Junk Yard Wars: Airplane Building

[Dave Clifford]

Tonight, 03/09/03, TLC Junk yard wars will have airplane building. They have 2 0r 3 days to build a flying plane inspected by the FAA. Its on at 8:00 p.m. here E.S.T. It might be interesting to watch.

[ekisbey]

It was

[LargePrime]

It was the discovery channel so i am gonna be picky

 

that and the americans lost... (anyone ever heard of a weight and balance!!!! jeez)

 

1 The FAA doesent safety check anything. It's an experimental. You say it flys. They dont get a vote.

 

2 props don't spin at 5000 rpm.

 

3 What kind of test was that????? Stop on the line. Bah! Time aloft? double bah! should have been a race with pylons like in the 20's. Or really anything is better than what they chose.

 

Very cool show. Poorly done. IMHO

[Jim Hann]

I would tend to disagree,

 

It was on TLC, which is part of the Discovery Channel group.

 

I believe the FAA's vote is the Airworthiness Certificate (or lack thereof). The lightest airplane I heard of was over 300 lbs., well above FAR 103 limits (254 lbs.) Also, did you notice how they "found" nice new sensenich props that worked on the engines they had to use, along with Poly Fiber covering?

 

As for RPM, have you ever flown a two-stroke? The gear reduced engines that I flew back in the heyday of Ultralights turned nearly six thousand RPM with props in the neighborhood of 3000. One Weedhopper in the neighborhood had a direct drive that turned the prop in the mid 4,000. They looked at the tach and saw 5,500 and didn't know it was engine instead of prop.

 

Last, you missed what I considered the biggest gaff in the program. During the intro, Karyn Bryant said that the Wright Brothers first flew in November of 1903.

 

I don't think they expected the results they got. The Brits up flying around the desert in circles while the other teams tried to complete a simple crowhop. The W&B was an issue for the USA but they also stated that they elected to leave the control surface off the aft lifting surface, which given its placement in the slipstream might have helped them lift the nose and get airborne.

 

I think it was good entertainment. Totally accurate? No. But we all know that television is not about reality (espeically not "reality" shows). And if one person realizes that they can build an airplane at home and fly it, all the better.

[LargePrime]

Actualy the FAA dont get a vote. You pay a DAR. Ask if you will get your certificate before you pay him. If not dont pay and get one who does. It's not an inspection, it's a formality. If it was an inspection they would be liable if you killed yourself. There not. It's not.

 

I can see how they made the RPM mistake. I guess the half dozen shots of the gear reduction drives were missed.

 

I think the Brits were a bit reckless. Would you fly 200 feet in a plane that was built from "scratch" to "looks right" plans, by 3 virgins and one geek in 20 hours?

 

I think the french did the appropiate thing. No reason to belive they couldnt have done the same thing.

 

Perhaps I was a little severe. But the test at the end left a bad taste.

[John Slade]

I think the Brits were a bit reckless.

 

I'm a Brit, but I'll agree with that. Unless there was a lot of testing off camera before the final shot - but even then

[Jim Hann]

Originally posted by LargePrime

I can see how they made the RPM mistake. I guess the half dozen shots of the gear reduction drives were missed.

 

I think the Brits were a bit reckless. Would you fly 200 feet in a plane that was built from "scratch" to "looks right" plans, by 3 virgins and one geek in 20 hours?

 

I think the french did the appropiate thing. No reason to belive they couldnt have done the same thing.

 

Perhaps I was a little severe. But the test at the end left a bad taste.

The hosts wouldn't know a gear reduction if it fell on their head.

 

Yes, I am not that crazy but some folks are/were, do you think they were egged on by the producers? After all it is entertainment.

 

The French completed the objectives and no more, that works. If you watch closely, in some of the wide shots you see the British team on the ground motioning to get him to land.

 

It's all cool, I am trying to keep it in perspective, it wasn't reality, it's television.