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#11
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 8:37*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Jul 27, 10:14*pm, Brad wrote: ya know, that is a pretty cool looking contraption, but from a homebuilder point of view, making it out of aluminum tubing, extrusion and flat sheet is much easier and less labor intensive. might be a bit heavier, but not much. of course the wing cuff would be composite! Actually, the carbon has some pretty compelling advantages. It is a lot lighter, so that it is easier to stow, carry, and attach. I think that carbon sleeve over EPS or EPP rod would indeed do the trick for the arm. If you were serious about it, you'd have a high- pressure female mold, and mold the part by inflating a plastic bladder inside the sleeve material, but the male molded part would be almost as stiff and easier and cheaper to make for just one or two. As Dave points out, it can be made springier, so that the goofy steel spring and shock absorber isn't required. The way it grabs the axle on only one side of the wheel is a neat trick, but the greater bending loads makes the axle heavier than if the arm were forked. As Andy points out, the leading arm might be divergent, but I don't think that it is actually unstable except at very high speeds and loads. Thanks, Bob K. I like the whole concept except the fact I then will need to add weight to the wingwheel or tip on that side to prevent the other wing from hitting the ground. Similar to when you tow out with water. Sometimes lighter is not better. |
#12
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 8:42*am, Tim Taylor wrote:
On Jul 28, 8:37*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote: On Jul 27, 10:14*pm, Brad wrote: ya know, that is a pretty cool looking contraption, but from a homebuilder point of view, making it out of aluminum tubing, extrusion and flat sheet is much easier and less labor intensive. might be a bit heavier, but not much. of course the wing cuff would be composite! Actually, the carbon has some pretty compelling advantages. It is a lot lighter, so that it is easier to stow, carry, and attach. I think that carbon sleeve over EPS or EPP rod would indeed do the trick for the arm. If you were serious about it, you'd have a high- pressure female mold, and mold the part by inflating a plastic bladder inside the sleeve material, but the male molded part would be almost as stiff and easier and cheaper to make for just one or two. As Dave points out, it can be made springier, so that the goofy steel spring and shock absorber isn't required. The way it grabs the axle on only one side of the wheel is a neat trick, but the greater bending loads makes the axle heavier than if the arm were forked. As Andy points out, the leading arm might be divergent, but I don't think that it is actually unstable except at very high speeds and loads. Thanks, Bob K. I like the whole concept except the fact I then will need to add weight to the wingwheel or tip on that side to prevent the other wing from hitting the ground. *Similar to when you tow out with water. Sometimes lighter is not better. Take something you're going to carry out with the glider anyway - like a parachute - and make a way to securely lay it atop the wing glove. Make it short enough the glider tilts toward the wheel. |
#13
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 7:37*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
I think that carbon sleeve over EPS or EPP rod would indeed do the trick for the arm. If you were serious about it, you'd have a high- pressure female mold, and mold the part by inflating a plastic bladder inside the sleeve material, but the male molded part would be almost as stiff and easier and cheaper to make for just one or two. All far too complicated! When I built my wing wheel I prototyped the legs with 3/4 inch schedule 40 pvc pipe. The idea was to get the geometry right then make to final legs from aluminium square tube. It turned out the sched 40 pvc was perfect for the job. It is dimensionally stable, has just the right amount of spring, and does no damage anything it bangs or rubs against. The protype legs have lasted 8 years. They will be changed this winter for a design that allows height adjustment but I'll use the same material. Andy (GY) |
#14
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 10:35*am, Andy wrote:
