Carbon Dragon
Technical Website
by S. Steve
Adkins ... (updated
4/28/2004)
This
site is moving to: http://www.carbondragon.us/
(
Please click above to transfer to the new site)
(If
you don't find what you are looking for there ... come back here)
Note: all material is not yet transferred to the
new site
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Carbon Dragon
Tehachapi
A website dedicated
to builders of the Carbon Dragon sailplane designed by Jim Maupin.
FAQ
- Frequently Asked Question
Listing
of Carbon Dragons Flying and Under Construction
Old News: Margaret Maupin of Jim
Maupin Ltd discontinues the sale of plans for the Carbon Dragon.
In the meantime, new designs such as the LightHawk
continue to appear which build on the micro-soaring concepts fostered by
Jim Maupin.
Steve
Arndt's Magic Dragon
at Harris Hill
Introduction:
The Carbon Dragon is an ultralight, high performance
glider. This glider was conceived by Jim Maupin who also designed
the famous Woodstock sailplane and the Windrose motorglider. With
encouragement from Irv Culver, who promised to "run the numbers".
Jim finished the design and built the prototype. As a result, Jim
Maupin with an assist from co-designer Irv Culver, produced an exciting
sailplane for which nearly 400 plan sets have been sold. The
outstanding plans were drawn by Bill Baker whom Maupin described
as, "... a fellow home builder and consummate draftsman." Many
people, who have flown the prototype, have commented on its excellent handling.
Some people may question the adjective
"high performance" ... but when your ultimate goal is a sink rate of
1 fps or 60 fpm, achieving a sink rate of
100 fpm is indeed high performance. But sink rate alone
is not the answer. Many glass ships with very high L/D ratios achieve
a low sink rate ... but at a relatively high speed. The high speed
of glass ships makes it difficult to exploit
the inner core of narrow thermals on weak days. According
to papers presented by Gary Osoba, your sailplane must meet several
criteria to operate in the regime of microlift and microthreads
of lift:
| Spec: |
Required
for exploiting microlift ... mostly from Gary Osoba |
| 100 fpm |
Very low sink rate |
| 25 mph |
Very low speed at above sink rate |
|
n/a
|
Extremely small thermalling circle diameter
(directly related to the speed squared ... v2) |
| 26:1 |
A decent glide ratio at a respectable
speed ... here the Carbon Dragon is weak. |
| 20 feet |
Altitude loss during a 360 degree turn |
|
n/a
|
docile stall entry and very rapid recovery ... Steve Arndt |
Some people are skeptical about the loss per
turn, but on a very overcast day with no lift, I have seen Osoba
complete four 360 degree turns while finishing a full pattern and landing
at Elmira ... after a 200' autotow launch! ... where I drove
the tow vehicle.
|
Carbon Dragon Drawbacks
|
|
Low maximum gross weight
|
|
Low Vne
|
Please
use this website to explore what builders of the Carbon Dragon have accomplished!
Contents and Links
Carbon
Dragon - most links within this website:
Important
Links to Carbon Dragon related websites:
I
am no longer
building the Carbon Dragon. My project was halted after building
the pilot pod due to my weight coupled with changing personal circumstances.
Building the pod was easy and fun. In the meantime, I am encouraged
by builders who have addressed these concerns by using carbon
rods in places of carbon tows (or yarn) and are using carbon composite
skins in place of 1/32nd plywood. I
am now an part owner of a Schweizer 1-35c which is most notable for having
flaps and no airbrakes.
For
others who share a similar concerns, please visit the SHA website
for access to newer designs which have taken the Jim Maupin design several
steps further.
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com
... Sailplane Homebuilders Association
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com/whatmembersaredoing.htm
... Projects by SHA members
| WEBcounterTM |
This website has been in operation since
March 1998 ... 61,934 visits
as of 4/27/2004 (date of switchover to new site)
Number of visits to this page total 
... as of today ... thanks for coming.
|
Get to know the Webmaster
... now links to the new website
Other sites by S. Steve Adkins:
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com
... designers, builders and pilots of sailplanes
http://www.mn1903flyer.us/
... Minnesota SHA members construct a full-size replica of the 1903
Wright Flyer website created 2/2003
http://www.note-ablesingers.com
... co-author: Judy Adkins
http://www.carbondragon.us/
... Upgrade of the old Carbon Dragon Technical Webpage, changed 4/2004
Editorial
Policy, Copyright Notice and Creation Information
Copyright © 1998 by S. Steve Adkins...
Address of this webpage is: ...
http://www.cpinternet.com/sadkins/ ...
note: changed 8/2002 was www.isd.net/sadkins
Steve
Arndt's Magic Dragon
at Harris Hill
