soaring into the future

Shawn wrote:
Brad wrote:
Here is disagree. Greg is fortunate to have use of the huge autoclave
at the Lancair/Columbia factory, I think.
Although Out of Autoclave could be done with the right tooling and
materials. But I think wet layup and vacuum bagging would be cheaper.

Agreed, I'm thinking to make a big dent in glider price (I'm in the
depressed Dollar US, and I *won't* buy a Chinese glider) the method of
manufacturing will have to be very different.
More composite manufacturers making aircraft and wind turbine parts
might make more autoclave space available. Heated molds are a
possibility (read about it on a wind turbine site). I suspect new
composite technology is coming along all the time (not my field). A
fuselage formed by winding carbon fiber tape around a male mold seems
pretty straightforward, spars too. I don't know if a wing could be made
with a precise enough profile in this way, interesting thought though. I
know there are specialty companies applying all sorts of new composite
technology. Farming out rather than investing in house might make a lot
of sense in the small numbers world of sailplane manufacturing. Save on
tooling, benefit from the sub's economy of scale. Certainly not
business as usual in the glider industry.

The Edgley EA9 was primarily constructed from CNC laser cut composite
honeycomb panels, wrapped around and bonded to ribs and formers.
Clearly this can't produce a super accurate wing profile, but might
result in some reduction in the labor required to produce wing or
fuselage parts.

If I remember correctly, the EA9 kit was fairly inexpensive, and could
be built in a few hundred hours. Marketing a kit built single seat
ASK-18 look-alike during the 90s was clearly a mistake. I suspect there
would be a bit more of a market for a factory built US LSA two seat
glider, if the price could be kept closer to $50K than $100K...

Marc