Here's one for the soaring folks - a Nimbus 4 with 31 m span Eta wings

[AeroER]

 

[Victor Bravo]

Wow. That's twice the wingspan of a "normal" sailplane, which (for comparison) is already almost one and one half times the wingspan of a "normal" 4 seat Cessna.

 

[BJC]

Not many runways around here that that could operate from.


BJC

 

[BoKu]

Not many runways around here that that could operate from.

Nor are opportunities to land such a beast in a field particularly thick on the ground. Fortunately, with that much span you can pretty much glide as far as you can see--as long as you don't make too many bad tactical decisions in a row.

I don't know of any instance where someone landed an Eta away from an airport. I can imagine it would not be a particularly appealing prospect for a $400,000 glider.

 

[AeroER]

An early Nimbus (4?) with an engine made a land out near here on one of its first flights by the new owner after the engine wouldn't start. An early spring landing in a muddy field; the glider had to be carried out by hand.

 

[bmcj]

Almost as large as the Rutan Voyager.

 

[bmcj]

Wow. That's twice the wingspan of a "normal" sailplane, which (for comparison) is already almost one and one half times the wingspan of a "normal" 4 seat Cessna.

More like two and a half times as big as a 4-seat Cessna.

 

[Victor Bravo]

I meant that a normal 15 meter (50 foot) ship is almost twice the span of a 36 foot Cessna, and the Eta is twice the span of the 15M ship.