Avian Hang Gliders

@[email protected]
53 Followers
58 Following
192 Posts

The UK's only hang glider manufacturer. We build hang gliders from sky floaters to high performance competition wings and wings for sub-70 nanolight trikes.
To support the latest in hang glider development please see my Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/hgdev
To find out more about the sport of hanggliding please check out:
https://www.hanggliding.co.uk
For our online shop for gliders, parts and accessories please visit:
https://www.avianonline.co.uk

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Show threadAvian Hang Gliders1d ago
@mattblaze Yes! And whether 'used AI' means "applied machine learning on a tightly controlled data set of relevant and clean data and rigourously cross checked the outputs" or "I typed a question into ChatGPT and this is what it said"!
The tendency in much public debate to bundle a wide array of fairly disparate tech under 'AI' and then equate this with "something an LLM excreted out" and then cast anyone doesn't like chatbots as "anti-progress" is really annoying!
Show threadAvian Hang Gliders3d ago
@veronica true, although don't underestimate just how janky the commercial offerings are also getting! I have to use Office365 in my other job and my god it's awful! The other day a power point slide I'd been working on in a web browser just randomly disappeared.. On Word a whole paragraph I'd just written vanished before my eyes! The worse these offerings get, the less of a jump it feels too go to, admittedly sometimes janky, Open alternatives. LibreOffice has never disappeared my work!
Show threadAvian Hang Gliders5d ago
@freecad Cheers Jo! No worries for not boosting it earlier, I was a bit late with the OP myself!
Show threadAvian Hang Gliders5d ago
Then mould making here:
https://mstdn.business/@avian/115859984109610838
Now the support structure to go inside it is the final part
Avian Hang Gliders (@[email protected])

Attached: 4 images Used @[email protected] to design the moulds for the winglet. So printing the patterns (Prusa XL) to make moulds from which eventually the carbon parts will be made from. There's a pair of winglets, each mould is in 2 halves (plus some small loose pieces), the pattern for each half is printed in two sections and the print takes nearly 2 days. So about 2 weeks of solid 3D printing time to do the full set.

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Show threadAvian Hang Gliders5d ago
This has been an ongoing project, starting with an aero optimisation here: https://mstdn.business/@avian/115548043938995019
Avian Hang Gliders (@[email protected])

Attached: 2 images Winglets design optimised using #openvsp , final design with @[email protected] then the prototypes were (very sparse!) 3D printed and skinned with carbon (production versions will be full carbon mouldings). Now flight tested (will tweak the optimiser a little to avoid the small area of speartion you can see in the tuft testing). More details about the optimisation in this post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/winglet-135459661 #freecadfriday

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Avian Hang GlidersJun 19
This #freecadfriday I've been working on the winglets again. Finally got a nice 3D printed core structure, designed in @freecad printed on my Prusa XL. It clicks together really nicely and is featherlight. I bond it into the carbon skins using strips of UD carbon, so it makes a lovely light and very rigid structure. The 3D print is just the support; it stops the carbon buckling so that it can be really thin. It took a few iterations to get to a design that I could be proud of!
Show threadAvian Hang GlidersJun 10
@DigitalEU yes that could definitely help. Add am extra one to this list.
Show threadAvian Hang GlidersJun 10
To get in touch with the school, please follow this link: https://www.bhpa.co.uk/schools/schools.php?map=1&first=PE8&ref=425#schools
And as always, for more information on the sport and links to other schools in the UK and further afield go to https://hanggliding.co.uk
BHPA Registered Schools

BHPA registered hang gliding and paragliding schools will train you at a rate of progress that is suitable for you. They are monitored for safety, the quality of the training they offer, and the equipment they use, and their instructors are licensed by the BHPA.

Avian Hang GlidersJun 10
Great news, there's a new UK school able to take people at any level. There's more about it in this video; it's an interesting method of teaching which combines the benefits of aerotow training (having an instructor next to you in the glider and getting lots of airtime) and of winch training (to make the transition to flying solo). Also in a highly accessible part of the country that also tends to get better weather than the rest of the UK.
All the best Tony!!
https://youtu.be/NtxiW0jgwfQ
New UK Hang Gliding School!

YouTube
Avian Hang GlidersMay 31
Winglets are really great! I love the way the glider handles with them and especially how it looks with them. They also (when designed properly, which ours our, both by analysis and by testing) add a bit to performance, particularly low speed and min sink. However they also have some downsides. We've come up with something that gives a lot of the benefit, but simpler, more practical and lower cost. We also have great fun testing it!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/fun-with-fins-159718639?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link