Newest Sailplane in the world on display at the 2016 SSA convention

Yep, its the new Ventus. Sorry Boggs, I promise I'll shut up next week, and I will never again try to host a national event with a marketing budget of $0.00. This goes on the list along with: never try to run a manufacturing operation if the cost accountant works for someone else. That one didn't end well.

Would you believe that glider pilots will just not buy advance tickets? Makes it real hard to get comfortable with the number of attendees. Bought a bottle of Stranahan Colorado Whiskey Saturday, it might not make it to the convention start. May be going to Rehab week after next.

SF

Interesting that the New Ventus has three distinct hard bends in the wing when viewed from photos underneath the wing. I wonder what the purpose of those are? Damn auto correct on prior post.

Who cares? God it's beautiful! An astonishingly gorgeous aircraft. I just hope it doesn't destroy the resale value of my 29

I care that is why I commented. usually the air likes smooth transitions. If you view the photos on FB there are hard bends in the wing. I wonder what the purpose is, why they are not smooth transitions and is there any separation on the hard edges of the bends?

As for the 29, over 300 have been built for a reason, it is a wonderful glider. The new Ventus has a 3 plus year wait and it has not been vetted. I am sure it is a great glider, but only time will tell if it is better than the current standard.

On Monday, February 8, 2016 at 8:13:36 PM UTC-8, Andrew Ainslie wrote:
Who cares? God it's beautiful! An astonishingly gorgeous aircraft. I just hope it doesn't destroy the resale value of my 29

Wow, looking forward to seeing it!

It looks very similar to the Arcus which has worked out well, seems to have proved the concept.

Re the 29, isn't the JS1C the glider it will be trying to beat?

Increasing dihedral towards the tip.

Seems to have worked well for the D2, DD & Arcus

Won't significantly affect the resale of a '29. You'll need to wait for the
ASx33 for that

PF

At 05:36 09 February 2016, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
I care that is why I commented. usually the air likes smooth
transitions.
=
If you view the photos on FB there are hard bends in the wing. I wonder
w=
hat the purpose is, why they are not smooth transitions and is there any
se=
paration on the hard edges of the bends?

As for the 29, over 300 have been built for a reason, it is a wonderful
gli=
der. The new Ventus has a 3 plus year wait and it has not been vetted.
I
=
am sure it is a great glider, but only time will tell if it is better
than
=
the current standard.

On Monday, February 8, 2016 at 8:13:36 PM UTC-8, Andrew Ainslie wrote:
Who cares? God it's beautiful! An astonishingly gorgeous aircraft. I
just=
hope it doesn't destroy the resale value of my 29

On Mon, 08 Feb 2016 21:36:04 -0800, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:

I care that is why I commented. usually the air likes smooth
transitions. If you view the photos on FB there are hard bends in the
wing. I wonder what the purpose is, why they are not smooth transitions
and is there any separation on the hard edges of the bends?

You get interference drag at any dihedral break, but the amount of drag
is not linearly related to the angle between the panels. Consequently,
all other things being equal, a six panel wing will have less drag than a
four panel wing with the same span and tip height because the angles
between the panels are less.

At least, that is what I've heard from wing designers who know a lot more
about such matters than than I do. My design experience is limited to
free flight F1J power models and F1A gliders. I've usually designed and
built my own models and got decent competition results with them.


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

Couple of reasons for the "hard bends".

1. Manufacturing. Yes, you could do it as smooth, flowing curves since the molds are now machine cut. But, it is more difficult to fit and press together long, flowing curved joints than a series of straight line joints. You also notice that most wings have distinct taper breaks, and not the "elliptical" planform (SZD-55, PW-5 and PW-6 are exceptions).

2. Ease of repair or refinish. Ever try to make a sanding board to perfectly blend a re-pair or refinish on a continuously varying radius, 3D part?

The changes in dihedral are small enough to not cause any significant issues. Similar to the changes in taper ratio at a taper break. Yes, there is a change in the pressure field around the wing at each of these, but there is negligible impact until you get to much larger changes in taper ratio or dihedral than are used here.

To my mind, the real benefits of the changes in dihedral come about in the outer at most 1/3rd of the semi-span, where you can make the downwash field behind the wing work to keep the tip votrex from shrinking the span of the downwash field.

But, that is just my opinion.

Steve Leonard

I always thought the discrete breaks in dihedral and taper were primarily so the control surfaces could have straight hinge lines that didn't bind.

I suspect the other reasons are also true.

9B