David Isaac Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 That Scott Winton Opel just looked wrong to me... a square slab of flying wing, looked like it'd get very twitchy very easily (just an impression NOT backed up by any in-depth design knowledge!) Marty, Scott never had any stability issues that I am aware of with the Opel and further more the scale model flew perfectly stable as well. It is a great tragedy that he lost his life from a structural spar failure that originated from a hole drilled through the spar structure to take the oxygen lines when he broke the world height record for ultralights. If Scott was with us today we would have seen many more Opels I am sure. It is a great pity when we lose people like Scott and Charles Legetti that all the development on their designs ceases. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 I believe Charles Legatti's son was trying to carry on his work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark11 Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Marty,Scott never had any stability issues that I am aware of with the Opel and further more the scale model flew perfectly stable as well. It is a great tragedy that he lost his life from a structural spar failure that originated from a hole drilled through the spar structure to take the oxygen lines when he broke the world height record for ultralights. If Scott was with us today we would have seen many more Opels I am sure. It is a great pity when we lose people like Scott and Charles Legetti that all the development on their designs ceases. Scott was certainly exceptional - huge loss to Australian aviation and aviation in general The man made things that others never could! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Isaac Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 I believe Charles Legatti's son was trying to carry on his work. Yes that is what I have also been told ... BUT nothing has come of it Lyle ... it is as if Charles's design has gone into oblivion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted September 22, 2013 Author Share Posted September 22, 2013 Marty,Scott never had any stability issues that I am aware of with the Opel and further more the scale model flew perfectly stable as well. It is a great tragedy that he lost his life from a structural spar failure that originated from a hole drilled through the spar structure to take the oxygen lines when he broke the world height record for ultralights. If Scott was with us today we would have seen many more Opels I am sure. It is a great pity when we lose people like Scott and Charles Legetti that all the development on their designs ceases. Hi David, Sorry if it appeared that I was picking holes - I wasn't. As I said it was only an impression. My first foray into model aircraft was control-line Combat aircraft which had a somewhat similar appearance to the Opel, and pitch stability was not one of their attributes. It's always a tragedy when the people with the genius to innovate, and the courage to trust their designs, perish. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 Geez. You must be old Marty. Control line Combat. My All-American with Fox 35 .That was a while ago. Lambton Oval Newcastle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted September 22, 2013 Share Posted September 22, 2013 The flying Delta is a well proven design (Vulcan, Concorde, Dykes Delta, Mirage etc etc) with the only problem area being high alpha drag. There can be pitch instability on some, and most incorporate some form of auto pitch dampening. The Mirage for instance didn't really stall, but just assumed a stable nose-high attitude and preceded to fall rapidly out of the sky if not corrected. I have no problem liking the little metal Euro delta, and the designer should be applauded for his efforts. The Opel Facet was just simply brilliant, and a great example of the fact that Australia is capable of very occasionally producing absolute world betting designs. Scott Wintons high altitude UL world record still stands, and will for a long time. What amazes me is that he took a Rotax two- stroke to well over 20,000 Ft by dribbling oxygen into the Air- filter, when we all know that an oxygen and an oil/grease mix is explosive !.............maybe it wasn't running on combustion anymore....it was just running on explosion power. !!??..........................Maj.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marty_d Posted September 23, 2013 Author Share Posted September 23, 2013 Geez. You must be old Marty. Control line Combat. My All-American with Fox 35 .That was a while ago. Lambton Oval Newcastle. I was only 14 at the time... in 1986 Mine didn't have a name. I built it (which probably had a lot to do with the pitch instability), whacked an OS .25 on the front and flew it about twice before said pitch problems resulted in the plane trying to fly underground, which as we all know doesn't work too well. From then on I only made models with fuselages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keenaviator Posted September 23, 2013 Share Posted September 23, 2013 I too had a control line flying wing, a satan I believe it was called. Anyway I stacked it on its first flight due to pitch sensitivity then rebuilt it with a 3" extension for the elevator punting point. It flew great then and very fast compared to conventional types with a tail plane. Laurie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facthunter Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 AS a point of interest those "Combat" planes of the period have flaps operating in the opposite sense to the elevators for rapid pitch response and are fully symmetrical reflex wing section with no incidence. They fly the same both ways up.. We would put the usual streamers on and my mate and I would fly for hours in total and a coulpla drunks would pay us for the entertainment often. Would cover the cost of the fuel plus. a bit. I think they were betting on what we were doing. I would be two years older than you marty so you are really young..Nev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben87r Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Lateral stability around the longitudinal axis, Longitudinal stability around the lateral axis, Directional stability around the normal axis, If I've got it wrong so do allot of others Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pylon500 Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Lateral stability around the longitudinal axis, Longitudinal stability around the lateral axis, Directional stability around the normal axis, And the 'Normal' axis is.....? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Koreelah Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 And the 'Normal' axis is.....? Vertical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Maj Millard Posted September 24, 2013 Share Posted September 24, 2013 Vertical No that's the learning curve..................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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