geoffreywh

I like the welded rudder pedals, bends take up too much room. Brakes?. Personally I like drum brakes. (toe operated) There is no need for huge braking effect on tail draggers. Cables work very nicely for a looong time, are light, simple to fit and don't require fluid replacement. I got my wheels/drums from Marc Ingegno in Italy, have a look and copy , please.

engine and battery ? guess 250 kgs, airframe same ? 1 pilot 1 passenger 50 each..... Anything by Rutan seems VG to Excellent

They were produced in WA for a while, Company went bust when they could not give them away. "An answer looking for a question" was quoted at the time. A mate of mine was test pilot ...He was not impressed.............Anyway, count me out of electric aircraft. I think that one of the parameters will be "must weigh under 50kgs." to get the whole thing under 600kgs...But I do wish designers well. Really.

I forgot to add. Please BEX, finish the aeroplane you started first........

I cannot see how it could be made economically viable. The previous post says circa $300ph (under instruction) That's petrol. There's a bit in that amount for engine replacement. Electric will have to include battery replacement. ( so we remain at $250 ph hr? ) Will a 400kg? (see one of the posts) battery go 2000 recharges? ( Although the inspection cost should drop a great deal.) and if it takes a 400kg battery to get 50kw for an hour you're going to need a very light pilot an EXtremely light airframe and NO passenger or pupil. Is that a selling point?...The power content of petrol is just soooo much higher per kg. than any present battery. More is the pity. I wish you BEX all the goodwill in the world, but I think you're too early. The previous post just popped up!...I am astonished to see a figure of $50? per hour....Really. WOW. THose batteries much be so cheap and the airframe weighs what 200kg? ( 200 battery 200 airframe and 200 pilot and px. ) for 50KW for 30 minutes...I am a sceptic

Do the math, Training aircraft are doing circuits most of the time. Is there a system (batteries / motor ) than can handle that for an hour? If no, then you are wasting your time. ....I can't see many schools changing their aircraft unless the new one cheaper to run than the old one> Considerably cheaper because of the outlay..... Unless of course, they are replacing an older aircraft... The thrill of flying an electric aeroplane will wear off very quickly at $300 or so an hour....It's a shame, but it's economics. Much like our " renewable energy" Great Plan, but the numbers just don't add up.....

The pipes on my st1100 quite small in diameter and cooked my legs nicely in the summer. (fairing removed) I did it before on a K1100 for several years with no ill effects on bike or pipes ( small dia s/steel. ) but I wont bother trying it on the aeroplane

OK, I see. Although I don't know about "keeping the heat in the engine" My bike has suffered no discernable ill effects. Anyway thanks everybody. I shall leave well alone and trundle happily with cool legs...at least..

I heard that one passenger was run down by a fire truck and killed. The whole scene , landing and rescue smacks of amateurism.

Flat sheet canopy ? I had occasion just recently to alter my "el cheapo" pipe bender into a Very Good small tube and flat strip bender. Worked brilliantly.. Just right for canopy frames. I rolled a 12mm tube into a 300mm radius half circle

Agreed, My St1100 pipes are stainless, Jab pipes are stainless. But would it benefit the Jab cooling? EGT might go up, but so what. I could do it to the Jodel as see what effect it might have.But that wont work, the engine never gets hot enough!

I just finished wrapping the exhaust pipes on my ST1100 sidecar outfit. I was getting "Hot Legs" ok now in the winter but hell in the summer. The effect is stunning! from red hot (not quite ) to put your hand on it difference. There are plenty of suppliers, the wrap is cheap , light, and not flammable and the s/steel ties are 10 dollars a hundred. How might the wrap help engine cooling in an aircraft? Is there any point in say , a 6 cylinder jab's headers being made heat proof? They run very close to the inlet tracts, might it help?

Seats? have you ever seen the seats in a 2CV citroen? I had one for a couple of years in Holland, comfy enough..with NO cushion, they are a sort of deck chair type. I mean a canvas sling for your ass. very light, very easy to fabricate. A gel cushion should make it work OK for several hours Wing bladder tanks ? with a behind the dash header for gravity feed? the top tank would also work well with EFI , might save a lot of plumbing. The fact that my Jodel is so plumbed has nothing to do with anything....

That's a REALLY nice looking aeroplane,those "gull wing" tips show up nicely and set it apart. The "stance " as a taildragger will only inprove with 15 x 6 x 6 wheels. I can't see anything to criticize, which is unusual for me.....and I have a 912uls on my bench jus beggin to go into one of those.

I so admire your low cost aims. But, you haven't got to the expensive bits yet. At this stage, what engine do you envisage using? That decision is going to impact cost considerably!....how do you feel about f/glass cowlings,wingtips ect; gonna have enough ground clearance for 2 blade prop? (three bladers are very expensive) .You mentioned in an earlier post that the canopy was to be flat sheet, still OK with that? ie; 3 or4 piece , side opening?..A moulded canopy is going to look sooo much better, maybe....... I know you're not that far along with the build but some of that stuff requires some forward planning....

good idea using those pipe clamps!

I wonder what "coming apart" actually meant. A seizure and the piston breaks at a ring groove? more details would be nice

neat

Oh no! not the shark fin. Will it be removable?

sorry Bex, My understanding is that to prevent tip stalling the tip leading edge should have a negative twist? ie: washout....( or have I read it wrong. (Quite possible) and that last bit of wing just has to follow the aileron line, please.

Put the prop in the front. No, Really!, it makes so much more sense. I'm sure that the engine can stay where it is if needs be. And add some stub wings that will unload the rotor above certain speed.

I like the use of "Glue" ( could be anything that is appropriate) and pop rivets. There must be some sort of microscopic "fretting" and or creep (nobody I know) on Alu to Alu pop riveted surfaces that "glue" would eliminate and improve rigidity and longevity. The Plexus methacrylate structural adhesives mentioned seem to be for plastics... However I have used some exotic "sitkaflex" types on Alu to Alu joints and even after several years in the open air the stuff was sticky as all hell and had not gone brittle. I'm sure a little research would turn up a type of compound that would suit a skin to spar or stringer joint

maybe they could be ally rivets with the middle bit pushed out? Got to be lighter! And glued, I forgot glue

oh there it is! The gull was there all the time........In the free flight model world, tapered (thickness and planform ) wings reduce drag and those nasty wing tip vortices. What are the gains in full size aircraft apart from looking really sexy. .....As an aside, Can we PLEASE PLEASE, not have those god-awful wing thip thingies as the Morgan has. (Did I say Please?)

Did I miss a step or did the "gull wing" part get deleted along the way? Not that I mind, mind you, but I remember a cute spar set up that has now disappeared. The "washout" looks good and helps prevent those nasty tip stalls.