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Rotating Launch and Land Solution
Reinhart,
Hope you are well recovered from AWEC2011 duties. Now to catch up some
loose technical ends-
A method to ease the rotating launch/land kiteplane problem is to swing a
large (low-drag finned) ballast mass in a wide circle and launch the
lightweight kiteplane from that. KiteLab did two small-scale experimental
sessions of the idea and found it worked, but transition to wind-lift
remained tricky. Filling the kiteplane or mass-container with
water-ballast that is then dumped might be useful. Added mass allows the
kiteplane to sweep in a far larger circle and reach a far higher altitude
before finally unclipping and ending up tethered from the center. The mass
element is then retracted and parked. Landing reverses the process for a
potential soft-landing of even the largest rigid airframes. The whirling
mass mechanism might also be part of a short stroke pumping cycle and also
reverse-pump to maintain flight in calm. Construction-crane arms are a
partial COTS model for a balanced rotating base. Yes, massive whirling
objects are scary ;^)
Also, please ask all those in you know active in modeling stable kite
orbits to not forget to consider pilot-kite and looping-wing pairs with
stable orbit dynamics that evolved empirically. They should see good
performance in simulation and especially given allowance for increased
reliability and reduced actuation burden. "Spider" trains on these
principles may also show promise in simulation
CoolIP
~Dave Santos July
8, 2011
M3819
Comment and development of this topic will be occurring here.
All, send notes, drawings, and photographs!
Terms and aspects:
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