I hoping to have a few people taking video of the first flight, and will probably have a small camera mounted somewhere on the glider. There is another permanent CD at Wallaby that was built by Mick Roberts. He told me about the forward CG issue with the design. I was in the process of building my boom at the time so I lengthened it by 6-8 inches. Hopefully that will compensate for it but I'll do a static weight and balance before I fly it. I'll probably upload some more pictures soon. Be sure to keep us updated with pictures of your progress.
Rick.
From: Philip Lardner <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
To: 'Carbon Dragon Website' <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 6:06 PM
Subject: RE: Ozzie Haines Carbon Dragon
Thanks for the info Rick - I'll update the site and see if I can't make
contact with Roger at Wallaby. Perhaps he can be persuaded to write
something about his experiences flying his CD.
I'm really looking forward to seeing your CD in the air - I hope you can get
hold of a few video cameras for the occasion! Take care on the early
shake-down flights - from what I have read, you want to pay close attention
to your centre of gravity and the static balance of the glider in the early
flights until you find the sweet spot for the pitch control. The prototype
was nose heavy (or tail light) and had a wrench duct-taped to the end of the
tail boom to help the static balance. Jacques Bott, who flies a Swift Lite
in France, says that he can change the pitch significantly (and thus the
stick pressure) just by extending or bending his legs more or less (the
Swift has rudder pedals that can be moved fore/aft in flight.)
I'm making more progress with my build too - the D-section wing ribs are
just out of their moulds and the tail / rudder and H-stab / elevator ribs
are up for infusing this weekend. I'm really pleased with the way things are
moving...!
Please keep us posted - and best of luck!
Phil.
Original Message
From: Carbon Dragon Website [This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.]
Sent: 13 December 2012 19:23
To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Subject: Ozzie Haines Carbon Dragon
You received a message from This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Your entry for this glider has the Oz report about the glider for sale and
at the end requests info on where it ended up. It was bought by one of the
tug pilots at Wallaby Ranch in Florida (Roger...don\\\'t know his last name)
and is flown regurlarily there..
Thanks for takng the effort to put this web site together. I hope to test
fly my Dragon in the next couple of weeks.
Rick Mullins
