Aériane Swift
The Aériane SWIFT (Swept Wing with Inboard Flap Trim) was originally conceived as a rigid hang glider with sailplane-like performance. It was designed in a collaboration between Bright Star Gliders and Ilan Kroo a professor at Stanford University and a group of Stanford graduate students. The basic Swift itself is marketed as a foot-launched sailplane, and claims to be unique in this regard. A number of different fuselage frames have been fitted to the wings to create; a two-seat glider (the Tandem Swift), a self-launching glider (the Swift-PAS), and a motor-glider (the P-Swift). The various fuselage frame are interchangeable and any can be added to the same basic wing. The firm has released a refined version of the wing as the Swift'Lite.[1]
Specifications (Swift'Lite)
Data from [2]
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)
- Wing area: 136 sq ft (12.6 m2)
- Aspect ratio: 13:1
- Empty weight: 106 lb (48 kg)
Performance
- Rate of sink: 200 ft/min (1.0 m/s) in a 100 ft (30 m) radius turn
- Minimum sink rate: 118 ft/min (0.6 m/s)
- Lift-to-drag: 20:1 (maximum) 15:1 at 60 kn (111 km/h)
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
'The electric Swift' an Icaro Swift variant that gets 20 minutes of powered flight per charge.[3]
See also
- Dr. Ilan Kroo and Eric Beckman with Brian Robbins, Dr. Steve Morris, and Brian Porter "Development of the SWIFT -- A Tailless Foot-Launched Sailplane", Aeronautics Department, Stanford University, January 1991.
- "Millennium", A detailed report of the flying characteristics of the hybrid follow-up design to the original SWIFT.
References
- ↑ Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, pages 41 and 52. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X
- ↑ "Development of the SWIFT". USA: aero.stanford.edu. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
- ↑ Icaro 2000, the electric Swift
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