All FLPHG stuff goes here
#402652
dear guys, i'm not new to HG but new to PF .. a little about myself: H1 kitty hawk lol, H2 lookout mtn O.O what a trip, H3 blue sky & florida ridge ~ (Long a** story and still waiting for them to tell me about my wing and H3) [sigh] and of course that brief synopsis says Nothing about my teenage dreams .. got the bug watching launches (and annoying pilots lol) at daly city near frisco .. ANYways .. back to PF .. the idea Always intrigued me and recently have come up with a version where we use a leaf blower O.O yep leaf blower to power our wing O.O trust me on this one i've figured out drag vs thrust and the more powerful blowers (no pun intended) will do it :) i'm SO excited! :) my fingers are trembling as i type! seriously! :) getting goose bumps!

obviously there's room under the harness straps - non-issue there, weight - non-issue (for me - i'm 170), the Only problems for me now are: 1. cost (i'm broke atm) and 2. redirecting thrust with the blower chosen for the prototype setup .. i can do 2 with supplies from a hardware store .. but 1 requires investor(s) .. IF ANYbody is interested in getting this out to the rest interested in PF, i'm pretty sure a market of say 1000 exists world-wide if not more .. we'd be customizing the blower to improve on the prototype and perhaps refinements for individual pilots .. contact me by private-chat or email if you're interested as investor (or here if you don't mind the publicity) .. honestly, i'm not interested in making $ on this project because: 1. i just wanna fly without a tow, 2. i don't have time nor interest to do full-time production of this thing, 3. i have other project ideas that are more interesting/marketable .. O.O that being said, i'm seriously In Love with this idea :) believe WE can make it work AND sell .. anybody "just reading" this post, please Pray For Us! :) sam
#402653
'trust you on this one?' there's motorized hanggliders allready, with electric aswell as gasoline driven propellors. they produce a lot more thrust then leafblowers. imagine such a propellor used as a leafblower; they would be pretty effective in blowing all the leafs to the neighbours, but it wouldn't be very easy to remain standing relaxed in your garden like that... ) So, as a piece of advice; no-one invests on 'trust'. investigate first. do the numbers.
#402654
dearest Johannez, 1st - thx 4 replying! my 1st! :) .. um .. i didn't post for feasibility analysis; we'll find that out with the prototype! :) 2nd: it's obviously SAFEr than props - so there's that advantage right away .. again, i didn't post to debate feasibility; we'll find that out with the prototype .. plz wish us luck and prayers for safety rather than attempt to shoot the idea down?
#402659
samiam wrote: Sun Mar 11, 2018 12:03 pmthe idea Always intrigued me and recently have come up with a version where we use a leaf blower O.O yep leaf blower to power our wing O.O trust me on this one i've figured out drag vs thrust and the more powerful blowers (no pun intended) will do it
Samian,

Rent or borrow the type of leaf blower that you want to use. Strap it to an old skateboard, and tie the skateboard with a rope to the hook of a fish scale. Tie the fish scale to a pole. Start the leaf-blower and measure the thrust. Double that number, for a dual-leafblower rig. Compare that result to the published thrust numbers of any powered harness or solo trike. This type of testing will need very few dollars, on your part.

Trust me, we really want to hear the results of this investigation. This kind of individual initiative and research is the way to build real support in the flying community.
#402671
https://community.egopowerplus.com/ego/ ... _by%5D=all

i was hoping the negativity provoked was simple cynicism ~ i was wrong (see link above) .. as i understand it, pressure is very low which constrains thrust .. http://www.shga.com/forum/phpBB2/viewto ... 26bcb9473c is another brief forum thread about the topic .. there is a guy doing leaf blowing just now outside my window and i hesitate to walk toward him with a bathroom scale lol .. maybe when i can get over my fear of condemnation and being laughed at, i'll take up the suggestion of rental - or - if anybody has one reading this post - plz try the following (in turbo mode): get on the bathroom scale with leaf-blower and measure weight - then - turn it on turbo-mode and point the nozzle straight up - measure again .. let us know what you get (the difference)?
#402672
samiam wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:25 ami was hoping the negativity provoked was simple cynicism ~ i was wrong (see link above) .. as i understand it, pressure is very low which constrains thrust .. there is a guy doing leaf blowing just now outside my window and i hesitate to walk toward him with a bathroom scale lol .. maybe when i can get over my fear of condemnation and being laughed at, i'll take up the suggestion of rental
Samian,

People laughed at the Wright Brothers, and many others before and since. The laughter goes hollow when you succeed, and you learn a lot about science (and who your friends are) when you don't succeed. There will always be critics; I can find critics who panned Star Wars and other stuff that just made total fools of themselves by their criticism.

Asking that guy with the leaf blower to put it on a scale and make some measurements is no problem, really. There is NO need to explain why you are curious, beyond saying that you are curious. The worst they can say is NO, and you have not lost a thing, not even self-respect. My advice: Stop trying to explain yourself to the world; mostly it's just a waste of time, yours and theirs.

I can about guarantee the rental place will not ask you why you want a leaf blower. :wink:

Experience is what you DO get, when you don't get what you want. 8)
#402699
Using something akin to a leaf blower to move pressured air from one place to another for stability and flight control is an idea that intrigues me. By selecting where the blower sucks air in and blows it out somewhere else, the glider might find some roll control. But it's too much trouble to even think about.
#402745
red wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 11:06 am
samiam wrote: Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:25 ami was hoping the negativity provoked was simple cynicism ~ i was wrong (see link above) .. as i understand it, pressure is very low which constrains thrust .. there is a guy doing leaf blowing just now outside my window and i hesitate to walk toward him with a bathroom scale lol .. maybe when i can get over my fear of condemnation and being laughed at, i'll take up the suggestion of rental
Samian,

People laughed at the Wright Brothers, and many others before and since. The laughter goes hollow when you succeed, and you learn a lot about science (and who your friends are) when you don't succeed. There will always be critics; I can find critics who panned Star Wars and other stuff that just made total fools of themselves by their criticism.

Asking that guy with the leaf blower to put it on a scale and make some measurements is no problem, really. There is NO need to explain why you are curious, beyond saying that you are curious. The worst they can say is NO, and you have not lost a thing, not even self-respect. My advice: Stop trying to explain yourself to the world; mostly it's just a waste of time, yours and theirs.

I can about guarantee the rental place will not ask you why you want a leaf blower. :wink:

Experience is what you DO get, when you don't get what you want. 8)
The first thing the Wright Brothers did was a literature search. If you're going to put a great value on thinking outside the box, you probably should have some idea of what a box is, what it does, how big it is, why it's there and not somewhere else.