Hang glider trike12/20/2023 ![]() Palmer relates that he had a good paying aerospace job at the time and he was flying on a minimalist and inexpensive glider purely for curiosity and fun. That is why a single control stick could be used to replace the control frame. The last of Palmer’s hang gliders flew in the summer of 1963 and it had a single point suspension ski-lift type of seat mounted to the keel with a universal joint the seat could be forced fore and aft, and laterally, but allowed for no twisting of the seat relative to the wing due to lateral stick movement. His best glider had an overall glide ratio of 4.5 to 1 at the speed of 29–32 km/h (18–20 miles/h). He flew at altitudes up to 24 metres (79 feet). His flights were usually 110 metres (120 yards) long and his longest flight was about 180 metres (590 feet). NASA’s Paresev glider came to light after Palmer’s gliding flights, so it bore no influence on him.ĭuring the period from 1961 to 1963 Barry Palmer made tens of flights using the Rogallo wing concept. Palmer explored control of his several versions of hang gliders by using different control frames: pilot in front of the control frame, pilot behind the control frame, and control frame in front of the pilot in a swing seat, which inadvertently approximated the George A. His first and largest hang glider was about 45 pounds and had a surface area of 342 sq ft (31.8 m 2). ![]() The flexibility in the frame caused no performance problems. His smallest glider weighed 24 lb (11 kg), and had a surface area of 205 sq ft (19.0 m 2). Palmer experimented with about 8 different hang glider versions and their wings were mostly 90 degree swept back wings. Richard Miller flying his new Bamboo Butterfly hang glider. Palmer, who built the first modern-age foot launched hang glider, is not yet mentioned by the FAI. Most flights were performed with just a set of inclined parallel bars that split his weight between his underarms and hands to experiment with the center of gravity and thus he demonstrated that the Rogallo wing, when used as a hang glider, could also be controlled by shifting weight alone. He used polyethylene sheet, aluminum tubing and no wires for construction as he did fear kinking during assembly and transport. In October 1961 he completed construction and flew the first flexible wing hang glider this took place near Latrobe, east of Sacramento, California. On August 1961 Barry Palmer first saw a photo of the Rogallo wing mounted on the Fleep experimental aircraft published in the Aviation Week magazine and became interested in this flexible wing because of its light weight and simplicity. Inventor of a hang glider based on Rogallo's flexible wing. Inventor of the first Flexible Wing hang glider Barry Palmer, 1961. ![]() Palmer also designed, built and flew the first weight-shift ultralight trike aircraft. Invention of the Rogallo wing hang glider and the ultralight trike aircraft.īarry Hill Palmer (born November 10, 1937) is an American aeronautical engineer (UC Berkeley, 1961), inventor, builder and pilot of the first hang glider based on the Rogallo wing or flexible wing. ![]()
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