R/C flex-wing concept

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iter

HPR Glider Driver
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I'm working on a flex-wing RCRG. I like one-piece designs, where everything stays together for the entire flight so I only have to recover one item.

My idea is to use a flexible wing with conventional tail feathers. Part of the difficulty in deploying a traditional tailless Rogallo wing is extravagant vertical CG requirements: the weight must be a full wing chord below the wing. (Paresev in the photo shows this configuration)

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So instead I'm looking to stretch the fabric flat and use a traditional tail, similar to what Philip is doing here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?28229-rocket-launched-rogallo-glider , except I keep the booster on for glide. I'm thinking of using fins as the tail for glide. This would require articulating them with servos. The wing itself would have no controls (no ailerons, no weight-shift, etc.)

I like baby steps. First off, I want to see if a flat, square wing in controllable with only a rudder. I bring my venerable Slow Stick out of retirement and replace its wing with a 20"x20" piece of foam board I have lying around. Flight testing is a lot more successful than my anticipation.

Next step is to build a fabric wing for the Slow Stick and see how that performs.

Ari.

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Roll rate is higher with a shorter wing span. The big surprise for me is how much roll I get from yaw. The wing has 0 sweepback and 0 dihedral yet rolls surprisingly well with rudder alone.

Ari.
 
FWIW: "PARESEV" stands for "PAraglider RESEarch Vehicle".

The PARESEV is - or was - on display at the Smithsonian's {i can never remember the name of the place} Museum at Dulles International Airport in Maryland, USA.

You're Welcome.

:wink:
 
Next step is to build a fabric wing for the Slow Stick and see how that performs.

Ari.

If it is of ANY help, I came across an article in one of the park flyer magazines several {PRE-2014} years ago, about a "Stik" that someone was flying with a Rogallo wing.

If you are interested, I will see IF I can find it for you.
 
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