marbleturtle

There is so much good hardware coming down in price quickly that I wouldn't consider building my own moving map system, except... I'm thinking about going all digital through a large lcd display for the instruments. Also, I'm thinking about integrating a micro-controller autopilot system controlled by the navigation software. (unfortunately, this is the only part of the airplane I can work on at the moment... and actually appear busy at work! ) Why build my own instead of buying off the shelf? Well... why build an airplane?

I kinda like being a senior member! Maybe it should be moderated to keep stupid people from posting.

Take her to the Sundial on top of the Westin Peachtree Plaza. If at the end of the meal she doesn't agree, jump up and down in the glass elevator on the ride down the outside of the building until she relents. This works particularly well if your wife is afraid of heights! Mine is.

... that was before the accident! Let's just say you don't take a cute gal with hiccups flying in a single seater!

Put on some clothes you freaky hippie! How do you defog/defrost the bubble without heat?

Hey John... I for one wouldn't mind seeing some others do a pictorial review of SunNfun!

Carter Copters are spiffy... but the time frame looks like 6 years plus, and its only a two seater. The dominator? 50mph cruise is nothing I can get excited about.

50 years from now you could always argue that Lyco's have 100 years of proven technology while the rotary "only" has 50... therefore the Loco is the proven technology. I guess we all push the envelope as far as we are comfortable... tin-can flyers think Dust is crazy for building an airplane, Dust thinks John is crazy for using a rotary, John thinks I am crazy for thinking about 2 duct fans and BMW motorcycle engines, I think... well... I guess I'm the last link in the crazy chain. We are mission-airies in a hostile land.

... but ultralights are not allowed in populated areas. Back to the drawing board. I could have swore I was getting 2200 lbs of thrust...

I have another problem to work out... I wonder how Dobbins AFB and Lockheed would feel about me taking off and landing between all those C130's since I am only a couple of miles from the end of their runway... maybe I'll stick real close to I-75 and pretend I'm a traffic helicopter.

Osprey eh... I wonder what I could buy one of those suckers for military surplus.

Thanks John... but you might want to rethink the "Normal" after you hear what I'm thinking about now. I found out that Moller has been smacked by the SEC for certain securities marketing practices and for making the prediction about thousands of Mollers flying around by 2003... whoops. Someone must take up the torch of the Flying Car promised to us all in those Science films of the 60's. (I've never actually seen one but I hear they're neat!) The way I see it... there's two parts to consider for a VTOL aircraft. The normal flying part. The transition to flying speed and back to zero again part. Now why worry about designing both when the normal flying part is already available! (That's where the Cozy would come in.) All that actually needs to be designed is the transitional part. Limiting factors include finding engines strong enough to produce high thrust, but light enough to lift themselves and airframe. That's where John's turbo rotary comes in. (Sorry Dust, no Yugo engines.) Another limiting factor is a control system to balance the system out of ground effect. I'm testing a few ideas with a Computer Program I'm writing to crunch the numbers. This idea came to me while watching the new design VTOL jet (I can't remember if it was the Lockheed or Boeing version) that uses a thrust direction nozzle for the rear of the aircraft, and a shaft driven fan with doors that open up on the front of the aircraft in transitional flight. There are smaller nozzles on the wing tips... but the general idea is to balance the aircraft on a four legged stool of thrust. I'm wondering if a variation could be made for the Cozy... a three legged stool. Two fans in the back, one on each side of the fuselage. Deflectors to route thrust down. One fan in the nose placed horizontaly with retractable doors, shaft driven to keep engine weight out of the nose... hmmm. (Can anyone tell that I'm getting tired of my 82 mile one way commute through traffic? There is a perfect place to land on the top level of a parking deck that no-one uses.) Anyhoo... back to the normal. I'm putting numbers together on a twin ducted fan system. One turbo rotary or two motorcycle engine driven. I'm kicking the motorcycle engine idea around because it introduces redundancy (two of everything to break!), light weight since non-hog sport touring bike engines are designed for high power to weight, and with one fuel tank per engine maybe even a little simplicity. Reliability is a big fat question mark... but at a few thousand a piece, I could chuck one, get another, and still be ahead of the game by... oh... $20,000. To answer my own original question, I think I was coming up with roughly 300lbs of thrust to maintain 180 at MSL. (My notes are at home.) Also I was getting thrust numbers of 2200 lbs with twin 140 HP engines... which could turn a Cozy balistic. Which brings me back to hovering, or the flying car idea. Maybe I should check my numbers first. Well, its been a difficult day at work surfing the internet, but now that its 3 o'clock, its time to go home. @#$@%@!!! Moller... if he had his flying car ready, I'd be home in 15 minutes.

Since I can't start building just yet, I've been experimenting with some computer modeling. Does anyone have numbers on the required lbs of thrust to maintain cruise speed of 180mph at 10,000 ft and MSL? What equation are you using to get your numbers? I've seen variations for accounting for resistance using flat plate drag coefficients... but I'm more familiar with aerodynamic drag coefficients by frontal area. Any ideas?

Oh... Sorry.

I liked the velocity too... but then I heard a rumor that they explode right after takeoff but somehow the gull wing doors always land in the Bermuda Triangle. Weird.

Is this a bad time to bring up torque again?!?!?!

Hey John, am I allowed to smack Chuckie or am I still in the dog house?!?!?!

HeyyyYYYyyyy... Ya know, I bet I could find a wrecked Caddy with the HUD night vision system intact... Hmmmmm I wonder what the range is on those suckers.

If you have Intenet Explorer, just use the Tools menu and then Windows update to get all the patches your system needs. It may fix the problem you are having. I have a mix of Operating Systems and Products back to Win98 for 120 users without problems with crashing. Back to Aircrafts... I'll ask again. Is it required that you use Certified Instruments to fly IFR even if our planes are NOT certified? Anybody know?

That's a neat trick... is it Word from Office XP?

The new tablet PC's are larger and brighter than the iPAC type handhelds. They are specifically designed with high-tech industrial applications in mind so outdoor lighting or fat fingers won't be a problem. As far as XP goes... stick with hardware that is on the Hardware Compatibility List and don't use cheep or freeware applications that frequently don't know how to manage memory. I work with 10 level 1 programmers and even they can't crash XP... not that I'm going to show them how. I'm working on a Cozy in reverse. I'm working on my moving map GPS application now with micro-controllers for autopilot, and tablet PC based glass cockpit. I'm also reading on ideas for propulsion to try out soon. (I just can't let go of that twin duct fan idea!) I won't be able to build a plaine until I first get my house built. A tablet PC is a valid format for a navigation and control system, but would certification be REQUIRED in order to use it for IFR? How would that differ from using our home built airplanes for IFR flight even though they are not certified?

The most informative page I have seen on retractable gear for the Cozy is here: http://www.geocities.com/plmjohnson/retractable_gear.htm

Okay.

exactly!

I'm thinking about using two 9000RPM motocycle engines to power two duct fans instead of a big single prop... does that count?