What is the heaviest payload a modern theoretical glider could carry?

Asked Sep 01 '21 at 20:33

Active Sep 01 '21 at 20:33

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Let's define a glider as any plane with a better than 0.75m/s minimum sink rate. Let's also assume it meets all EASA requirements for load factors and handling.

Knowing that the spar is an important limiting factor-- if not the limiting factor-- for payload capacity, and that the spar capacity is a function of material constraints, how much could a theoretical modern glider carry before the wingspan simply couldn't be increased any more?

I'm looking for answers to within a power of 2.

asked Sep 01 '21 at 20:33

Kenn Sebesta

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Hard to say but I'd guess in the hundreds of kg without reaching 500. – stevederekson555 Sep 01 '21 at 22:53
Why could you not design a glider with the wingspan of a 747 (but better low-speed aerodynamics)? Or even larger, since wingspan of commercial planes is constrained by the need to park at gates? You could even go with a multi-hull design, like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_White_Knight_Two – jamesqf Sep 02 '21 at 03:39
The sink rate appears to be the restriction to take into consideration. Otherwise, I would say, any aircraft could be viewed as a "self launching glider" so the payload would be quite large. – h22 Sep 02 '21 at 10:58
Some were built to carry 20 metric tons or 200 pax with bag and baggage. – mins Sep 06 '21 at 15:31

What is the heaviest payload a modern theoretical glider could carry?

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