On Jul 28, 7:37*am, Bob Kuykendall wrote: I think that carbon sleeve over EPS or EPP rod would indeed do the trick for the arm. If you were serious about it, you'd have a high- pressure female mold, and mold the part by inflating a plastic bladder inside the sleeve material, but the male molded part would be almost as stiff and easier and cheaper to make for just one or two. All far too complicated! When I built my wing wheel I prototyped the legs with 3/4 inch schedule 40 pvc pipe. *The idea was to get the geometry right then make to final legs from aluminium square tube. It turned out the sched 40 pvc was perfect for the job. *It is dimensionally stable, has just the right amount of spring, and does no damage anything it bangs or rubs against. *The protype legs have lasted 8 years. *They will be changed this winter for a design that allows height adjustment but I'll use the same material. Andy (GY) How about pictures Andy, Any place you could post them for others to view? |
#15
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
Windward performance makes a wing wheel for the Sparrowhawk that uses
two skate wheels. It's really neat and has a natural spring arc made out of carbon fiber and fiberglass with two skate wheels on the bottom. It pivots 360 deg for which every way you drag the sailplane. Yes the wing is only 42 lbs so it might not scale up to full weighted sailplanes. Sorry I have no photos but I thought it might be an interesting idea out there for those entrepreneurs. It does not fold but stores well as it is small. Just an idea that you don't have to use a bike tire like every one else. JOhn |
#16
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 7:12*pm, flyingmr2 wrote:
Windward performance makes a wing wheel *for the Sparrowhawk that uses two skate wheels. *It's really neat and has a natural spring arc made out of carbon fiber and fiberglass with two skate wheels on the bottom. *It pivots 360 deg for which every way you drag the sailplane. *Yes the wing is only 42 lbs so it might not scale up to full weighted sailplanes. * Sorry I have no photos but I thought it might be an interesting idea out there for those entrepreneurs. It does not fold but stores well as it is small. *Just an idea that you don't have to use a bike tire like every one else. JOhn I love the Windward wing wheel setup. I saw it at Mountain Valley (Tehachapi) and it handled the gopher holes just fine! |
#17
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 12:32*pm, SoaringXCellence wrote:
How about pictures Andy, *Any place you could post them for others to view? I dug out a couple of photos and will send them to you if you email me. My RAS address is valid. I don't have a photo sharing account. Andy |
#18
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 28, 7:12*pm, flyingmr2 wrote:
Windward performance makes a wing wheel *for the Sparrowhawk that uses two skate wheels. *It's really neat and has a natural spring arc made out of carbon fiber and fiberglass with two skate wheels on the bottom. *It pivots 360 deg for which every way you drag the sailplane. *Yes the wing is only 42 lbs so it might not scale up to full weighted sailplanes. * Sorry I have no photos but I thought it might be an interesting idea out there for those entrepreneurs. It does not fold but stores well as it is small. *Just an idea that you don't have to use a bike tire like every one else. JOhn But like Tom says, there's a problem when it's too light. I "kludge" repaired a Sparrowhawk wing wheel. Owner added weight to top of wing to keep it down. This caused composite to slowly grind away near radius and further weaken. At least for moving the glider on pavement in stronger conditions, the composite spring isn't strong enough to allow adding the needed weight, bumper MKIV & QV Minden |
#19
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 29, 9:58*am, Andy wrote:
On Jul 28, 12:32*pm, SoaringXCellence wrote: How about pictures Andy, *Any place you could post them for others to view? I dug out a couple of photos and will send them to you if you email me. *My RAS address is valid. I don't have a photo sharing account. Andy I'd love to see some pictures, too. Unfortunately, I don't have anywhere to post them either. Last year at Cordele the guy parked next to me had a homemade wing wheel. He'd used a couple of pieces of copper tubing bent into a U-shape and flattened at the ends so he could run the bicycle wheel axle through them. He attached the bottom part of the U's to an old skateboard. The whole contraption got put on the wing with some bungy cords. It worked fine for him, although it didn't hold the plane level. That would have been a problem if he wasn't flying club class (no ballast). -- Matt |
#20
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carbon fiber wing wheel dolly
On Jul 29, 9:01*am, mattm wrote:
I'd love to see some pictures, too. * I posted them to SSA where they can be seen by non members as well as members. Go to SSA home page http://www.ssa.org/ then select "About Soaring" / "Photo Gallery" They currently show at the top of the page. Members can find me and then go to my gallery One photo is a duplicate. I have not yet found out how to delete a photo I posted or how to edit the text after posting. Andy |
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