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#1
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Front Electric Sustainer
According to the FAA aircraft registry, there are 20 LAK-17a registered in
the USA. I've been talking with Luca at the FES factory and he has offered what looks to like a good deal to have the FES installed in our ships. He will come to this country to do the installations if we will pay for expenses. His proposal amounts to approximately $28K per installation all inclusive provided we have a minimum of four (4) ships. I know the price will be higher for fewer ships so I would expect that it would be marginally less for more ships due to expenses being spread thinner. Is there any interest among the LAK-17 or -19 owners to have the FES factory come to the USA to modify our ships? Please reply to the author or post replies here. |
#2
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Front Electric Sustainer
Are LAK's the only gliders which can be modified?
Ramy |
#3
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Front Electric Sustainer
On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 8:24:07 PM UTC-4, Dan Marotta wrote:
According to the FAA aircraft registry, there are 20 LAK-17a registered in the USA. I've been talking with Luca at the FES factory and he has offered what looks to like a good deal to have the FES installed in our ships. He will come to this country to do the installations if we will pay for expenses. His proposal amounts to approximately $28K per installation all inclusive provided we have a minimum of four (4) ships. I know the price will be higher for fewer ships so I would expect that it would be marginally less for more ships due to expenses being spread thinner. Is there any interest among the LAK-17 or -19 owners to have the FES factory come to the USA to modify our ships? Please reply to the author or post replies here. Interested! F2 Sean Fidler Ionia, MI |
#4
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Front Electric Sustainer
I've seen video of a self launch with the FES, however there's minimal
clearance between the propeller and the ground making that risky of a prop strike. In the video here, http://www.front-electric-sustainer.com/, you can see that they use an auto tow to get the glider into the air and then release and start the motor. That would make for inexpensive launches from practically any large field or small airport. My main interest is for those days when the clouds are at such a distance from the airport that a land out is a good prospect and I don't always have a crew available. Also safe fields are far apart in central New Mexico. "gotovkotzepkoi" wrote in message ... It is my understanding that the Lak with the FES cannot really safely self launch. What is your view on this? There does not seem to be any independend assessment of this out there. The concept is so simple and elegant. It would be wonderful if one could get a good self launcher out of it. -- gotovkotzepkoi |
#5
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Front Electric Sustainer
I'm guessing here to give you a quick response but I'll check with the
factory before being specific. I would think that any glider with a circular cross section where the nose is cut off for the installation would be a good candidate for a FES installation. Without a circular cross section, the fuselage could be reshaped in that area, but I wouldn't consider that an elegant solution. I would also guess that the factory currently has only done this installation on the LAK-17a and -17b and so only has installation data and experience for those models. What glider do you have? "Ramy" wrote in message ... Are LAK's the only gliders which can be modified? Ramy |
#6
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Front Electric Sustainer
They will also caution you as to Max Weight of non-lifting components. There is a battery to be added, as well as the motor. Positioned to hopefully keep the CG the same as it was before. But, when I was asking at the convention about the installation (as it would go very nicely in an HP-11. Lots of prop clearance, too!), about all I got from them was "You must be very careful about the maximum weight of non-lifting parts." This may well keep several designs from having the FES retrofitted.
Steve |
#7
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Front Electric Sustainer
On Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:06:03 PM UTC-4, Steve Leonard wrote:
They will also caution you as to Max Weight of non-lifting components. There is a battery to be added, as well as the motor. Positioned to hopefully keep the CG the same as it was before. But, when I was asking at the convention about the installation (as it would go very nicely in an HP-11. Lots of prop clearance, too!), about all I got from them was "You must be very careful about the maximum weight of non-lifting parts." This may well keep several designs from having the FES retrofitted. Steve They suggest on their website that the ASW-19 is suitable. However, they point out that they add 45kg to the fuselage. For my particular plane, which weighs 582lbs empty and is limited to a dry weight of 805lbs because of non-lifting weight limit, that would reduce my plane down to a payload of 124lbs. The last time I was that light was in elementary school! Nonetheless this is an outstanding achievement. -- Matt |
#8
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Front Electric Sustainer
Dear glider pilots,
FES was designed as sustainer but proved much better than expected. With some additional improvements which we performed LAK17A FES can safely selflaunch from concrete runway as there is about 17cm propeller clearance which is more than enough. We newer had a problem as it is practicly not necesery to lift tail, and there is no moment to nose, so it is very simple. Acceleration on flaps 0 or -1, at 80km/h just move flaps to +1/+2 and start climbing. Initial acceleration (with 3 bars of preasure on main whell) and climb rate at 22kW is good (more than 2,5m/s) as you can see on a few published movies! I succesfully performed selflaunch with LAK17A FES also from grass! If grass has holes and is not long and smooth enough is better to use combination of autotow like on movie, or even better winching. In Europe we are woking on EASA certification of LAK17 as sustainer. This is hard enough. I believe that in future with some more development and impovements 18m glider could be certified also as selflauncher. For light sailplanes like Silent, FES is already very suitable for selflaunch. Accerelation and climb rate is better that version with combustion engine. You can read on Alisport website about 1000km adventure flight along Italy, from North to South with only 12 minutes of motor run. Regards, Luka Dne Ĩetrtek, 20. september 2012 04:11:28 UTC+2 je oseba gotovkotzepkoi napisala: It is my understanding that the Lak with the FES cannot really safely self launch. What is your view on this? There does not seem to be any independend assessment of this out there. The concept is so simple and elegant. It would be wonderful if one could get a good self launcher out of it. -- gotovkotzepkoi |
#9
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Front Electric Sustainer
On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 7:24:07 PM UTC-5, Dan Marotta wrote:
According to the FAA aircraft registry, there are 20 LAK-17a registered in the USA. I've been talking with Luca at the FES factory and he has offered what looks to like a good deal to have the FES installed in our ships. He will come to this country to do the installations if we will pay for expenses. His proposal amounts to approximately $28K per installation all inclusive provided we have a minimum of four (4) ships. I know the price will be higher for fewer ships so I would expect that it would be marginally less for more ships due to expenses being spread thinner. Is there any interest among the LAK-17 or -19 owners to have the FES factory come to the USA to modify our ships? Please reply to the author or post replies here. If this can be done on the ASW24B, I am a definite prospect! |
#10
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Front Electric Sustainer
On Sep 20, 9:06*am, Steve Leonard wrote:
...(as it would go very nicely in an HP-11. *Lots of prop clearance, too!)... Steve you're probably aware that the HP-11 was originally designed in 1962 or so to have a small engine in the nose. You can see the hazy outline in the three-view drawing in the original plans set where Dick erased the propeller. Unfortunately, the idea was way ahead of its time, and engines of the right size with the requisite horsepower did not appear for another thirty years or so and electric power was just a gleam in Tom Swift's eye. But, yeah, your primary point is well taken. With both the battery and the motor in the fuselage it is a concern that the maximum non-lifting weight dictated by wing bending moment could be exceeded. Most European gliders come from the factory with that value specified. For other gliders a bit of engineering might be required to come up with a reasonable value based on the maximum gross weight and the specified or intended weight of the wing panels. Thanks, Bob K. |
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