FLEXIBLE-WING PRECISION DROP GLIDER

Abstract

The flexible-wing paraglider concept was investigated as a means of controlled cargo delivery from either fixed-wing aircraft or rotary-wing aircraft to a predetermined landing site. Fullscale inflatable wings and control platforms were designed, fabricated, and flight tested. Specific areas of investigation included packing methods, launch techniques, deployment, transition from the parachute mode into the wing, controllability, glider performance, ground station manual control techniques, and automatic-home control evaluation. Considerable testing was directed toward determining the optimum packing method and deployment technique in an effort to achieve system reliability and toward effective system control in an effort to achieve minimum circular-error-probability. The feasibility of using the flexible-wing glider as a controllable means for cargo delivery to a predetermined landing site was successfully demonstrated. A flight envelope, encompassing allowable limits of airspeed, altitude and payload, was established for the final configuration of the series.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 15, 1963
Accession Number
AD0426250

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerodynamic Characteristics
  • Aircrafts
  • Airframes
  • Center Of Gravity
  • Control Panels
  • Control Systems
  • Fabrication
  • Fixed Wing Aircraft
  • Flight Control Systems
  • Landing Impact
  • Load Distribution
  • Mechanics
  • Oscillators
  • Radio Communications
  • Rotary Wing Aircraft
  • Test And Evaluation
  • War Colleges

Readers

  • Aerial Delivery - Logistics and Supply Chain Management.
  • Aviation Science / Aeronautics.
  • Software Engineering

Technology Areas

  • Autonomy