The lightest aircraft ever built

Sdílet
Vložit
  • čas přidán 13. 09. 2024
  • What started as a final bachelor’s project might now turn into the lightest aircraft ever built. Meet AerGo, a one-person glider that is made completely of composite materials.
    It all began as a student’s idea during the Design Synthesis Exercise (DSE) in the autumn of 2017, but is now progressing into a serious aircraft. “When our bachelor project was finished, we said to each other ‘Why stop here?’”, says project lead Aydin van den Bergh. “We actually want to turn this aircraft into something real.” And so they did.
    The one-person glider is now set to be redesigned into a motor-powered seaplane with a total mass of about 50 kg, that can take off and land from water and use less than 5 kW when flying. One of the key parts of the design is that the weight of the aircraft is a little less than 50 kg, which would make it the lightest aircraft ever built. “The carbon fibre that we use is so light that one half-wing only weighs 1.2 kg.”
    The team has tested a prototype of the aircraft, which they keep in the aircraft hangar, twice. “We are currently using the data and knowledge of the first test flights for modifications and a little redesign. We hope to test it again somewhere in March or April.” The long term goal for the team is to see if it can make the prototype attractive to other companies. “So we can possibly set up a start-up,” concludes Van den Bergh.

Komentáře • 82

  • @hud86
    @hud86 Před 4 lety +53

    It's called an easy riser, this design was done back in the 70's by Taras Kiceniuk originally as the Icarus V bi plane glider

    • @busterhyman103
      @busterhyman103 Před 3 lety +8

      *I built the Easy Riser in the 70's. Flew great with an engine.*

    • @nothingtoseehere5760
      @nothingtoseehere5760 Před 2 lety +4

      And just like that I have a playlist for the night and my faith in public comments has been restored.

    • @phil36135
      @phil36135 Před rokem +1

      I had the Icarus it flew great, but you wasnt strapped in. You hung from your arm pits, and you turn by twist grips that' controlled winglets on each wing tip. It was a big scary.

    • @looseparts
      @looseparts Před 8 měsíci

      Sort of... Taras Kiceniuk Jr. (and his dad) built the Icarus I - a tail less flying wing biplane with 28 foot span and 48 inch chord.. The trailing edge extended 6 inches beyond the rear spar but was too flimsy and kept snapping off, so Tarus redesigned it slightly without the extended trailing edge leaving the wings 42 inches wide. He published a plans book and supported homebuilders via correspondence and phone calls. Larry Murro of Cupertino California produced a kit for easy assembly of the Icarus II and named his company UFM Ultralight Flying Machines. A few years later Tarus designed a single wing flying wing named the Icarus V. A few years after that... Larry and John Moody trimmed 3 feet off each lower wing of an Icarus II and created the Easy Riser. The Cato brothers mounted a chain saw engine and propeller on it and that's the Easy Riser. Larry's daughter Jenny - www.youtube.com/@sunboxstudio - may have more complete info.
      You're welcome ; -)

  • @onehumanonearth6226
    @onehumanonearth6226 Před 5 lety +22

    Thank you for posting this! It made me realize that I ACTUALLY have the lightest aircraft in the world and didn't even know it! Not sure what to name it though...perhaps, hang...glider? Not sure if that makes sense. It weighs 21kg with zero carbon fiber but the uses the BEST METAL!!! Calling Guinness now!

    • @TUDelftTV
      @TUDelftTV  Před 5 lety +2

      Yeah, so nice what this boys are doing, you can follow them as team AerGo!

    • @onehumanonearth6226
      @onehumanonearth6226 Před 5 lety +1

      @@TUDelftTV Haha. You're a good sport. I'll definitely keep up with what they're doing. Good luck!

    • @AeroFrics
      @AeroFrics Před 5 lety +4

      The structural weight + skin of the glider version is actually 16kg I heard. The 50kg weight comes later, from the 2 electrical engines, a battery and a boat.

    • @cindyd4333
      @cindyd4333 Před 5 lety +2

      Don't be silly now...each wing half is 1.2kg - far lighter than your metal wings!

    • @fnordrabbit1156
      @fnordrabbit1156 Před 4 lety

      How about aeroglider

  • @darrelrobbins
    @darrelrobbins Před 2 lety +4

    The easy riser was 55 lbs in hang glider configuration

  • @MarioStahl1983
    @MarioStahl1983 Před 5 lety +25

    Be honest, guys! Has it ever worked?

  • @therealgaragegirls
    @therealgaragegirls Před 4 lety +12

    The overdriven music always ruins these kind of videos.

