Rand and Bill had the pleasure of visiting Dick Butler yesterday and got a glimpse of the fully assembled Concordia. DB has made the US Team for the 2012 WGC in Uvalde, TX and he is now working feverishly to complete the Concordia in time for the Worlds. The pictures below are of the Concordia at his hangar near Manchester, Tennessee.
The fuselage is just about ready to have the gelcoat applied and finished. The vertical and horizontal stabilizers are attached. Note: the pictures above show only the inboard and middle wing panels representing 23 meters of the total span. The wing tips (5 meters more span) are almost ready to close–DB is re-working the outer three hinges as the original hinges are too thick for the thin airfoil. Also, the panels in the photos do not have the flaps and ailerons attached. Below are a few closeup shots taken of Concordia in Dick’s hangar … Bill and Rand
Finally, click here for a panoramic view of Dick’s hangar and here for a pan of the hangar and runway. These photos were made with my iPhone using an app called 360 Panorama. The Concordia wings look broken in places, but that’s an artifact of my inexperience with the app. Click the panorama and move your mouse right and left to change your viewpoint. In the pan of Dick’s hangar, besides the Concordia, you can see Dick’s Chipmunk, Cessna 180, ASW-22DB trailer and his ASG-29 and ASH-26E trailers.
That’s a great milestone! When do we get to see the flaperons finished and istalled?
awesome!
Wow. A Texas-sized sailplane for the WGC at Uvalde!
Wingspan in the pursuit of performance is no vice.
(And yes I get that Concordia is much more than raw wingspan. And wingspan alone can become a vice. Oh my, but I still like the saying).
The Concord of the gliders, with supersonic cruise speed! The world is waiting for it! Congratulations to all of you!
As I said about the extended ASW 22 wingtips 28 meters does not begin to describe it. 28 Billion nanometers does however.