Microlift glider

The Arndt Magic Dragon at Harris Hill, N.Y. The Magic Dragon is a development of the Carbon Dragon design.

The LightHawk, with its complex wing design.

Microlift gliders are recreational gliders that are able to exploit lifting forces weaker than the conventional lift used in traditional gliding. These weak lift conditions are called microlift.

Classification

The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Gliding Commission's Sporting Code defines the classes for gliding competitions and records. One of the classes is the ultralight glider. These are defined as gliders with a take-off mass not exceeding 220 kg (486 pounds). Examples of these are the Apis and Silent 2. Microlift gliders are a sub-type of the ultralight class, further defined by a wing loading that does not exceed 18 kg/m2 (3.69 pounds/ft²).These definitions were adopted for inclusion in the Sporting Code, Section 3, Gliding, effective on October 1st, 2004.^{[citation needed]}

World records for the ultralight class have been recognized by the FAI but there are no World Championships for these types at present. For world records microlift gliders are classed with the other ultralight gliders and/or hang gliders.^[1]

The FAI has developed a 2-dimensional diagram to depict the different domains for glider classes.^[2]

Characteristics

In addition to the traditional forms of lift used in the sport of gliding, microlift gliding also aims to exploit non-traditional sources of weak lift. In typical conditions, conventional sailplanes may be unable to exploit weak vertical movements of air. However a sailplane that is specifically designed to have a very low rate of sink and a very small circling radius, may be able to exploit these feeble air movements for sustained flight and may even allow the glider to climb. This is the microlift glider.^[3][4]

Microlift gliders

• Advanced Aeromarine Sierra
• Aériane Swift
• EEL ULF 1
• Glidersport LightHawk
• Maupin Carbon Dragon
• Moyes Tempest
• Reich ULF-1
• Ruppert Archaeopteryx

References

1. ^ FAI Sporting Code
2. ^ Domains of glider classes, by the FAI.
3. ^ OSTIV Sailplane Development Panel of the Microlift Glider by Piero Morelli.
4. ^ Gary Osoba, Toward a 20 Hour Work-Week – Sailplane Builder, July 1995.