such lines.

This symbol is a mod of BEF014. Let the sail take up the chordwise tensions.

BEF014A.jpg (46.47 KiB) Viewed 732 times

Effective wing twist for pitch stability will be approached via wing stuffers and adjustments to K-Q rigging lines. "K-Q" :: kingpost and queenpost. Span station mid-chord lines' angles of attack may be adjusted by judicious adjustments to the K-Q rigging lines. Also, airfoil at spanwise stations may be adjusted by judicious shaping of camber-forming wing stuffers.

Spars? Options have been rehearsed in this topic-discussion thread. Some options will be tried and reported. Early choices may be less expensive than later choices. Early choices might be bamboo, wood, aluminum. Maturing choices might be CFRP forms. Effects of the anchoring of the spar-spreading lines will bring some lessons. Early breaks in tests will bring lessons. Conservative robustness will teach. Versions of BEF014ASockA will probably hold a very conservative Dockweiler-only version. Later versions could grow in empty weight, longevity, and cost.

First mockup of BEF014ASockA should occur very soon. This will not be for flying, but for part proofing. Keel segments, kingpost segments, High Hat, four spars (two per side wing), TCF, rigging lines, rigging-line anchors, two socks, airfoil stuffers and their anchors, Vee-control subassembly. Any part missing? Could be.

The sock will have some holes in it; the holes will allow rigging anchors to show through to the exterior.

Line-rigging anchors will stay soft until proof of no-go occurs. Rigging lines will attach to line-rigging anchors during assembly. Line-rigging anchor stub connection to the spars have options that are being mulled.

The flight performance of BEF014ASockA will vary according to many things:
== tautness of the sock.
== ambient air temperature
== line creep
== age of parts
== airfoil stuffers and resulting spanwise-station airfoils
== sock material choice
== number of spar-spreading lines
== battens or not
== flight maneuvers
== rigging-line specification
== payload
== ???

BEF014ASockA should pack nicely as a 5-ft deal or a 4-ft deal, depending on choices for the beams for the K-Q, keel, wing spars.
=========================
=========================
Some mockup images:

Two spars for each side-wing. Sock brings DS final wing. Spars are set inside of sock. Socks connect to keel. Two socks for the full HG. Stuffers will occur inside of the sock and be snugged toward LE spar.

BEF014ASockAmockpartSockForSideWingTwoSpars.jpg (45.81 KiB) Viewed 732 times

Different options for a 3-valent anchor line stub exist. Stubs snug to spar.

BEF014ASockAmockpartAnchorLine3valentAtSpar.jpg (79.42 KiB) Viewed 732 times

RoughSketch001TowarBEF014ASockA.jpg (29.56 KiB) Viewed 732 times

All in our world are invited to advance pilot-carriable tiny-packed politely-busable HG designs in whole or in part. Ideas are welcome.

[JoeF]

Today's guesstimate for the packing for BEF04ASockA for a 28-ft span version is teased in the drawing.
The spars: three-piece telescope; 12 pcs. KP fits inside keel parts: 2Kp+3keel=5 pcs. Two queen posts;base of TCF is to be cord . Total: 19 beams.

BEF014ASockAmockpartFrameSocksubpack.jpg (146.48 KiB) Viewed 728 times

--------------------------------

-----------------------------------
Options of wing stuffer to get airfoil camber are plenty. One option involves various aggregates of inflatable tubes.

WingStfferOptionCheerStickAggregates.jpg (82.33 KiB) Viewed 727 times

[JoeF]

Some studies over the line works and frame joins for BEF014ASockA, preliminary:

LineWorksAndJoinsBEF014AsockA.jpg (74.63 KiB) Viewed 722 times

CLICK image to see tall graphic.

Some preliminary notes regarding the soft-line subassemblies leading to some simplifications:
Considering long flight lines; instead of separate left and right flight lines, let the lines from spars be continued from left to right through the queenpost; the six long flight lines would form the base of the TCF where no "frame" is base, but the aggregate of the six long lines. This would reduce the count of lines to handle for assembly and packing.

Similarly for sided landing lines; instead of sided short left six lines and sided short right six lines, form six long lines that go from left to right with stops at top of KP, perhaps with a sewn ring integrated with each line. Rings fit atop Kp. This choice would also reduce the count of lines for assembly-packing-toting.

Similarly, the top landing-Kp-fore-aft two lines may simplify to one long line from keel-to-Kptop-keel with a sewn-in stop. This reduces from 2 separate lines to 1 long line.

Similarly, the aft and fore planar lines from spars to keel and bowsprit may be long lines that start at spar and go through keel to the other side; so instead of rear three left and fore three left and three right fore and three right aft, we'd have three aft long planar lines and three fore long planar lines. This would reduce the count for the planar lines.

Keep landing lines distinct from flight lines; that is, do not have through integrations mixing flight with landing lines.

