Home Projects AC-21 Powered Sailplane
In April 2007 personnel of ADA were invited by Aeros and its partners to participate in AC-21 ultralight powered sailplane project.
AC-21 POWERED GLIDER DATA SHEET
| PERFORMANCE | |
| L/D Ratio (expected) | 27 |
| Min Sink Rate (expected), m/s | 0.6 |
| Stall Speed, VS0 (expected), km/h | 47-52 |
| Max Structural Speed Vd, km/h | 168 |
| Engine Make / HP | Hirth F33 / 28HP |
| Climb rate (expected) | 2.5 |
| SPECIFICATIONS | |
| Occupants | 1 |
| Length, m | 6.6 |
| Height, m | 2.15 |
| Wing Span, m | 13.36 |
| Wing Area, sqm | 13.45 |
| Primary Structures Materials | Carbon & Glass Fiber Composites |
| WEIGHTS | |
| MTOW, kg | 264 |
| Empty weight incl. rescue system (expected), kg | 144 |
| Pilot Weight, kg | 60-110 |
ADA's people developed the following sub-projects:
- take design and manufacturing information from one of the former partners of Aeros;
- revise the structure along the updates from Aeros, taking into account newly designed fuselage and power plant;
- loads definition per German LTF-UL requirements;
Pressure distribution on lifting surfaces
- reinforce the structure to meet LTF-UL;
- replace aluminum ribs with newly designed ones of carbon fiber composites;
- design and develop appropriate tooling, i. e. molds, jigs and fixtures;
- manufacture structural components for static load tests;
- prepare load test jigs and perform load tests;
D-Spar Load Test Fuselage Load Test
VIDEO: D-Spar Load Test
- manufacturing setup;
- manufacture AC-21 prototype;
- prepare the first flight test.
VIDEO: AC-21 Maiden Flight
After the first flight test made in November 2009 ADA's personnel participation in the project ended with a share of the project earned.
By now ADA has in its possession a set of design, test and manufacturing information that would allow, with an appropriate guide, reproduction and development of the glider.
A set of documentation developed by now for AC-21 project includes as follows:
- a list of materials;
- design and manufacturing drawings;
- 3D models;
- manufacturing specs and photos;
- load calculations;
- load test reports;
- flight test reports.
The set is located on 8 disks of DVD-5 format.
