The Farrar LSG-1 Bird Flight Machine is an
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
,
high-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...
,
V-tailed, single-seat,
experimental research
glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
that was designed and built by
Demetrius F. Farrar Jr. in 1969 for exploring aspects of
bird flight.
Design and development
The LSG-1 was specially designed by Farrar for research purposes as part of a
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
project into how birds fly and was supported by the US
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
. The aircraft's design goals included a stall speed of and a 60-foot per minute (0.30 m/s) sink rate.
The aircraft is of mixed construction. The
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
is made from a sandwich of
balsa and
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...
, while the wing is of wood and
Kevlar, built on an
aluminium
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. I ...
spar. Its span wing employs an unusual Wortmann FX 05-H-126
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
, which was originally designed for helicopter use. This airfoil section was chosen because it has zero pitching moment, which thus allows moderate torsional loads despite the resulting glider's relatively large wing area of . The LSG-1 has no glidepath control devices, such as
dive brakes, making it a challenge to land. Despite its large wingspan the aircraft has a very low empty weight of , giving it a very low
wing loading of 1.55 lb/sq ft (7.6 kg/m
2).
Only one LSG-1 was built and it was
registered with the US
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...
in the ''
Experimental - Amateur-built'' category.
Operational history
The aircraft was used to explore bird exploitation of
microlift
A microlift glider is a recreational Glider aircraft, glider that is able to exploit microlift, which is lift (soaring), lift weaker than a conventional Glider (sailplane), glider would require to stay airborne.
Classification
The Fédération Aà ...
under supervision of
Gary Osoba. In August 2011, 42 years after it was completed, the aircraft was still on the FAA aircraft register and still owned by the designer. Its registration expired and was cancelled on 29 April 2013 and it is unknown if the aircraft still exists or not.
Operators
*
Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...
Specifications (LSG-1)
See also
References
{{Demetrius F. Farrar aircraft
1960s United States sailplanes
Homebuilt aircraft
V-tail aircraft