Instead of four lines for Qpost fore-aft, let there be two long through lines with stops to get position set of Qp lower end. This also reduces the count of separated lines for assembly-disassembly-packing-toting.

The total reduction of separate line subassemblies from 43 to 21. The odd number regards having the TCF base as cord, but with reduction such is integrated in the long flight lines simply continuing through to form the base control cording. A low mass sleeve may ride on the section that would commonly be called basebar of TCF. The 21 simplifies matters.
=============================
Tote tease: https://www.thesuperboo.com/hipstar-hiking-trailer/

=================================

[Bob Kuczewski]

Hello Joe,

I have been having a hard time understanding some of these drawings, and your designs are a bit too unconventional to be used with my traditional 3D glider modeling software. So I created a new program that can build 3D models from almost anything that can be defined with a series of line segments. Here's an animation of my best effort so far at interpreting the design of BEF012:

BEF012a.gif (280.3 KiB) Viewed 715 times

BEF012 ... I dub thee ..... the Flying Tennis Racket.  

FYI, the program can be downloaded from this topic:

       https://ushawks.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4024

Also, here's the text file that builds the 3D model shown above for BEF012:

[
 [  0, -10,  0,    0,   10,  0,     8,    "0000ff" ], // Fuselage

 [ 12,   7,  0,  -12,    7,  0,     8,    "0000ff" ], // Main spar leading
 [ 12,   3,  0,  -12,    3,  0,     8,    "0000ff" ], // Main spar trailing

 [  3,  -7,  0,   -3,   -7,  0,     8,    "0000ff" ], // Tail spar leading
 [  3,  -5,  0,   -3,   -5,  0,     8,    "0000ff" ], // Tail spar trailing

 [  0,  10,  0,    9,    7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire nose to left forward out
 [  0,  10,  0,   -9,    7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire nose to right forward out
 [  0,  10,  0,    4,    7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire nose to left forward in
 [  0,  10,  0,   -4,    7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire nose to right forward in

 [  9,   7,  0,    9,    3,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left forward out to aft
 [ -9,   7,  0,   -9,    3,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right forward out to aft
 [  4,   7,  0,    4,    3,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left forward in to aft
 [ -4,   7,  0,   -4,    3,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right forward in to aft

 [  9,   3,  0,    0,   -2,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left aft out to Fuselage
 [ -9,   3,  0,    0,   -2,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right aft out to Fuselage
 [  4,   3,  0,    0,   -2,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left aft in to Fuselage
 [ -4,   3,  0,    0,   -2,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right aft in to Fuselage

 [  0,  -3,  0,    2.5, -5,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left fuselage to tail leading
 [  0,  -3,  0,   -2.5, -5,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right fuselage to tail leading

 [ 2.5, -5,  0,    2.5, -7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left tail leading to left tail aft
 [-2.5, -5,  0,   -2.5, -7,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right tail leading to right tail aft

 [ 2.5, -7,  0,      0, -9,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire left tail aft to fuselage
 [-2.5, -7,  0,      0, -9,  0,     2,    "777777" ], // Wire right tail aft to fuselage
]

You can copy that text into the program's JSON window and have an interactive 3D view of that design. I hope these tools will make it easier for people to grasp what your designs will look like. Please let me know what needs to be changed to make any of these models better match your vision.

[JoeF]

Bob, that is a rich robust effort! The BEF drawings are intended to be symbols with much often suppressed relative to what a full drawing would be; and some of the first symbols allow rich development, say for empennage in the BEF012. I posted a portion of BEF014ASockA abstraction sans KP, QP, and attending lines; it was a fun fist effort using the viewer you developed for all comers. Thanks. I will continue to practice putting some things into the program; and it will suffice for a while for readers to use the viewer on the side to see the rich views available from code. I will be presenting code for such viewing. Such all should enrich the forum!

[Bob Kuczewski]

Bob, that is a rich robust effort!
...
it was a fun first effort using the viewer you developed for all comers. Thanks. I will continue to practice putting some things into the program; and it will suffice for a while for readers to use the viewer on the side to see the rich views available from code. I will be presenting code for such viewing. Such all should enrich the forum!

Thank you Joe! You always enrich the forum!!   

