Microlighters

At the Kliprivier flyinn on Saterday I ,for the first time ,had a close up look at a topless wing. The wing was made by Jenya. When I compared it to my wing, also made be Jenya, it seemed to be identical, except for the kinpost and lifting struts.It would seem that the kingpost and wires were just replaced by the struts, but that the rest of the wing, spreader bar, battons etc was left unchanged.

Now I am not going to buy some aluminium from Mica , slap it on my wing, rip off the kingpost , clip the wires and fly a topless, but I am curious to know what other changes was made to the wing. Is it really only the lifting struts and the brackets that attach it to the bar and wing that was added or is there modifications under the wingsail to the spreader bar , battons etc that I just could not see? Can anyone help?

Spoke to Jenya today. I was amazed to hear that the wing , battons etc all stays the same. Only additions is the lifting struts and the brackets that attach them. If one had the guts you could do it yourself!!

Sorry for the hijack

Is there any big advantages and disadvantages of the topless wing lets say to a Aquilla II wing ?

Tribal Croc wrote:Sorry for the hijack

Is there any big advantages and disadvantages of the topless wing lets say to a Aquilla II wing ?

Yes....the price.

My wing is an Aquilla II wing which he slightly modified (it has 22 battons) and he quoted me R14000 to convert it to topless.
The only benifits is the lower roofheight in wich it can be parked, 6-10 mph higher topspeed and that you can rigg and derigg it in 15 minutes. You can also trailer it with the wing attached to the plane, just folded up.

I have a 582 with a warp drive and I cruise on 55- 60 mph at 5500rpm another 10 mph will bring me close to my vne I think.

Me thinks the R14000 does not warrant the benifits. Still it would be nice.

But technically you can buy the brackets etc, have your AP fit it and sign it off.........?

I would think that the strut allows for greater negative G's?

But with the naked eye, a topless wing looks much sturdier...

I have flown a couple of different wings, 3 x Topless, 1 on aquilla trike, Windlass, and now this trike..
You have to fly it and feel the difference.

BOOMARANG wrote:My wing is an Aquilla II wing which he slightly modified (it has 22 battons) and he quoted me R14000 to convert it to topless.
The only benifits is the lower roofheight in wich it can be parked, 6-10 mph higher topspeed and that you can rigg and derigg it in 15 minutes. You can also trailer it with the wing attached to the plane, just folded up.

I have a 582 with a warp drive and I cruise on 55- 60 mph at 5500rpm another 10 mph will bring me close to my vne I think.

Me thinks the R14000 does not warrant the benifits. Still it would be nice.

But technically you can buy the brackets etc, have your AP fit it and sign it off.........?

You're lucky.He quoted me R29k to do my (new) Cobra's wing...maybe it was the wrong time of the month .
The topless wings look much better than the old ones.

BOOMARANG wrote:Spoke to Jenya today. I was amazed to hear that the wing , battons etc all stays the same. Only additions is the lifting struts and the brackets that attach them. If one had the guts you could do it yourself!!

The Airborne wing is totally re engineered.
I was amazed to see the difference, and a lot more than just struts.

Solo Wings are not making Topless wings for the Aquilla anymore.
A speed gain of 5 to 10mph would save around 5 minutes on 30nm flight. Worth the money?

bobthebuilder wrote:Solo Wings are not making Topless wings for the Aquilla anymore.

According to me Solo Wings never made the Topless wing.
They worked in collaboration with Jenya who supplied them the topless wing.
My plane was one of the first New Aquillas to be fitted with the topless wing supplied by Jenya.

Compared to an Aquilla II wing the Topless is heavier in the roll, more like a Raptor wing.
This gives it a bit of a smoothing effect in turbulence.
In nasty flying weather, as we experienced back from Swartkops the other day, severe wing lift due to wind or turbulence need to be corrected with far more muscle than with an Aquilla I or II wing.
My wing is not that much faster, if at all, compared to my fellow trikers from Microland's Aquilla wings.
Yet my hands-off cruise at 50-52 mph is at a low 4700-4800rpm which saves a bit of fuel, possibly due to less drag from the absence of a king post and luff lines.

There are definately some advantages to having a Topless wing.
But my personal opinion is that unless you really wan tto have the extra 5 Miles per hour margin or the ability to park in normal hangar then yes go for it.
But considering the speeds at which we fly and the type of flying we enjoy I would not go for it.

Pro's definately out way the Conns but i cannot justify the extra cash for a hobby.

Just my 2$ Zim

Tailspin wrote:There are definately some advantages to having a Topless wing.
But my personal opinion is that unless you really wan tto have the extra 5 Miles per hour margin or the ability to park in normal hangar then yes go for it.
But considering the speeds at which we fly and the type of flying we enjoy I would not go for it.

Pro's definately out way the Conns but i cannot justify the extra cash for a hobby.

Just my 2$ Zim

I agree with you.

I don't think that you benefit by only doing a wing change. You need to look at combinations here. The standard trike do have a lot of drag and therefor the small increase in cruising speed.

My trike does have a very aerodinamic design and this combination with a topless wing... just fantastic. With a Rotax 582 blue top I cruise at 70 miles per hour( 4 900 rpm) with a average fuel consumption of 10 l/h.

Makes you think!!!

Skin

I visited Jenya today. The reason why my wing is cheaper to convert is because he made it and most of the things are already in place. But it is deffinately not a do it yourself job!!

I agree with Skin in that you have to look at the package, unless you only do it to save hanger height and for easy rigging. I did consider putting a pod on my trike , but apparently the pod ads aerodynamic problems and there was a thread some time ago advising against it unless it is a factory fitted one and part of the design like the Cobra etc.

Still, the topless wing does look great .