  • @BrucePotter
    @BrucePotter Před 8 měsíci +2

    Only Gen Z could rebuild an existing design using the most expensive method available and then applaud themselves for the effort when it hasn't been proven successful. I particularly like the way it wobbles during the test run. Maybe a few kg of special carbon fibre filament can cross brace the design so that is a thorough copy of the Icarus2 / Easy Riser

  • @ericoschmitt
    @ericoschmitt Před 4 lety +5

    So they never heard of hang gliders.

  • @janholland2224
    @janholland2224 Před 5 lety +4

    "This is where we build most of our aircraft" (0:51) Way to go guys!

  • @videosallnight
    @videosallnight Před 2 měsíci

    Otto Lilienthal's Derwitzer Hang Glider from 1891 (considered the first successful heavier than air manned aircraft) weighed 39.6 pounds.

  •  Před 4 lety +6

    Half wing - 1.2kg
    Times 4 - 4.8kg
    Where is the rest up to _a bit under 50kg?_

  • @keithrpenny6484
    @keithrpenny6484 Před 4 lety +4

    A beautifully simple design good job guys, I hope you will be adding diagonal cables to stabilise your lateral shear problems!

  • @sbjwalks
    @sbjwalks Před 3 lety +2

    The skycraft scout was 49kg back in 1975, first ultralight in the world given a air navigation order to fly,

  • @ruxpin76
    @ruxpin76 Před 3 lety +5

    A carbon copy (pun intended) off the EasyRiser by John Moody and Larry Mauro... I applaud your efforts, but hope due credit is given. FWIW, you can still find EasyRiser airframes around....it tested to +9G / -6g iirc....what's your rating?

    • @mattcolver1
      @mattcolver1 Před 5 měsíci +1

      EasyRiser was a copy of the Icarus II

  • @BlueMax333
    @BlueMax333 Před 3 lety +2

    There are flexwing trikes with a 14kg / 27hp engine that weighs only 48.75 kg.
    Even less with a 10.4kg / 16hp Vittorazi Motors Atom 80 engine.
    CF Construction is labour intensive and expensive so the claim "affordable" is unfounded.
    Having said that this an excellent project for the students.

    • @gregorydahl
      @gregorydahl Před rokem

      @@SR-gs8zo you wont get 12 hp out of a 3kg engine . 12 hp burns 2 gallons gasoline hour . Or it wouldnt be 12 hp

  • @olsonspeed
    @olsonspeed Před 5 lety +7

    Torsional spar flex 2:05. Please review Icarus 1 plans , 25kg hang glider or the Kasperwing ultralight for successful designs. Your current iteration is unsafe to fly and requires extensive structural redesign.

    • @therealgaragegirls
      @therealgaragegirls Před 4 lety +1

      Their design is super sketchy. I wish them luck in improving the design before someone gets hurt.

  • @sirmofrad7332
    @sirmofrad7332 Před 4 lety +6

    friend, i was not impressed by your presentation, the camera man almost forgot the subject, by the way you can't call two wings for aircraft, you can wait your aircraft after complit body, then you Wei.

  • @markifi
    @markifi Před 2 lety +3

    paragliders are under 5 kilos now and they fold into a pack

    • @gregorydahl
      @gregorydahl Před rokem +1

      Wow .
      Ali express selling parglider gas engines and frames for 2 thousand or 1 thousand

    • @markifi
      @markifi Před rokem

      @@gregorydahl tucker gott made a video about this

  • @RealLordkiffington
    @RealLordkiffington Před 4 lety +3

    two test flights? but no video of them, just running on the beach.

  • @1silvervespa
    @1silvervespa Před 3 lety +1

    Look up Easy Riser .....
    It was done early 1980's .
    Great machine.

  • @oscar-bc9yk
    @oscar-bc9yk Před 5 lety +1

    Very nice, shame you don't have any flight footage yet!
    how does the pilot control the rudders at the ends of the wings?

  • @DidacticEditions
    @DidacticEditions Před 4 lety +3

    It doesn't take an engineering team to build a scrarealbatross

  • @dalienrivera6093
    @dalienrivera6093 Před rokem

    The Cliff in the back ground looks nice to test it

  • @teaohar2
    @teaohar2 Před 7 měsíci

    My aircraft is less than half that weight. It is a paraglider.

  • @ianrs4685
    @ianrs4685 Před rokem +1

    um why are you using cantilever, ahem.

  • @cindybetten7573
    @cindybetten7573 Před 11 měsíci

    I want to see it FLY!!!

  • @Internet_Entertainment

    I need your help. Where can I register home built aircraft in USA?

