| Histoire résumée | The B-8
The B-8 is Pat's only 15 m glider. Unlike the various versions of the B-6 and 7, it was an all-new design. The glider flew for the first time in 1988. The fuselage consists of a plywood and glass fibre 'pod' with an aluminium tailboom. The elliptic (similar to the B-7) wing was built in a novel way. Like all the other post-BJ-2 designs, a metal wing spar was used. The closely spaced wing ribs were made from glass-fibre. The 'skeleton' of the wing was mounted in a jig, the moulded glass fibre leading edge fitted, glass fibre fabric pulled taut over the skeleton, and then wetted out with resin. Because of the curvature of the wing, the main spar is also curved.
Version 1 of the B-8 returned to the idea of a variable camber wing. A boundary layer suction system was also fitted, with suction slots on the lower surface venting at the aileron hinge-gap. No performance improvement could be measured, and the system was soon disconnected.
The variable camber was also soon abandoned in favour of Version 2, which used slotted flaps over the full span of the trailing edge, including the ailerons! However, the same problem that bedevilled the BJ-2, -3 and -4 was experienced - it resulted in a 'two-speed' glider: very fast and very slow, with poor performance in between for the weak days. The final version used a slotless area extending flap, similar to the successful SB-11, but on a smaller wing.
Development of the B-8 was still continuing, when Pat and his wife Betty died in a road accident on 21 December 1991.
Nevertheless, the performance of the B-8 is similar to its predecessors - competitive under strong conditions, less so when the thermals are weak. |
