Today, although flights approaching 300 miles have been made, most pilots (even most advanced pilots) have not flown 100 miles. At that time, only a dozen 100 mile flights had been made by hang gliders. One of the conclusions of that study was that interthermal glide ratios of at least 15 to 18 in the presence of 0.5 kts of sink was needed to make this kind of soaring easily attainable. Ilan had written an article in a 1982 issue of Hang Gliding Magazine describing what sort of glider would be needed for extended cross-country soaring based on distributions of thermals and interthermal downdrafts measured by Dick Johnson. The design of the SWIFT began with a study of the requirements for cross-country soaring. Four months later, in December of 1989, the SWIFT took to the air over a small hill in Marin County.įigure 1. As Brian talked about the Odyssey and Ilan described the aerodynamic design options, it became clear that a radically new design was possible - and Brian could build it. Brian thought that perhaps Ilan and Steve could improve the Odyssey's airfoils somewhat Ilan and Steve thought that Brian might try out the aerodynamic controls to improve hang glider handling. students, met Brian Porter at a Fly-In at McClure reservoir and soon the "gang of five" gathered at Brian Robbin's house to discuss the Odyssey and the SWIFT and Brian's mother's pizza. Although the performance estimates looked impressive and the design became perhaps the world's most thoroughly analyzed glider, time and building experience were in short supply and the Stanford SWIFT design appeared as though it might become just an academic excerise. Ilan Kroo, a professor in the aeronautics department, got Stanford to offer course credit for the preliminary design work and soon a group of graduate students began running a lot of computer programs, generating a lot of paper, and coming up with some interesting aerodynamic design ideas along the way. Two hours South of BrightStar, at Stanford University, work had been underway since 1985 on the design of a very high performance glider with some of the same objectives as those of the Odyssey project. Despite this success, it was apparent that there was much left to be done in the development of high performance rigid wing hang gliders. National Hang Gliding Championships at Dunlap, California. Brian Porter joined BrightStar as a team pilot in 1988 and went on to pilot the glider to first place in the 1989 U.S. The first prototype was finished in March of 1986, and a program of flight and vehicle-based testing led to its rapid development over the next two years. The Odyssey utilized a molded "D" tube of fiberglass, Kevlar and carbon fiber with aluminum and foam ribs supporting a mylar skin. As BrightStar Hang Gliders, Brian and Eric, with Craig's help, began the development of the Odyssey, a rigid wing hang glider. In January of 1986, Brian Robbins, Craig Catto, and Eric Beckman set out to build a new hang glider with better performance than other gliders available at the time. This sailplane represents the marriage of two projects with similar goals undertaken by two groups with different expertise. This article summarizes the design, construction, and initial flight testing of this ultralight sailplane. Although it is a fully-cantilevered rigid wing with aerodynamic controls and flaps, it weighs only about 100 lbs and is easily transported on the top of a car. It takes off and lands like a hang glider, yet maintains exceptional performance at high speeds, achieving a lift-to-drag ratio of about 25:1. The SWIFT is a high performance foot-launched sailplane, designed to combine some of the convenience of hang gliders with the soaring performance of sailplanes. Version first published in Hang Gliding Jan. With Brian Robbins, Steve Morris, and Brian Porter Development of the SWIFT A Tailless Foot-Launched Sailplane
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