  • @BlueMax333
    @BlueMax333 Před 3 lety

    Did you notice that the 'pilot' was not wearing a harness to support his weight?
    He was lucky that the 'aircraft' never left the ground. lol

  • @zeke9591
    @zeke9591 Před 5 lety

    Looks great, good luck

  • @vg23air
    @vg23air Před 10 měsíci

    well, too bad the FAA says this is a VEHICLE not an AIRCRAFT

  • @itsyeboijosh4488
    @itsyeboijosh4488 Před 2 lety

    But did it really fly? The video shows no flying.

  • @pylon500
    @pylon500 Před 4 lety +1

    Obviously a lot more learning to be done here...

  • @JesseRayWilliams
    @JesseRayWilliams Před 3 lety

    So many different types of wings. And they choose a biplane.

  • @captainbotbot2151
    @captainbotbot2151 Před 3 lety +1

    thats the easy riser you are building

  • @justinreich3486
    @justinreich3486 Před 3 lety +4

    Thats 3 minutes of my life I'll never get back. What a joke at my company we build carbon wings like that every day. Big hat no cattle.

    • @jekekefe5923
      @jekekefe5923 Před 2 lety

      What company?

    • @justinreich3486
      @justinreich3486 Před 2 lety +1

      We build Kevlar and carbon aircraft body panels and support structures using the same sheets as them however we vacuum cure the sheets and resin and lay the plies at 45degree angles, then 90 then 45 repeat repeat for 1 to 40 layers most of the time 16 layers. Our cure time is normally 3 hours using rhino resin. Non of it is really that complicated and most can learn the process in a week. Its the designs themselves that make you want to eat a shotgun when you look at them. I've seen enough wannabe wright brothers and Howard Hughes to last me a lifetime and they are all looking for naive investors. The planes are almost always copied from someone else or are cobbled together by toddlers with crayons whos parents put them into college telling them they can build anything. Bi-planes are no longer necessary or efficient. Cross beams in wing ribs must ALWAYS flow in 45 degree angles or face the chord of the airfoil at the least.

    • @jekekefe5923
      @jekekefe5923 Před 2 lety +1

      @@justinreich3486 I know what you mean about the wannabes. Lots of videos of failed planes and helicopters. I want to make something like the e swift lite or the rupert composite archaeopteryx. Human powered gliders are my favorite. Something that falls into the ultralight aircraft category so I can fly for fun or cross country recreational activities

    • @justinreich3486
      @justinreich3486 Před 2 lety +1

      @@jekekefe5923 look into paramotors, they have an extremely short takeoff and landing space and in my opinion is the most fun form of flying. I've taken off from parking lots and backyards even with trees and powerlines 80 feet in front. The human powered gliders are great but very flimsy and nobody wants to fly them more then 10 feet above the ground. They have to be flimsy for right now until we figure something out. A paramotor is definitely the way to go if you have the itch to fly.

    • @jekekefe5923
      @jekekefe5923 Před 2 lety

      @@justinreich3486 I probably will choose one for my first ultralight aircraft. The thing so beautiful about gliders is the glide ratio and ability to catch thermals and lift thank you for communicating with me

  • @wofty33
    @wofty33 Před 3 lety +2

    Man: "Its actually the lightest aircraft ever built"
    Me: check again.
    *pulls out toy plane*

  • @jorgbonisch6017
    @jorgbonisch6017 Před 3 lety +1

    The lightest Aircraft
    that doesn't fly.
    .

  • @jekekefe5923
    @jekekefe5923 Před 2 lety

    What is the update on this project?

  • @nothingtoseehere5760
    @nothingtoseehere5760 Před 2 lety

    The heaviest music ever produced for the lightest aircraft ever produced... and why not subtitles? It's English, but never mind that, the volume is so low they will definitely need subtitles...

  • @Austincallahan9823
    @Austincallahan9823 Před 9 měsíci

    Build it to a moped

  • @user5428
    @user5428 Před 3 lety +1

    What is the point of this there are so many hang gliders on the market

  • @oneskydog4401
    @oneskydog4401 Před 4 lety

    Hi guys, see my avatar? I am flying at 3000 meters on a 28.6 kilo glider. Ez-Riser cable braced space frame covered with 50 g/m Dacron.

  • @rafishaikh3598
    @rafishaikh3598 Před 7 měsíci

    VERY DOUBTFUL IF THIS THING GONNA FLY. HUH,
    Md RAFI MAINE USA-PHD

  • @sergeyrink3003
    @sergeyrink3003 Před 3 lety

    Hand ass design :)) Рукожопы точнее.

  • @itsyeboijosh4488
    @itsyeboijosh4488 Před 2 lety

    This video is comedy

  • @clayvilla8302
    @clayvilla8302 Před 8 měsíci

    😂😂😂😂 weak m9nded TOTALLY FAIL

  • @jekekefe5923
    @jekekefe5923 Před 2 lety

    What is the update on this project?