JCPJCP

Many thanks for catching my error before I caused any harm ! Should have researched compatibility before typing... John

Years ago, in some "adhesives industry magazine", read that the "sticky" element in most tapes is based on "pine tree pitch". Have since found that Genuine Turpentine, distilled from pine trees, appears to be the one solvent that dissolves tape residue. But I don't know if it will work on dried out tape, nor if it will attack Plexiglas. Test on a scrap piece of Plexiglas FIRST ! John

Here's one on LI: Ken Miller Brookhaven Airport Hanger 22 best regards John

One of the wheel/brake companies (MATCO ?) had a nice demo showing the need for mechanical advantage at Oshkosh. A seat, two pedals, two master cylinders, two gauges. Left with a 3:1 advantage, the right with 1:1...... It gave an instant education as to which design worked. (The one without mechanical advantage also showed all the abuse it had received by those trying to equalize pressures with a HEAVY foot !) John

Super-eze: The entire tail cone of the fibertechcomposites design is glass, tube frame is only structure between wheels-engine-wing. On a Rutan canard design, these all come together at a single point (the firewall). While a "Prescott Pusher" is prime example of a commercially unsuccessful tube frame / glass skin design. (I'm not trying to discourage you, but rather give guidance based upon past failures.) What would be the greatest contribution to the Rutan Canard community is a (public domain) accurate solid model of a Long-EZ, including all of the updates and corrections from the Canard Pusher's. Model should include fiber plies / orientation and foam. From that model, effort could expand in various directions, by many contributors. 1) Studies into different composites (E-Glass / S-Glass / Kevlar / Carbon) 2) Studies into eliminating the styrofoam (assuming an approach using a mold) 3) Widened (E-Racer / Cozy) versions. 4) Retract landing gear (Drybread / Velocity) 5) Control systems (single sidestick / dual sidestick / centerstick / dualyoke) 6) Blended winglets 7) A better approach to the Strakes (easier to build / leak proof / fuel proof) It has been 30 years since the Long-EZ was designed. Since then, new materials and better design/analysis tools have been developed. It may be possible to reduce weight and the amount of $$$ fabric, by going to higher strength materials. But this can't be done blindly ! (One question I've yet to answer for myself is how many pounds of foam actually are in the aircraft !) Again, just thinking out loud. John

Solid model drawings of tubing space frame are pretty, but a wasted effort. A better use of time would be to build a set of steel molds. Rolled sheet metal could form perfect wing surfaces... The body would require the talents of a good tin knocker ! Something like an E-Racer/Cozy options for a 2 - 3- 4 seat design. The side by side sells, tandem seating has a very limited market. (Mistake Velocity Russia is making with their Intruder project) Sleeker than a Velocity, more like an E-Racer... Perhaps only canopy and seat locations define the differences. Include wheel wells in strakes, to allow assembly with or without retracts. (if fixed wheels are installed, simply cover the wheel wells, than can be converted to retracts at a later date) Strakes part of the wings, allowing disassembled plane to fit in a truck or shipboard container ? Pre-Preg Glass / Kevlar / Carbon could then be mass produced with proper vacuum bagging / Autoclave high pressure / high temperature cure. Glass for low end model, Carbon /Kevlar for the big spenders. Outer layer of carbon for the tub, with an inner liner of Kevlar for crew protection. Inject foam between outer tub and inner liner after molding (for insulation) and crash protection (energy absorption). The years and years needed to build a plans design is what has stalled the growth of the canard fleet. Look at what RV has done with mass produced kits... Need something between a complete kit, and a scratch built design ! Thinking out loud... John

With only 2 power pulses per revolution, will have high torsional vibration. Diesel-Air/Gemini and Wilksch both started out as 2 cylinder 2 cycle, and later progressed to 3 cylinder 2 cycle designs. John

Here's their proof of concept flying: http://gregrichter.com/aircraft.html

Rohacell is made out of a plastic in same family as Kapton / Polyimide. That's the stuff they make flexible printed circuit boards out of. Does not melt with a soldering iron, so forget about hot wiring. It is hard and tough, but not brittle, CNC's very nicely. Survives high pressure - high temperature autoclave cure. But somewhat costly............. JCP

ColinB Here is a Reality Check you should look at: http://members.iquest.net/~aca/index.htm Nice work, which he displayed last year at Oshkosh. But it has taken him Y-E-A-R-S to get this far along. And the Corvette Engine it is based upon may now vanish under the new "Government Motors"........... Then look at www.wingco.com.......... JP

Look here: http://www.maddyhome.com/canardpages/pages/voolivrebrasilia/exindex.html

Chrissi: Your BallValve & CheckValve on the Firewall scheme is going into my build notebook. It's a great solution that solves a very nasty failure mode scenario. (And of course the Germans went one further, putting a servo on the ball valve to fully automate cockpit temperature control !) John

