Any suggestions of a glider for me to build?

[Willi Von Klugerman]

I want to build a glider and decided to look at designs of early pioneering gliders.I want to build a glider that is not time consuming,easily obtainable materials,and easy to build.I am REALLY hungry to fly and need to make an un-powered craft.And I've made (failed) attempts to make flight possible for me and made a glider out of a crude wooden frame with a bed sheet nailed together.I named the glider,LF-1 (Lee Flyer no.1),but it couldn't get me off the ground and the frame kept falling apart.But I was desperate for flight and I was only 15.Now Im ready to make a more serious (and better) attempt at it!So which early glider would be suitable for me to make?

[aerohydro]

Well, here's a suggestion:

One machine that has always appealed to me is the 1908 Sellers Quadruplane, which started out in life as a glider, before things like motors and propellers were added to it. Here are some text and photos.

Yes, it has 4 wings, but the time-sink in making such a design compared to, say, a biplane should not be that great, especially if you batch produced the components. Sellers was granted a patent in 1911, and this contains excellent drawings, good enough in fact to build a full-sized duplicate directly from them.



In the late 1970s, an American hang-glider enthusiast called Larry Hall used the Sellers Quadruplane as the basis for his own hang-glider design. You can find some details about this modern day version over at the AirChair forum at Yahoo Groups:

Specifications
Handling and Assembly
Design Notes

An article also appeared in the Jan 1979 issue of Soaring, and though I have accessed this online before, as a PDF, it's currently proving elusive to locate.

Cheers,
Paul

[airknocker]

Drop these folks a note, Vintage Sailplane Association
They would be knowledgable about reliable designs and plan availability.

[Willi Von Klugerman]

This one doesn't look too hard to construct.

[Willi Von Klugerman]

I have already made a tall branch with a small stick hanging out as a wind indicator pole.Plus,I already made plans to construct a makeshift "workshop".

[aerohydro]

Well, the Chanute biplane glider is a well-known machine, with lots of material being available.

Steve Spicer has a very complete website detailing much of the history of Octave Chanute's flying machines, including info the three replicas built for the 1996 centenary celebrations. For someone wanting to build a replica, there's even a page offering advice.

A Chanute biplane glider has even been built in Germany. This modern day version was made by Stephan Nitsch:



More photos

Cheers,
Paul

[Willi Von Klugerman]

Ok,but where do I get the stuff to make the Chanute glider?

[aerohydro]

That'll depend on the approach you want to take. Personally, I'd use materials and fittings that are of a known standard and come from an aircraft supply business, rather than, say, a hardware store.

Here's one outfit, Aircraft Spruce & Speciality Co., but there are dozens more around.

Paul

[Willi Von Klugerman]

Well my approach is to make it as accurate as possible but right now I don't know the complete list of things and materials to set the glider up.

[cfgray]

There were a number of books and articles in print during 1910-1911 which gave construction details for a Herring-Chanute glider ca. 1896. The Herring-Chanute (a.k.a. the Chanute-Herring) was successfuly flown many times, and is well-known as a reasonably safe and well-engineered machine.

"How To Build A Bi-Plane Glider" (1909) by A. P. Morgan is a nice little book (60pp) which gives good instructions for building a modified (somewhat simplified) Herring-Chanute-type glider. You might be able to obtain photocopies from the NASM Library.

Best Wishes,
cfgray