Rigid-Wing Models - The Flair 30

Flair 30

For a larger photo (43 kb), Click here.

Rigid-wing Models - The Flair 30

History

The Flair 30 was a follow-up to the Flair design also developed by Günter Rochelt in 1987. The Flair 30 first flew in 1990. The pilot could launch by foot, then lay prone in a special harness, and finally land on a skid. After extensive test flights, including more than 50 hours logged by test pilot Knut Von Hentig, the prototype was destroyed in a crash at a sailplane club, when the sailplane pilot flying it dove into the ground at high speed from less than 100 m. Control reversal was suspected but unproved. By control reversal, it might have been meant that the downward-pitching effect of sudden flap deployment overrode the pitch-up of the elevons, rather than the usual kind of control reversal that afflict hang glider pilots flying sailplanes, or vice versa.

Brett Snellgrove wrote in November 2005: "I received an email from an associate of the Flair 30 test pilot. He stated the test pilot felt the glide ratio and sink rate was quite poor, worse actually than modern flex wings. The test pilot attributed this, not to the presence of a hole in the LE as suggested earlier, but rather the pilot positioned over the wing disrupting the flow at the center, most important section of the wing."

Flair 30 Prototype Specifications

Area	11 m^2
Span	12 m
Aspect Ratio	14
Double surface	100%
Nose angle	160°
Flaps	0-60°
Twist	6°
Weight	The production model should be under 30 kg, considerably less than the 50 kg protoype
Packed size	6.6 m x 0.6 m x 0.35 m
Setup time	5 minutes, 1 person
Min. pilot weight	No lower limit
Max. pilot weight, for +/- 6g	90 kg
Vmin	<30 km/h
Vmax	>150 km/h
Max. Glide ratio	30:1 & 65 km/h & 0° flaps
Price	circa 20000 DM

Some Photos of the Flair

Flair in flight over the Alps (43 kb)
Flair 1/10 scale model (40 kb)