Some gliders safer than others?

You should join OSTIV - the scientific and technical organization for soaring. www.OSTIV.org. They have a Sailplane Development Panel, and a sub-group on Crashworthiness. On the sub-group page, there is a Safe and Crashworthy Cockpit
Short report by W. Röger, FH Aachen, from February 2007; it is interesting. There have been papers describing improved crashworthiness over the years in OSTIV. You can search the index for details on glider safety.

There is also a program for reporting cockpit damage, so that there is data that designers can use to design safer cockpits (disturbing but not graphic pictures of testing). As they say, without data, you are a person with an opinion.

OSTIV does good work, and we all benefit.

Actually, I'd be more concerned with being impaled or having my abdomen shredded by shards of broken fiberglass... for this reason I've always thought old aluminum gliders with very low stall speeds were probably the safest gliders. Just an impression though.

On Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:11:23 PM UTC-4, flgliderpilot wrote:
Actually, I'd be more concerned with being impaled or having my abdomen shredded by shards of broken fiberglass...

I understand that the Kevlar in the composite reduces this possibility.

On Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:12:18 -0700, son_of_flubber wrote:

On Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:11:23 PM UTC-4, flgliderpilot wrote:
Actually, I'd be more concerned with being impaled or having my abdomen
shredded by shards of broken fiberglass...

I understand that the Kevlar in the composite reduces this possibility.

I have a strong suspicion that carbon would do more damage to you than
glass, though that almost certainly applies to pure carbon or glass
structures.

All the mixed composites I've seen have been approximately 50:50 kevlar/
carbon rather than kevlar/glass, so they're unlikely to shatter.

Data point: a while back people were using 3mm carbon rod as wing joiners
in competition free flight model aircraft and having problems with the
joiners breaking if the model dethermalised onto concrete. A friend found
that when he pultruding his own joiners using a 95:5 mix of carbon:kevlar
tow the joiners remained intact.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

At 21:14 25 October 2013, Martin Gregorie wrote:
On Thu, 24 Oct 2013 15:12:18 -0700, son_of_flubber wrote:

On Thursday, October 24, 2013 4:11:23 PM UTC-4, flgliderpilot wrote:
Actually, I'd be more concerned with being impaled or having my
abdomen
shredded by shards of broken fiberglass...

I understand that the Kevlar in the composite reduces this possibility.

I have a strong suspicion that carbon would do more damage to you than
glass, though that almost certainly applies to pure carbon or glass
structures.

All the mixed composites I've seen have been approximately 50:50 kevlar/
carbon rather than kevlar/glass, so they're unlikely to shatter.

Data point: a while back people were using 3mm carbon rod as wing joiners

in competition free flight model aircraft and having problems with the
joiners breaking if the model dethermalised onto concrete. A friend found

that when he pultruding his own joiners using a 95:5 mix of carbon:kevlar

tow the joiners remained intact.



--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |


There are 2 sides to safety
1 is the glider so un handy if you miss handle it ,it will bite
2 if you do get it wrong it will or won't it protect you.

Generally I think most post 1990 gliders have some protection and the
handling is ,if not benign ,is at least predictable
The earlier stuff was more of a compromise particularly the open class
where
it was accepted the handling was evil but look at the glide angle.
And how much crash protection can you expect from a K13 they are a steel
tube frame covered in fabric .
I have forgotten where this thread started by now but if a newly qualified

pilot is reading it and wondering what to buy
Get the newest you can from one of the major builders with a good trailer
Again from a major builder and ignore everything else you have protected
yourself and your investment as best you can.

Dr. Anthony Segal did a number of drop tests in the past.

I kindly received all his (OSTIV) publications from him.
I think he concluded, for example, that the ASK-13 without the front-wheel transfers the impact on the 'skate' directly onto the spine of the person in the
front seat.

In article ,
flgliderpilot wrote:

Actually, I'd be more concerned with being impaled or having my abdomen
shredded by shards of broken fiberglass... for this reason I've always
thought old aluminum gliders with very low stall speeds were probably the
safest gliders. Just an impression though.

Aluminum aircraft skins generally shred or tear into very sharp edges in
a crash. Ask anyone who has survived a crash in a Blanik about that!

It seems that 1-26 crashes are often survived. Doubtless, this is, as
you suggest, due to low speed. However, what aluminum glider besides the
1-26 has such a low stall speed?

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