Radab Windex
| Windex | |
|---|---|
| Role | Glider and Motor glider |
| National origin | Sweden |
| Manufacturer | Radab WindexAir AB |
| Designer | Sven Olof Ridder |
| First flight | 1985 (1100) |
| Status | In production (1200C) |
| Produced | 1985-1986, 1990-present |
| Unit cost |
Euro39,300 (2003, complete kit less paint and instruments)
|
The Radab Windex is a family of Swedish high-wing, single-seat aerobatic gliders and motor gliders that was designed by Sven Olof Ridder and produced initially by Radab and later by WindexAir AB as a kit for amateur construction.[1][2][3]
Contents
Design and development
The initial design was the unpowered model 1100. This was followed by the present production 1200C motorglider. The project started off in 1980 as a hobby design between Sven-Olof Ridder and Harald Undén, who later founded Radab to produce the design. By 1983 they had developed the custom airfoil section and tested it in a wind tunnel.[2]
The first unpowered 1100 model flew in 1985, but the following year, as they geared up for kit production the factory burnt down, including all the fibreglass molds that they had built. Only two 1200 C aircraft kits had been produced before the molds were destroyed. One of these was completed in time to be flown at the 1987 Paris Airshow.[1][2]
By 1990 the molds had been replaced and the first new 1200 C was completed. The first amateur-built Windex was completed from a kit in 1996. By 1999 WindexAir AB had assumed production from Radab.[2]
The 1200 C is built from a combination of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer and fibreglass. The aircraft is fully aerobatic and stressed to +9/-6g. The 12.1 m (40 ft) span wing has carbon fibre spars and is of a semi-tapered planform. The wing employs a custom Radab KTH-FFA 17% thickness airfoil and features both Schempp-Hirth-style upper surface air brakes and 22.5% chord flaps for glidepath control. The König SC-430 15 kW (20 hp) two-stroke three-cylinder engine is mounted in tractor configuration and has a variable-pitch, fully feathering propeller.[1][2][4][5]
The Windex 1200 C is supplied in three kits, fuselage, wings and engine and propeller.[6]
Operational history
In 1991 the prototype was flown at the FAI World Glider Aerobatic Championships held at Zielona Góra, Poland, winning two bronze medals.[2]
In August 2011 there were four Windex motor gliders and one glider registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration. All are in the Experimental - Amateur-built category.[7]
Variants
- 1100
- Initial prototype motor-glider version, powered by a 16.4 kW (22.0 hp) Limbach engine, flying for the first time in the summer of 1985
- 1200
- Production version built using Nomex honeycomb, with a T-tail and increased span wings of the same area. Powered by a 18.6 kW (25 hp) Windex 300 3-cyl. two-stroke engine.[8]
- 1200 C
- Later production version, with a 15 kW (20 hp) König SC-430 engine mounted midway on the vertical stabilizer. The engine has electric starting and weighs 13.8 kg (30 lb).[2][3][5]
Specifications (1200)
Data from Sailplane Directory and company website,[1][9] Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1988-89[8]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Length: 4.92 m (16 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 12.1 m (39 ft 8 in)
- Wing area: 7.41 m2 (79.8 sq ft)
- Aspect ratio: 19.75:1
- Airfoil: Radab KTH-FFA 17%
- Empty weight: 120 kg (265 lb)
- Gross weight: 300 kg (661 lb)
- Fuel capacity: 20 L (5.3 US gal; 4.4 imp gal)
- Powerplant: 1 × Windex 300 3-cyl. air-cooled two-stroke piston engine, 15 kW (20 hp)
- Propellers: 2-bladed Radab variable-pitch feathering Epoxy/Kevlar propeller, 1.05 m (3 ft 5 in) diameter
Performance
- Maximum speed: 270 km/h (168 mph; 146 kn) level flight
- Cruising speed: 210 km/h (130 mph; 113 kn) 50% power
- Stall speed: 65 km/h (40 mph; 35 kn) powered
- Never exceed speed: 316 km/h (196 mph; 171 kn) in smooth air
- Max rough air speed: 202 km/h (109 kn; 126 mph)
- Range: 900 km (559 mi; 486 nmi) max fuel no reserves
- g limits: +9 -6
- Maximum glide ratio: 36:1
- Best glide speed: 100 km/h (54 kn; 62 mph)
- Rate of climb: 264 m/s (52,000 ft/min)
- Rate of sink: 0.61 m/s (120 ft/min)
- Minimum sink speed: 100 km/h (54 kn; 62 mph)
- Wing loading: 41.83 kg/m2 (8.57 lb/sq ft)
- Power/mass: 16.1 kg/kW (26.45 lb/hp)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, page 60. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
