tethered sailplane (kite)

[deh6]

Do you know of anyone who has worked on, or designed, a tethered sailplane?

I noticed that on a particularly windy day my Gentle Lady could be held on the hi-start, until a gust would cause a little pitch-up and the ring would drop off the hook. Since I was in-line with the hi-start line it was hard to estimate the angle of the line, but it was much closer to vertical than I would have ever guessed possible.

A "sailplane" designed for tethering, i.e. a lower wing-loading than, say, a Gentle Lady, might be a fun machine for those high wind days. (Unfortunately we don't have any slopes.)

[BMatthews]

Some of the better kites (I'm talking about the serious stunt kites here) are not that far off being good airplanes. Usually the only thing they lack is tails for stability.

By the same token a model airplane could make a great kite as well. Although it seems like a waste. Kite flying is fun in it's own right but you can't match a good carbon rod tensioned wing kite for crash and tumble resistance. A Gentle Lady would turn to splinters if it got away from you.

I've got another idea for those stormy days. Make a slope like model but a little bit lighter for super windy days. I had a ball flying a 2 meter aileron bird in stormy conditions on a few occasions back in the 80's. On one very memorable flight I was in the air for about 15 or 20 mintues. I never got much above the height of the high start launch and I never got much below 20 feet. But it was up and down like a yo-yo in between. I'd crab across the wind in one direction and when a gust tried to tip it away downwind I'd turn HARD into the wind and pull up slightly. The turn into the high speed gust would act like free airspeed and the model would shoot up anywhere from 20 to 80 (yes 80) feet in one big swoop. And a moment later a down rotor would slam be back down. Up and down while sawing on the sticks. I think I was cackling like a madman at some points in shock and amazement. I did a few more but none like this magical first flight. The rest varied from 2 to 10 minutes.

I've been fascinated by stormy wind flying ever since. I've watched gulls do this on windy days as well.

It needs to be windy and GUSTY. Without the gusts to add the momentary free airspeed it won't work.

A 60 inch slope racer with a belly hook and a short bungee to shoot it up to about 60 feet would be perfect.

[Sparky Paul]

On that airborne power generator idea, I offered to do a small-scale test of tethering a kite/wing with a simulated power generator, using a ZAGI™, flying near the lip of a slope, launched with a hi-start and kept in the lift zone behind and above the lip while monitoring the power generated by the motor as generator.
It should be possible.
I've towed my Nordic A-2 gliders in circles and figure-8s before releasing it to fly..
Not much more different than a two-string stunt kite.