Bob Llewellyn

No worries. I need to check my calendar, but I'd like to make the flyin.

Some folk like plenty of stability and enough wing to keep things fairly slow, a la Aeronca C3, Chief, Piper Cub, Lightwing, Drifter, Thruster... and some like small and efficient, e.g. Cri Cri, Corby Starlet, Moni, Sonex, Lightning Bug, BD-5J. It's actually cheaper, from powerplant and materials aspects, to make something small and efficient - Starlite anyone? - and such aeroplanes are easier to store, and generally cheaper to maintain than, er, any other style of flying machine (ignoring hang gliders!). Some people build kits for the building experience - Falco? - and some to save money - Savannah?; do more people want a quick, easy, and cheap kit, even if it flies fast, or do most want something slow & friendly, even if it takes longer and costs more? Most sub-600kg aeroplanes were designed as trainers, against standards and practical requirements for trainers; and that's what they do well. But unscrewing $60k plus for a personal aircraft that is designed, not for a private owner's needs, but as a trainer, does not seem like "affordable flying" to me. So - for the cheapest way to get airborne & visit flyins - is one seat enough? How much luggage? How much range? Folding wings and easy trailerage? How much "hot and high" takeoff ability? How fast? How small? how slow? how big? How 2-stroke? Bewildered Bob.

My 2 cents - when matching a propellor to an aeroplane, the diameter has to be limited so that the tip speed stays below the speed of sound (at the rpm for max engine power); and there has to be enough blade area ("solidity") to stop the engine exceeding its redline most anywhere in the flight envelope. Now, the only magic about a biplane wing cellule is that it allows an extremely light structure, thanks to bracing wires - see DH 84 Dragon. The Lazair should gain a little prop efficiency by putting the blades at right angles, but this would only be measurable as a few more revs. As someone said, the biplane configuration would give much less drag when shut down. The hidden benefit the Lazair gains by using small diameter props, is that the slipstreams only affect a small area of wing, so in the single engine case the adverse roll is small. Who will be the first to put 6 engines on the wing of a Jab 160? :o) -Bob.

Hi Paul, I've put my tosg email address onto the website contact page, and have started a parallel thread in this ahere forum. Also resuscitated mobile 'phone battery! Though I tend to leave it off until I've cooked breakfast for the kids... :o)

Ok

We have to fight for 95:10! Turbines are allowed there!

Hi everyone, after a few years under a rock, TOSG is poking its snout out again. Thanks to Paul O'Connor we have a new website http://www.tosgaust.com/. Thanks to Ian Baker, all the precious information from the old website has been preserved. I have all of Tony's paper records, and thanks to Roy Gilby, pretty much all of his electronic records. My main goal at the moment is to resolve the regulatory confusion about what is or isn't a legitimate modification (for example, the TST family received a Certificate of Type Acceptance - NOT a Type Certificate - under ANO 95.25, which specifically exempts them from Part IV of the Air Navigation Regulations - so, whilst some mods required CAR 35 blessing, the legal background is NOT the same as "any Type Certificated aircraft"...). TOSG is still a not-for-profit organisation, and everyone is contributing their time for free. However, in order to have a convincing presence as a representative organisation, we charge a $50- p.a. membership fee to those willing to become a paid-up member of TOSG; this establishes a legal relationship, and pays for office consumables, postage etc. We support every stripe of Thruster, under 95:10, 95:25, and 95:55 Thruster-based customised aeroplanes. I invite you all to check out the website (an eternal work in progress, but - thanks again Paul - quite functional. Cheers, Bob.

Hi, I own (and have flown) a couple of Thrusters (currently in disrepair), have flown Blaniks, a PA28, wire-braced and strut-braced drifters, a Jab 160, and Lightwing GR-912. I want an ultralight supersonic VTOL jet that I can shut down & go hang-gliding in sometimes...