Primer by Les King

"Les King has been working recently on his latest design called the Primer. The Primer has a 10 meter (32'-8") wingspan and an area of 200 square feet. It is of plank configuration and uses elevons for pitch and roll and a large rudder for yaw control. Les constructed the spar from aluminum tubing and fiberglass and much of the remaining structure from styrofoam and fiberglass. The wing is covered with Tedlar.

Les made the first flights on the Primer about two weeks ago and has so far made about 7 ground tows with a maximum height of about 50 feet. The Primer appears to be easily controllable and is easy to land on its two large main wheels.

Les and Mark West put it on Mark's hang glider testing rig and performed pitching moment and static load tests to limit load. There were no problems with stick fixed pitching moments or static load tests. The stick free pitching moment was very flat (essentially zero pitching moment at all tested angles of attack), but has not been a problem in flight. Les thought that the glider was speed stable at about 40 mph with the stick free. Above 40 and the glider tended to pitch up, below 40 and it tended to pitch down.

Les will soon begin higher flights and I'll keep the ULS mailing list informed of his progress."

- Best Regards, Dan Armstrong [sometime in 1996]