Graphene gliders

This is about Bill Collum's story in Soaring, "New Sailplane
Material". I respect Bill's knowledge and enjoy reading his stories
in Soaring. In it he suggests a 50 Lb 15 meter glider will be
possible and I don't doubt it.

Certainly assembling it would be much easier, but to get reasonable
penetration, wouldn't it need water ballast? Now, many fly without
water but with a 50 Lb airframe, that wouldn't be an option. Every
flight would be 'wet' offsetting the ease of assembly with the water
filling hassle.

You might see an increase in the number of the 12 meter gliders but I
don't see many 12 meter gliders entered in 15 meter contests. No
matter how light, I don't think the performance is really there.

Ultimately, if you reduce the density of a glider to that of air, you
have a glider shaped balloon. What's the L/D of a balloon?

But think what could be done to the aspect ratio.....

Mark

I would add ballast in the form of more lithium polymer batteries, to
drive the electric sustainer motor.

Chris N

On Dec 28, 6:35*pm, Mark Jardini wrote:
But think what could be done to the aspect ratio.....

Mark

Can you say "low Reynolds number?"
UH

On 12/28/2010 6:59 PM, wrote:
On Dec 28, 6:35 pm, Mark wrote:
But think what could be done to the aspect ratio.....

Mark

Can you say "low Reynolds number?"
UH

Curable by speed! :-)

Clearly 'practical graphene' will require extensive, systemic thought (and
probably not a little new 'aereodynamic' research), but my nickel is on it
happening. After all, who can seriously imagine glider designers whining about
having a material so good it *hurts* their ability to improve performance
because it's too light?!?

Regards,
Bob W.

On Dec 28, 7:29*pm, Bob Whelan wrote:
On 12/28/2010 6:59 PM, wrote:

On Dec 28, 6:35 pm, Mark *wrote:
But think what could be done to the aspect ratio.....

Mark

Can you say "low Reynolds number?"
UH

Curable by speed! *:-)

Clearly 'practical graphene' will require extensive, systemic thought (and
probably not a little new 'aereodynamic' research), but my nickel is on it
happening. After all, who can seriously imagine glider designers whining about
having a material so good it *hurts* their ability to improve performance
because it's too light?!?

Regards,
Bob W.

My bet would be designers will use the immense strength to eliminate
Va, Vb and Vne speeds. A glider would reach terminal velocity first.
A higher turbulence penetration speed would facilitate higher inter-
thermal speeds. It would be especially beneficial for high altitude,
long distance XC wave flights. Imagine a 300 knot low pass.

At the SSA Conference in PHL we're doing a session on Future
Composites and I'll be discussing the latest graphene and smart
materials technology. We are indeed approaching a tipping point where
nano-reinforcements and active materials will change the structural
paradigm, which in turn will drive aerodynamic advancements.

Bob

On Dec 29, 6:04*am, RL wrote:
At the SSA Conference in PHL we're doing a session on Future
Composites and I'll be discussing the latest graphene and smart
materials technology. We are indeed approaching a tipping point where
nano-reinforcements and active materials will change the structural
paradigm, which in turn will drive aerodynamic advancements.

Bob

I'd be more concerned about vertical acceleration in turbulence and
cracking my head on the canopy if the glider were really this light.

1200 pounds gross is where I would like to be - it might be a
challenge to find space for 900 lbs of water ballast.

Mike

On Dec 29, 3:31*am, Anne wrote:
On Dec 29, 6:04*am, RL wrote:

At the SSA Conference in PHL we're doing a session on Future
Composites and I'll be discussing the latest graphene and smart
materials technology. We are indeed approaching a tipping point where
nano-reinforcements and active materials will change the structural
paradigm, which in turn will drive aerodynamic advancements.

Bob

I'd be more concerned about vertical acceleration in turbulence and
cracking my head on the canopy if the glider were really this light.

1200 pounds gross is where I would like to be - it might be a
challenge to find space for 900 lbs of water ballast.

Mike

BTDT! Bashed the canopy OFF my Speed Astir with my cranium a couple
years ago!

On Dec 28, 5:21*pm, bildan wrote:
This is about Bill Collum's story in Soaring, "New Sailplane
Material". *I respect Bill's knowledge and enjoy reading his stories
in Soaring. *In it he suggests a 50 Lb 15 meter glider will be
possible and I don't doubt it.

Certainly assembling it would be much easier, but to get reasonable
penetration, wouldn't it need water ballast? *Now, many fly without
water but with a 50 Lb airframe, that wouldn't be an option. *Every
flight would be 'wet' offsetting the ease of assembly with the water
filling hassle.

You might see an increase in the number of the 12 meter gliders but I
don't see many 12 meter gliders entered in 15 meter contests. *No
matter how light, I don't think the performance is really there.

Ultimately, if you reduce the density of a glider to that of air, you
have a glider shaped balloon. *What's the L/D of a balloon?

Hype, hype and more hype in Bill Collums story, pure vapor-ware.
Going from a single layer of graphene molecules to a structural part
is not around the corner - unless its the corner of some distant
galaxy. Remember buckyballs? We were going to have string materials
of unbelievable strenght, space elevators everywhere to get payloads
for pennies into orbit, surely a hazard to soaring activities.
In my uneducated view graphene is an oddity for materials researchers
to mull over and write papers, nothing to see here folks, move
along...

Herb, J7