automated flap setting

Wouldn't powered flaps that could respond fast enough to extract energy from gusts fit in the same category as powered boundary layer suction and be illegal per FAI racing rules?

Kirk
66

If the flaps move fast enough, wouldn't they provide thrust, ala a whale's
tail or a gondola?


"kirk.stant" wrote in message
...
Wouldn't powered flaps that could respond fast enough to extract energy
from gusts fit in the same category as powered boundary layer suction and
be illegal per FAI racing rules?

Kirk
66

How about a flexible rudder you could flap like a swim fin? Has that been thought of?

Boggs

Does anyone know what became of the Will Schuemann's flap control system as described in the July 1975 issue of Soaring Magazine? It was supposed to appear in the ASW-20, but seems to have disappeared...

On Monday, November 11, 2013 10:23:46 AM UTC-5, WB wrote:
A prototype automated flap system was mentioned in the recent Duckhawk

discussion.



My question: Given that our manual flap settings cannot be optimal, how

much real-world improvement in climb and cruise could be gained with an

automated flap system that always has the flaps at their optimal

position ( a hypothetical "perfect" flap setter)?



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On Wednesday, November 13, 2013 7:12:49 PM UTC-8, Waveguru wrote:
How about a flexible rudder you could flap like a swim fin? Has that been thought of?



Boggs

Gary, that would be called sculling............ask Ron about it, I do it all the time.

Brad

On Wednesday, November 13, 2013 10:12:49 PM UTC-5, Waveguru wrote:
How about a flexible rudder you could flap like a swim fin? Has that been thought of?



Boggs

Boggs I think you are on to something...

Maybe the Duckhawk could use a contraption like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yMeIsmAV-E

Save the battery and get some exercise while you stretch out your final glide!

On Monday, November 11, 2013 at 1:36:33 PM UTC-7, John Cochrane wrote:
Didn't Will Scheumann do this in the 70s? I remember a soaring cover photo with a weird sort of mortocycle grip on the stick. As I remember, the basic idea was that the pilot pretty much flew by flaps, changing flap setting to induce changes in CL, with the tail functioning as trimmer.

Now if the windward guys really want to get fancy... you can in principle extract a lot of energy from the air by dynamic soaring the small bits of positive and negative g we run in to all the time. Humans are too slow, and we don't have the feedback we need, which is knowing when the lift vector has a component in the direction of motion to pull, and a component in the opposite direction when you push. This could be automated, lots of little fast pitch motions. Purists laugh, but if you get 60:1 glides out of 15 meter with high speed automated pitch motions, they'll laugh all the way to the back of the scoresheet. Or, I guess, to the annual rules poll to get it banned...

John Cochrane

Perhaps you are thinking of the Flap Integrator handle I have on JG. (AS-W12 SN 002) I believe it was originally installed by George Worthington. That was the idea, to fly cruise using the Flap handle. Based on Airspeed and sink rate.