Geoff_H

Gas turbines only require tweeking to run on hydrogen. In the fifties a flight with hydrogen on one engine was undertaken. I believe that aircraft running on hydrogen is the future. A cryogenic tank would hold the hydrogen, very similar to some rocket engines. On an off target issue hydrogen is the answer to overnight stored energy.

Looks great.

Those plugs were made by using the 3d autocad file to make 2inch slices through the cabin, print the slices full size, transfering the prints to particle board, then using foam (the florist style foam) sandwiched in between the particle board and sanding using particle board as guides. Long and laborious but effective.

The Plugs that I made and a print of a view of the AutoCAD file. Geoff

Mooney have a steel frame around an aluminium skin in the pilot/passenger region. The tail is monocoque, the tail hinges off the steel frame to provide reduced drag trim. There are fewer deaths from Mooney accidents.

I put 2 layers of Kevlar around the pilot area. It may have helped safety but took a huge toll on weight

Somewhere I may have the 3D CAD files that I made, it was around 25 years ago. They were done in AutoCAD. I will have a look to see what has survived if interested.

Some years ago I designed and partially finished the prototype of a very similar project. The two halves of the fuselage were a top and a bottom. The main issue with a monocoque skin. A section between bulkheads has to have buckling resistance. This is where I had difficulty with design,a single skin thickness either had a large weight to resist buckling of many bulkheads close together, I chose a composite skin, bad choice in retrospect. I had to mould a core to shape then "glue" it to the outer skin then epoxy a layer on the inside. Without the ability to experiment with strengths of composite structures I made it far too heavy. I was looking at doing a master's in aeronautical doing experimental techniques until I got an away from home contract and abandend the project. Maybe stringers that were cast and attached to the skinsin the moulds would have been better, hindsight is so 20-20 vision. I made two tails, one using this method and one using cut foam with a cast skin attached ( no sanding required) the greatest surprise was that there was no measurable difference in the final weight Good luck with your project. Geoff

Yes Nev, getting old is a privilege denied many.

Thanks Red. I getting too old. 😒

Anybody know anything?

My heads up display in my car is invisible with polarised sunglasses. I have two sets of sun glasses, one for driving, one for out of vehicle activities.

Is thermal efficiency mechanical energy out divided by chemical energy in (ie fuel energy)?

I didn't think that I had monocular vision but the optometrist told me I do. I hate glasses and have better vision than when I did use glasses then contacts. The monocular vision is more of a problem during the class 2 medical.

I have roughly sketched the mathematical reason for engine speeding up as aircraft moves forward. Sorry it is so rough but somewhat busy at present. In summary, as the aircraft moves forward angle of incidence of prop blade to air gets smaller, thus the drag on the prop gets smaller so the engine speed will increase

So if you stay in the cabin the electrons will flow through the skin of the aircraft. Just don't touch two different parts of the skin as you may get a potential difference through your body and electrocute yourself.

With high voltage you never get electrocuted. Electrons repel each other so the current flows over the outside of the skin not through the body as required for electrocution. It does however create enormous heat and creates extre burns. HV burns you.

The cabin is intact. Mooney's have a very high survivability. The cabin area is a steel space frame. The tail is monocoque structure.

I think that the problem that I have with CASA is that it is perceived that i cannot judge distances with monocular vision. However this is not absolutely true. When trying to judge distances at very short range, around 6 inches, yes I have difficulty, th thread a needle by holding the needle axially, then it's just a matter of up down sideways movement. But catching a ball is no problem. Although my left eye is not in focus it is still used by the brain. The brain detects the the centre of the fuzzy ball and uses this and the infocus eye for distance perception. I am around 90% of before eye operation effectiveness. How I see 3D movies is still a wonder. My optometrist, unhappy that I am not buying glasses anymore, said that I could not catch a ball with this vision. It seems that this is a widely held misconception. I expect that this is why CASA believe that I need eye correction when flying. From what I read of USA situation is that if an eye specialist says that it is not restricting you you can get an exemption to needing eye correction. How do I get thos exemption in Aus. Do I go to politicians, eye specialists? Any and all ideas welcome! Geoff

I think that the correct term is monocular as theoretically only one eye is being used at a time. However the reality is that both are usually being used. They are lenses the same as every person gets for cataract replacement.

Had mine for 8 years now. My left eye has a 2 dioptor in it. I can read to around 6 inches up close

Yes that is right. The brain is amazing. I am in awe of its capability.

At present CASA does not appear to allow a Class 2 medical for monocular vision without correction. I believe that it is possible to get a Class 2 without correction if a suitable medical professional approved it. I have monocular vision, by choice. Upon replacement of lenses for cataract correction, I have a vision range from 150mm to infinity. I do not have vision correction for all aspects of life. Including 3D movies, the most surprising thing for me. Distance measurement is 80% of normal vision, I can still thread a needle without correction. Although not in focus in my left eye it is still used by my brain for distance use. My question is does anyone know of a way that I can get a medical exemption, similar to the USA exemption? I am starting to do aerobatics so I want the Class 2 med.

With some research on the internet, and buried deep inside a website I found that the Oil is a long life 4. Penrith agree. So I have used that.

A little off topic but in line with doing our own maintenance. Got a message from the car saying that I needed to add 1 litre of oil to the engine. So I looked up the owners book. It said that oil specification was on page 366. Only problem is that page 366 has never been bound into the book. The next page says to buy oil from BMW. Is this allowed to happen under state Law?