Pre-Preg

At 21:03 01 December 2016, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
Just wondering why glider are not made with pre-preg. Seems like it
would
save weight.

I think Sparrowhawk and Duck Hawk are pre-preg..

RO

Yes the Windward gliders are carbon prepreg.

I guess the other manufacturers aren't that concerned about empty weight and don't want to have to deal with ovens for curing?

gliders are cured in an oven at SH anyway. i think it's most probably a cost thing. even though these new gliders are ridiculously expensive at face value, the profit margin the manufacturers are getting is very small, so they keep costs down wherever possible. that's part of the reason schempp-hirth (as well as many others) re-use fuselage designs. take the ventus 2 versus the V2X. you got a performance increase for only a new fin design, new horizontal tailplane, and new winglets.

On Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 5:55:38 PM UTC-5, Tony wrote:
Yes the Windward gliders are carbon prepreg.

I guess the other manufacturers aren't that concerned about empty weight and don't want to have to deal with ovens for curing?

They is exactly why I asked.
On Thursday, December 1, 2016 at 1:30:05 PM UTC-8, Michael Opitz wrote:


I think Sparrowhawk and Duck Hawk are pre-preg..

RO