There's been a carbon fiber tub on display last 2 years at Oshkosh. Has been down first row to the left of main gate. But they don't seem interested in selling to builders. JCP

Look at http://www.lmlkorea.com and http://www.wankelsupertec.de to see one alternative to a Mazda based design. Still years away from production, to say the least. Both web sites appear to be carefully crafted to soley attract interest of venture capitalists. Also note that they are trying to sell design to any and every application, with aviation way down on the list ! John

Funny my "Aviator" is of a "Flying Wing" with "Canard". The more I played with the concept, the more I learned I didn't know...... If I ever get my butt in gear, it will now look like an ERacer with a Wankel ! JCP

A variable speed Electric Water Pump may be 1000 times more reliable than a Wax Pellet Thermostat that sooner or later ALWAYS FAILS closed. Secondary, it is possible to build a Brushless permanent magnet motor pump combination with no seals. JCP

Radio Shack stuff can be very suspect at times. At they sold an UHF right angle connector that used a spring (think of a ball point pen spring) to "turn the corner" of the center conductor. While it worked OK on Citizens Band (27 MHz), was totally worthless at VHF and UHF. Yes, a fairly good coaxial switch will work, but opens chance of being in the wrong position. For a back up, an additional antenna, perhaps up the side of the cockpit behind the front seat, it the simplest and best solution. Just separate it from you comm antenna's (winglets) and localizer antenna (canard). I give up on Zener vs PIN, not worth arguing about. JCP

RF 101 lesson: 1) PIN diodes are used as RF Switches, Zener Diodes are used as voltage regulators. 2) What an RF Engineer calls a "Splitter" is actually a "hybrid". There are many ways to build one, but the telephone hybrid is a good example. 3) All Hybrids have 4 ports, in our case the antenna, 2 radios, and a dummy load. 4) On transmit, half the power would go to the antenna, and half to the dummy load. The dummy load has to be capable of absorbing 1/2th the transmit power without burning up. (not a typical cable tv splitter !) 5) And the receive signal also splits equally between the two radios. 6) Isolation from one radio to the other typically runs 20 dB, hence 1/100th of the transmit power would be presented to the opposite radio input. BUT (there is always a BUT !) 7) This all depends upon a perfect match to the antenna. 8) Power reflected by a mismatch to the antenna again split between the two radios, just as a receive signal does. Hence 9) With a typical antenna, power presented to opposite radio can quickly approach or exceed 10% of the transmitters power. 10) This is why the $900 box contains a switching circuit on transmit. Hope this clears up some misconceptions. JCP (I'm an RF Engineer for the last 38 years !)

This device acts as a passive splitter on receive, which is OK. But on transmit it acts as a relay, which solves the isolation problem. Unique gadget. JCP

Either a Splitter or a Tee fitting are both the wrong answer. Neither provide isolation between the high RF Power output of the transmitter and the delicate receiver input amplifier. End result may (will) be a dead receiver when you transmit on the second radio. JCP

Yes, exhaust is pointed aft for a pusher! Poor photo on second article shows injectors replacing leading sparkplugs. Believe it runs as a pure diesel, once the turbo spins up to about 2:1 pressure ratio. At that point, the inlet air temperature to Wankel would be about 300F and the combined compression ratio in the range of a normal diesel. Perhaps they are trading the high inlet air temperatue against the lower exhaust temperature of a diesel (Zoche claims 700F lower). The two stage compression (Turbo then Wankel) and two stage expansion (Wankel then Turbo) may yield efficiencies approaching a true diesel. Something to watch, but like most engine guys they are short of money and afraid of aviation related lawsuits. JCP

Attached is a poor machine translation of the German text. Agree text states aviation is their second priority, but prototype photos are of an aircraft engine ! JCP WANKEL_SUPER-TEC.doc

Photo at top of attached PDF shows both spark plugs and diesel injectors. Engine needs spark plugs to start due to maximum compression of a Wankel. Once hot and running, it may run as a pure diesel. Assuming a two stage compression/expansion due to the turbo, overall compression could well be over 20:1 once the turbo spins up. Note no intercooler, hence the hot boosted turbo output raises temperature at TDC high enough for diesel ignition. Are they trading off the cooler exhaust temperatures of a diesel for higher inlet air temperatures to the Wankel. Also note, rotors turn in the opposite direction from a Mazda. Article talks about "very light" aircraft, hence engine may be only 100 HP or less. Date on article is May 2008....... BIEMCB_LR_080524.pdf

Here's another German language article at: http://www.tu-cottbus.de/projekte/uploads/media/BIEMCB_LR_080524.pdf JCP

Photo was found at: http://www.pressemeldungen.at/48441/effizienter-arbeiten-mit-der-projektmanagementsoftware-fasttrack-schedule/ JCP