First Russ, Dan never suggested clipping the wing – that was and is your idea, but I’m not sure why. When you increase the payload (pilot weight) you already increase the wing loading; clipping the wing will increase it further. If you increase it enough, then you are going to start losing the ability to take advantage of micro lift (not to mention that the wing becomes less efficient). I don’t know what that limit is, but most of the sailplanes that are similar have pretty low wing loading. I think what Dan is suggesting, and it’s certainly one possibility, is that it would be possible use the stock wing, but beef it up a bit to handle the extra pilot weight



The pod isn’t really considered that structural. The wing is pretty much were all the load is being applied. The loads on the pod are quite low. In fact it might well be said that we could design the pod to crash rather than fly. Personally, I’m not too worried about it since I would plan on flying with a ballistic chute. So, the fitting that attaches the pod to the wing don’t see that much increase due to the increased pilot weight (since they aren’t that highly loaded in the first place. The big loads are in the wing carry-through structure.



There will obviously be an increase in forward pitch moment since the pilot CG is forward of the lift surface. That why I suggested lengthening the tail boom to aid in the balance and give more control authority. How much? Thinking… TBD! One thing is fairly sure is that you really can’t move the pilot CG aft much unless you also move him up (higher water line). That might be a fairly significant redesign, or not. The Woodstock (also a Maupan design) has the pilot sitting up a bit – both sitting more upright and higher in the plane. It might not be bad as the visibility may be improved as well, but again, the problem is that it would require a lot more development, which ain’t that much fun. The longer tail boom might take care of that and visibility be damned I guess. Perhaps Dan could also address the visibility if he has any specific knowledge about that.



Again, not sure why anyone would want to clip the wings, so I didn’t address those questions. If anything I’d add another rib inboard to bump up the area to keep the wing-loading low so that I would be assured of being able to take advantage of the micro-lift. Now, Dan says that’s not a problem with a pilot that’s a bit heavier, it might make some sense to leave it as is, but I’m still thinking on that one. The biggest problem, as Dan aptly points out is just keeping the weight down – true. I do thing think there is some weight to be saved if the bomb bay doors are omitted for a continuous pod structure, and through the elimination of some superfluous wood. You can clip the wings all you’d like – it’s not something that I would consider unless someone could show me a compelling reason to do so.


--- On Mon, 2/6/12, russell wilson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.> wrote:


From: russell wilson <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Subject: Re: [Carbondragonbuildersandpilots] Re: Carbon Dragon structural limits
To: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Date: Monday, February 6, 2012, 5:09 AM





exelent sugestion dan...clip the wings,keep the depth in the spar,up the pay load..good aircraft for a heavier pilot/any pilot...a modification that adds no weight and enhances controlability and safety...the aircraft can be built from the original plans.and the aircraft stays within its weight limit..no need to desighn another aircraft.....just a common sense easy solution for the home builder.


can the pod handle extra weight?
what is the pods limit?
what are the limit of the pod fittings?
can a bigger person fit in the pod?
will the centre of gravity be futher forward?
will there need to be extra weight on the tail?
if we clip the wings at one rib in...what will the wing cary?
if we clip the wings at two ribs in...what will the wing carry?
if we clip the wings at three ribs in...what will the wing carry?

any one?

russ.