Nasa Wing
From FoilDesign
Taken from Tom Whites NPW-HA calculation program:
Francis Melvin Rogallo was born January 27, 1912. He graduated from Stanford University in 1935 with one of the first aeronautical engineering degrees issued by a U.S. educational institution. He worked in the mid 1940's as a researcher and wind tunnel manager at the Langley NACA (National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics) which later became NASA (Nation Aeronautics and Space Administration). There he layed the groundwork for just about every style of kite that came along later. His research was mostly performed on his own time due the government frowning upon any personal work being performed at government facilities.
Many of his experiments were conducted on the sandy beaches of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina USA, the same beach where the Wright Brothers tested their wings some 50 years previous. His breadth of work has led to developments that later spun off into or inspired hanggliders, paragliders, surfing kites, stunt kites, ultralights and the NASA parawing (NPW). There were 10 models of the NPW developed. It was the model 5 (NPW5) that showed the most promise for stability and pulling strength.
Even though the Rogallo's had a patent on their designs they never profited from them, instead they gave these ideas to the public so that would help others experience the joys of kiting, affordably. His wife Gertrude Rogallo was as much responsible for the advancements of kiting, so much so, that when Francis patented the Rogallo Wing, he placed the patent in her name. The NPW was developed in the 1970's for use by NASA as a brake parachute for the reentry of Gemini space capsules. A succesful test was made of the NPW, landing a capsule dropped from high altitude. NASA eventually chose instead to use the round parachute designs for the landing of their capsules.
Fast forward to 2002. Following years of making eNPW5 kites based on Peter de Jong (Nederlands) program, Bill Painter (USA) came up with an idea to make a wider middle section NPW with an additional wing panel, which was named NPW9b. As with the latest eNPW5 kites that Bill was making, the bridling for the NPW9b was calculated by Jean-Pierre Gleyzes (France). The NPW9b has a wider wind window, greater pull and much greater control. Jan Claes (Belgium) had the idea to triple the NPW9b center panels and created the NPW-HA. Changing the aspect ratio has improved backwards flying and takeoffs and has better forward speed. The NPW-HA is a very stable single skin kite.
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Show me some plans!
The NPW-concept is enhanced by enthusiasts all over the world. The NPW9b, the Teega and the NPW-HA differ much from the Classic NPW5. Problems with the stability of the wing (especially of the nose-section) are a thing of the past - they are powerful, easy to sew and cheap buggy-engines. Go ahead, make one!
- Kiteman - Canada - The awesome NPW9b and (less awesome) eNPW5 plans. Check out the Downloadsection for his amazing NPW9b-calculator
- Bill's NPW5 Kite Site
- Freedom2000 - Jean-Pierre Gleyzes
- ART&FLYWORK - Peter deJong's Enhanced NPW5 + calculator
- Fredrik Lejonklous Teega, a concept based on the NPW9b
- Tel's place - bridle-less NPW and experiments on the shape of the kites
- NPW-HA+calculator and other enhancements on the NPW
- 2e5.com plans and experiments with the bridleless NPWC
What line strength do I use
For a 7.5m2 kite, try 500lb main line, 300lb brake lines. Use 80-100lb dacron bridle lines.
My wing wont fly!
Common problems/solutions (from foildesign list)
Wing wont climb any higher than 45 degrees
"I assume the nose fills good and you are having a 4-line set-up. IMHO there are two ways to go. The problem is that there is too much brake. This could be because your brakeline are too short (IMO a NPW with a good tuned bridle should fly without brakeline tension). Adjust your brakeline length.
The other reason is too much brake in the profile. This is mostly because the last two or three bridle lines of the midsection are too short, but it can be also the last two or three lines of the wingsection. (Btw, In my counting I exclude the brakelines )
So, make the lines in the midsection longer (first guess 5-10 cm) if the problem stays but the nose still fills good, make the wingsection lines longer.
The NPW can climb all the way up, almost to 90 degrees, but there is frequent nose collapsing, adjust the wingsection (mostly the first lines because the air is escaping at the front, pressure drops and the nose can't be stable enough)" -- Frits Suilen
