The Maupin Carbon Dragon is an American,

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, single-seat, glider that was designed by Jim Maupin and made available as plans for amateur construction. Plans are no longer available.Maupin, Jim: ''Carbon Dragon'', sales brochure, October 1988Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003–04'', p. 57. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The Carbon Dragon was intended to take advantage of the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft exist outside of the United States. In most countries, ultralights are a class of aircraft. A completely different legal concept is valid within the USA. The FAA makes explicitly clear that ultralight vehicles are not air ...

regulations that classify unpowered aircraft with empty weights of or less as

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

s and thus allow them to be flown without a pilot license,

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

aircraft registration An aircraft registration is a code unique to a single aircraft, required by international convention to be marked on the exterior of every civil aircraft. The registration indicates the aircraft's country of registration, and functions much li ...

or a

Certificate of Airworthiness A standard certificate of airworthiness is a permit for commercial passenger or cargo operation, issued for an aircraft by the civil aviation authority in the state/nation in which the aircraft is registered. For other aircraft such as crop-spray ...

. The Carbon Dragon's standard empty weight is and the aircraft has a gross weight of , giving a payload of . The designer said "The philosophy behind its development was to try to bring foot launch soaring performance up into the lower performance range of sailplanes." The Carbon Dragon was intended to be similar in concept to the

Hall Vector 1 The Hall Vector 1 is an American high-wing, ultralight glider that was designed by Stan Hall for serious cross-country flights.Said, Bob: ''1983 Sailplane Directory, Soaring Magazine'', page 44. Soaring Society of America, November 1983. US ...

. The original design was intended to be a much more complex aircraft, as Maupin explained: As a result, the aircraft was redesigned to its final configuration, a simpler and lighter aircraft with a span wing. The Carbon Dragon is predominantly a conventional wood and doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

glider, making judicious use of

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

in the wing spar caps, control rods,

flaperon A flaperon (a portmanteau of '' flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufactur ...

s and the elliptical tail boom to save weight. The control tubes are constructed by laying up the carbon fiber on aluminium tubing and then, when the carbon has cured, dissolving the aluminium with swimming pool acid. The cockpit is totally enclosed and the original design called for a cockpit width of at the hips and at the shoulder, although some have been modified to accommodate pilots of larger dimensions. The main aircraft structure consists of dual triangular torque boxes on each side of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

. The wing employs a Culver SD

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

that was designed by Irv Culver for the project and full-span flaperons of 30% chord. The flaperons can deploy from −5° to +15° as flaps and −4° to +16° as

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...

s, with a 4:1 differential. The flaperons are driven by two, vertically mounted pushrods enclosed within the fuselage and connected to the

side stick A side-stick or sidestick controller is an aircraft control stick that is located on the side console of the pilot, usually on the righthand side, or outboard on a two-seat flightdeck. Typically this is found in aircraft that are equipped with ...

. The wing ribs forward of the spar are fabricated from 5-ply

mahogany Mahogany is a straight- grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Universit ...

and aft of the spar from square spruce. The landing gear is a fixed monowheel, mounted on the hinged cockpit bottom door, that opens to allow the pilot to lift the aircraft for foot-launching. The aircraft was designed so that if the pilot falls while foot-launching his body will be in the rear fuselage cavity and not pinned under the aircraft. The ultimate structural load limit is +/-7.5 g, with a +/-5.0 g operational load limit. The Carbon Dragon was designed to be launched by foot-launch,

aero-tow Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is ...

winch-launch Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sports, air sport in which pilots fly glider aircraft, unpowered aircraft known as Glider (sailplane), gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmospher ...

, auto-tow or bungee launch. In October 1988 Maupin reported that the prototype had been flown by ten different pilots ranging in weight from , had achieved a 100 fpm (0.51 m/s) sink rate and had been launched by auto-tow, aero-tow and bungee, but had not been foot-launched. In October 1988 Maupin estimated that building a Carbon Dragon would cost US$2000 and take 1000–1500 hours of construction time. When they were available the plans consisted of 23 sheets of 2' X 4' (61 X 122 cm) blueprints and sold for US$150. At least one Carbon Dragon was modified to include a cockpit roof-mounted pentagonal

spoiler Spoiler or Spoilers may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Spoiler (media), something that reveals significant plot elements * The Spoiler, DC Comics superheroine Stephanie Brown Film and television * ''Spoiler'' (film), 1998 American ...

, similar to that used on the Maupin Windrose.

Operational history

Many of the early test flights were done near

Tehachapi, California Tehachapi (; Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") is a city in Kern County, California, United States, in the Tehachapi Mountains, at an elevation of , between the San Joaquin Valley and the Mojave Desert. Tehachapi is east-southeast ...

by auto-tow using a rope and these included several 45-minute soaring flights in evening convergent lift. The designer conducted many of the prototype flights himself and said of flying the aircraft, "It's great fun to fly, everything happens so slowly". In October 1988 Maupin stated that 70 sets of plans had been sold. In the 1994 Kansas Kowbell Klassic, a scheduled, non-handicapped cross-country distance contest, Gary Osoba flew a Carbon Dragon to win with a distance of . In July 1995 Gary Osoba flew a Carbon Dragon to a US National and World Record in the Ultralight Category for Distance up to Three Turnpoints for a flight of . In September 1995, Osoba set US National and World Records in the Ultralight Category for Triangle Speed, Triangle Distance, and Out & Return Distance of , , and respectively. Qualifying as a FAR Part 103 hang glider, the Carbon Dragon does not require FAA registration and thus an accurate number of the total completed is not available, but the ''Soaring Directory'' reports four have been flown.

Variants

;Carbon Dragon :Initial version ;Magic Dragon :Improved version developed by Steve Arndt

Specifications (Carbon Dragon)

References

External links