- Sat Jan 26, 2019 11:38 am
#406360
The only sure way of obtaining accurate data on each landing would be to put strain gauges at the pilot's flaring hand positions on the DT's, then if using cylindrical DT's, it would be reasonably easy to calculate the force applied. Slightly more complicated with aero DT's.
You could also use pressure sensitive pads as well, that might be a bit easier to calculate, especially with aero DT's. All strain gauges / pressure pads would be connected to a microcontroller to read and store the data.
The flaring force would be unique to the glider model, glider tuning (including VG setting), glider size, DA, the slope of the ground, pilot skill and mass, etc. But I think it would be much less than what you appear to be thinking. I'll guesstimate less than 20 lbf (89 N) total for nearly any modern glider landing on flat ground. Perhaps less than half that (5-10 lbf?) for many gliders, especially well-tuned gliders and those with higher aspect ratios and less washout.