Mosquito cleaner
As Bugwipers (engl. Bug wiper ) is referred to in the gliding sports apparatus, with which dead insects during the flight of the leading edge of the wing can be removed.
background
During longer flights, insect carcasses accumulate on the profile nose of an aircraft, which have a negative impact on flight performance. In particular, the laminar profiles used in modern high-performance gliders are affected because the carcasses disrupt the laminar boundary layer . Since competition pilots place great value on the best possible glide performance, efforts have been made since at least the late 1980s to be able to remove the annoying carcasses during the flight.
functionality
The mosquito cleaner essentially consists of a plastic bracket that surrounds the profile nose and into which a cleaning thread (e.g. made of nylon ) is clamped. Driven by the wind , it glides outward along the wing while the thread scrapes the carcasses off the surface. Once the cleaner has reached the outer end of the wing, it is pulled back to the fuselage by a hand crank or a small electric motor on a pull-back rope , where it is locked until it is next used.
Mosquito cleaner garage
In its usual parking position at the fuselage-surface transition, the mosquito cleaner naturally generates additional air resistance . Although this is negligible in modern systems in the "cost-benefit comparison", it was reason enough for the German glider manufacturer DG Flugzeugbau to look for an optimization option : With the DG-808 , special indentations - the mosquito cleaner garages - were optionally made in the fuselage surface into which the mosquito cleaner can be sunk precisely. The LS10 , also produced by DG, has a mosquito cleaner garage as standard. Aircraft from other manufacturers such as the Schleicher ASH 30 Mi or the Jonker JS1 are now also being equipped with such devices.
Different application
Based on the mosquito cleaners commonly used in gliding, the US American Joseph P. Walter registered a patent for a similar system in May 2008, which should enable the rotor blades of wind turbines to be freed from mosquito carcasses and other contaminants during operation.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c Christian Hynek: MP mosquito cleaner . In: gliding . No. 6 , 2008, ISSN 1612-1740 , p. 32-33 .
- ↑ a b mosquito cleaner with "garage". (No longer available online.) In: dg-flugzeugbau.de. DG Flugzeugbau , archived from the original on August 23, 2011 ; Retrieved January 15, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Peter Masak: Sailplane (Inflight) Bug Wiper System . In: Soaring Magazine . February 1989, p. 40 .
- ↑ The new LS10. (PDF; 318 kB) (No longer available online.) In: dg-flugzeugbau.de. DG Flugzeugbau , archived from the original on March 15, 2012 ; Retrieved January 15, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ ASH 30 Mi. In: alexander-schleicher.de. Alexander Schleicher , accessed January 15, 2012 .
- ↑ JS1 REVELATION> OPTIONS. In: jonkersailplanes.co.za. Jonker Sailplanes , accessed January 15, 2012 .
- ↑ Patent application US20090297352 : DEBRIS REMOVAL SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIND TURBINE BLADES. Filed May 30, 2008 , published December 3, 2009 , applicant: ZULU-REVOLUTIONS, INC., Inventor: Joseph P. Walter.