Here's the model you posted earlier:

Code: Select all

[
 [  15, 0, 0,       0,0,0,     6,   "00FF00" ], // Front spar
 [  15, -6, 0.1,    0,-6,0,    6,   "00FFFF" ], // Rear spar with washout
 [  0, 4, 0,        0, -10,0.5,    7,  "FF4433" ], // Keel with high aft
 [  5, 0, 0,        0, 4, 0,      1,  "FF4433" ], // Front spar stay line
 [  10, 0, 0,       0, 4, 0,     1,  "FF4433" ], // Front spar stay line
 [  13, 0, 0,       0, 4, 0,    1,   "FF4433" ], // Front spar stay line
 [  5, -6, 0,       0, -10, 0.5,      1,  "FF4433" ], // Rear spar stay line
 [  10, -6, 0.4,      0, -10, 0.5,     1,  "FF4433" ], // Rear spar stay line
 [  13, -6, 0.5,      0, -10, 0.5,    1,   "FF4433" ], // Rear spar stay line
]

Here's a screen shot of how it looks in the design tool:

Sail_in_Tension_2022_10_18j.png (12.01 KiB) Viewed 703 times

I combined your code with some elements from my other glider design tool (control bar, wires, battens, and a hint of sailcloth) and came up with this:

Sail_in_Tension_2022_10_18b.png (21.36 KiB) Viewed 703 times

Here's the code that builds that model (with mirroring on):

Code: Select all

// This is a computer model of one of Joe's designs

[
[0,9,0,  0,-7,0, 7, "FF4433"], // Keel

[15,   5,0,    0,5,0,    6, "00FF00"], // Right Leading Edge
[ 0,-1.2,0.1, 15,-1.2,0, 5, "00FFFF"], // Right Trailing Edge

[0,1,0,  1.75,2,-4, 2, "ddddee"], // Right Down Tube
[1.75,2,-4, 0,2,-4, 2, "ddddee"], // Base Tube (right half)

[0,1,0,    0,0.9,3, 2, "ddddee"], // King Post


[0,9,0,  4,5,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE inner
[0,9,0,  8,5,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE middle
[0,9,0, 12,5,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE outer

[0,-5,0,  4,-1.2,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE inner
[0,-5,0,  8,-1.2,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE middle
[0,-5,0, 12,-1.2,0, 2, "ff0000"], // Cable: Nose to Right LE outer


[1.75,2,-4, 9,5,0,  1, "444444"], // Wire: Control Bar to LE
[1.75,2,-4, 0,5,0,  1, "444444"], // Wire: Control Bar to Nose
[1.75,2,-4, 0,-2,0, 1, "444444"], // Wire: Control Bar to Keel

[0,0.9,3, 0,-2,0,  1, "444444"], // Wire: King Post to Keel
[0,0.9,3, 0,5,0,   1, "444444"], // Wire: King Post to Nose
[0,0.9,3, 9,5,0,   1, "444444"], // Wire: King Post to LE

// Keel Batten (color 55 aa dd)

[0,5,0, 0,4.122,0.418, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,4.122,0.418, 0,3.233,0.480, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,3.233,0.480, 0,2.344,0.402, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,2.344,0.402, 0,1.465,0.311, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,1.465,0.311, 0,0.576,0.239, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,0.576,0.239, 0,-0.311,0.190, 2, "55aadd"],
[0,-0.311,0.190, 0,-1.200,0.165, 2, "55aadd"],

// Tip Batten (color 55 aa dd)

[15,5,0, 15,4.122,0.416, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,4.122,0.416, 15,3.233,0.477, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,3.233,0.477, 15,2.344,0.398, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,2.344,0.398, 15,1.455,0.307, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,1.455,0.307, 15,0.567,0.235, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,0.567,0.235, 15,-0.321,0.188, 2, "55aadd"],
[15,-0.321,0.188, 15,-1.209,0.165, 2, "55aadd"],

// Sailcloth lines (color 00 00 77)

[0,5,0, 15,5,0, 1, "000077"],
[0,4.122,0.418, 15,4.122,0.416, 1, "000077"],
[0,3.233,0.480, 15,3.233,0.477, 1, "000077"],
[0,2.344,0.402, 15,2.344,0.398, 1, "000077"],
[0,1.465,0.311, 15,1.455,0.307, 1, "000077"],
[0,0.576,0.239, 15,0.567,0.235, 1, "000077"],
[0,-0.311,0.190, 15,-0.321,0.188, 1, "000077"],
[0,-1.200,0.165, 15,-1.209,0.165, 1, "000077"],

]

A lot of the uglier code (near the bottom) is for the curved battens and the "essense of sail cloth" that I added. Those were generated by my other Glider Design program which has been available on line for quite some time. I will likely add this new tool as well.

Anyway, please take a look at this model and let me know what you think. I increased the diameter of your primary structural elements (keel and sail tensioning cables) to make them look beefier. I probably overdid it, but it's easy to change back (just change a few numbers).

I also discovered a few things that were helpful using the program. (1) The comments help tremendously. (2) The comment marker (//) can be used to "turn off" certain lines while still keeping them in the file. (3) You can also use block comments (/* ... */) to surround large sections of code that you might want to disable without commenting every line. (4) You can also use colors to highlight parts that you may be discussing in a post. I also found the colors helpful when trying to figure out which wires were which. In my normal models, the wires are all a gray color so they're not too obtrusive. But that makes it hard to figure out which is which. I did sometimes temporarily comment out wires to see if they were the ones I was looking for. But I also changed the color on wires to confirm that I was working on the right one.