>If you would like to see a documentary about flying the wave in REAL aircraft >go to:
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Red Bull doco was the helicopter camera rig. Staggering steadiness (at a price). Anyway, back to Real Aircraft. I wonder what is a real aircraft? A human carrying aircraft? Or any glider? It would be interesting to come up with some way of quantifying this. Something involving the cost when new, the L/D, the lifespan, the average flight time and distance covered. I guess Mike B can help with this. 6-7 kgs weight, an LD of 8-9, a lifespan of say 5 years and a cost of $5,000 (?) for a paraglider. Average flight time inland of 3 hours and 120 kms? 35 kgs, 15:1 L/D, lifespan of 12 years and cost of $12,000 for a hang glider. Average flight time inland of 3 hours and 180 kms? 70+ kgs, 40:1 L/D, lifespan 30 years (?) and cost of $100,000 (?) for an ultralight sailplane. Average flight time inland of 3 hours and 250 kms? 280 kgs, 50:1 L/D, lifespan 40 years (?) and cost of $180,000 + for a conventional sailplane. Ditto. 350 kgs, 50:1 L/D, lifespan of ?? years and cost of $220,000+ for a stink wing (SLG). Ditto. Regrettably, I think the unreal aircraft would come out rather well. BR DMcD _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
