AS34 - new electric standard class self launcher

On Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 1:26:49 AM UTC-4, krasw wrote:
Interesting! Judging from the picture they are using the new 33 fuselage and I bet everything else is new, too. If it's std. class only (no 18m), they are competing against light selflaunchers like GP and MiniLAK. I was waiting for someone to introduce light racing class electric selflauncher like GP15. I guess AS thought that there is more room for improvement in std. class where all competing gliders are designed 20+ years ago.

I haven't seen anything of the engineering of the '33 so comments are speculation.
I doubt there will be much, if any difference between the '33 fuselage and the '29 fuselage. I expect it will be a new, smaller area wing with likely an airfoil evolution.
Geometry wise the '24,'27, 28,and '29 are almost exactly the same, except wing root and rudder.
If one starts with the '28E, which is engineered, tooled, and certified, you have a 15/18 airframe with an engine bay, ready to move forward. It also has enough wing area to keep the wing loading increase low enough to make self launch practical on about 25KW available from the system used in the 32EL.
I would expect the target market is pilots who want self launch capability as most important, and contest performance secondary.
Creating new ships is very expensive and risky. This could be a solution that moderates both.
Later, when proven, translating into an 18M ship like the '29 or '33 is a comparatively small task and risk. Going to 15M variants is more questionable due to low wing area and resulting high wing loadings. My '24E, converted to electric, is at 9 lb wing loading dry on 107 square feet.
FWIW- not much
UH

From recent rumours, the AS34 is indeed based on the ASW28. More will be known in the next days.

Well that's a disappointment, why not call it ASW 28 ME then?

On Tue, 9 Apr 2019 11:06:32 -0700 (PDT),
wrote:

Looks like an interesting concept: https://www.alexander-schleicher.de/en/aero-2019-5/

It is basically an ASW-28/18.
Cost is quite precisely 30.000 Euros more than a pure-glider ASW-28.

No flaps, very easy to fly, very simple and reliable engine managment,
climbs to 2.600m, very good performance, moderate wing loading without
water.


So, the advantages of an Antares combined with the simple handling of
a Standard Class glider (in Germany the student pilots are flying
LS-4, ASW-24, Discus, etc), for roughly 100.000 Euros less than an
Antares.

Could be the first ever club compatible electric glider.

And, as a friend pointed out:
As a club or a commercial operation, buy 5 of these instead of 5 pure
gliders, and the additional cost is still less than a tow plane.Three
800m launches per day ought to be sufficient for 99 percent of the
cases.


Cheers
Andreas

The FES system allows the pilot to take the two batteries to home for charging. The batteries in the AS34 are in the wing. It isn't clear but it seems you have take the whole glider to a power point. If so, it might limit its appeal unless you can park in hangar with a power supply, or fly at an an airfield that provides electricity to every trailef.

wrote on 11/9/2019 11:58 AM:
The FES system allows the pilot to take the two batteries to home for charging. The batteries in the AS34 are in the wing. It isn't clear but it seems you have take the whole glider to a power point. If so, it might limit its appeal unless you can park in hangar with a power supply, or fly at an an airfield that provides electricity to every trailef.

You may also be able to use a small 2 to 3 KW portable generator to charge the
glider. Quiet, and inexpensive compared to the glider. Being able to remove the
batteries is a real convenience if you don't have electricity nearby.

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA (change ".netto" to ".us" to email me)
- "A Guide to Self-Launching Sailplane Operation"
https://sites.google.com/site/motorg...ad-the-guide-1

Ahh but Eric, flying with that generator sitting in my lap would be uncomfortable and interfere with my relief system lol

On Sunday, 10 November 2019 14:18:28 UTC+13, wrote:
Ahh but Eric, flying with that generator sitting in my lap would be uncomfortable and interfere with my relief system lol

:-)

So bung it in a pod under the wing like Reiner Stemme is doing with his new Elfin electric self launcher. http://www.reinerstemme.aero/product/#rangeextender