Darrylld,

Can't open .XLS files here, so I have not seen your pictures.
Can you make them .JPGs or .GIFs? If you can come up with a
satisfactory soaring machine that is a canard, you might be the first.
Never seen one yet that soaring pilots liked, in a thermal. Ultralights
with power are a different breed of cat.

Ultralight soaring is a challenge. If you have open spaces, you
probably can tow up. Take a look into payout winches, for towing. It's
a junkyard deal; take the front spindle, bearings, hub, disk brake,
wheel (as a single assembly), plus the master cylinder, from almost any
wrecked car. Mounted on any old trailer, it can look like the picture,
linked below. You would not need any vertical framework with an
airchair; just start with a hundred yards (meters) of line pulled out to
the airchair. Once the glider is airborne, the winch pays out the
towline steadily, under tension, as the vehicle tows the glider up
higher. We use that rig to tow hang gliders to 4k'-5k' (~1km to 1.6km)
of altitude, routinely. That's a 20 minute glide back to launch, with
no lift. A good pilot can usually stay aloft for at least an hour. A
battery and starter motor (from the same source) can reel in the
towline, before it touches the ground. Any vehicle with a trailer hitch
receiver becomes your towing vehicle. It would seem logical that the
trailer could also carry your airchair, to and from the towing field.

http://www.xmission.com/~red/TowTrailer.jpg

--
Cheers,
Red
************************
P.S. Not relevant, but...
Free advice, and maybe worth the price,
for new and low-time HG pilots,
at my website:
http://www.xmission.com/~red/


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Airchairgroup@yahoogroups.com
> [mailto:Airchairgroup@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of ewduds
> Sent: Sunday, December 07, 2008 2:59 PM
> To: Airchairgroup@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [Airchairgroup] Canard Airchair Sketches
>
> I'm new here but have been working on finding an airchair design to
> start building this spring. The best design I've seen so far is the
> Mike Sandlin's PIG because I plan to make the simplest self-launch
> possible. I live in Minnesota and we don't have towing/mountain/ect
> opportunities.
>
> I'm also toying with the idea that a canard design may be easier as a
> pusher as well as possibly lighter "wing" loading.
>
> I'd appreciate any feedback or input on the sketches (Ver 5) in the
> File titled "Canard Airchair".