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Some design musings

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rtfm

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2008
Messages
3,900
Location
Brisbane, Australia
Hi,
HITC and a few other mates drove down from Brisbane and the Gold Coast to the annual airshow at Evans Heads last weekend. It was a great day, hot as hell, but thankfully there was a bit of a breeze to cool things down somewhat. I saw my first F1-11. I had no idea how BIG it was. I've been looking at my diminutive (10ft) Razorback for too long I think... I also saw the awesome Grumman Avenger. Wow. What a lovely plane. Those folding wings look just like a bird folding its wings when it lands. Elegant and so quick...

Apart from these two stand-outs, I have to confess there was little else to pique my interest, design-wise. Whole rows fast glass clones. Some even had indistinguishable names (Sting/Sling). At a glance I was hard pressed to tell them apart. Then there were four or five amphibians, all of which looked like they came out of the same sausage factory. A bunch of high-wing clones also (Light Wing, etc etc). And then the Warbirds. Again, I have to confess, we were struggling to tell the Harvards apart from its clones.

So all in all, a case of the Clone Wars as far as variety was concerned.

A couple of things did stand out for me, however:
  1. There were no 'rough-and-ready' homebuilts. Simply not in attendance. Which was a pity.
  2. Without exception, every commercial offering was as well appointed as a modern sports car. Which is perhaps why the cheapest kit on offer was upwards of $75k. Which made me take note that if I ever want to sell Razorback kits, I'm going to have to spend an awful amount of time and money getting it up to showroom standards. There was also a lot of discussion about how these prices were unrealistic, especially given that the market is miniscule. Some suggestions of $40k as being a realistic price. Interestingly, Chris Conroy's planes (he was also there, with a little stand touting his Sparrowhawk two-seater) sells for $45k if I remember correctly. So it can be done.
  3. All the commercially available planes there (including the gyros and the trikes) had fitted racing-style, beautifully upholstered seats. Gone now is my plan to make my own. The Razorback would look positively home-made by comparison.
  4. There was also quite a lot of discussion about how many kit manufacturers there were (someone mentioned 131 - but I think this was a global-figure?) and what one would need to do in order to stand out from the crowd. Some thought STOL was the way to go, since it made for a far more practical plane. I leaned to fast glass, but at a very competitive price. ie Well within the $40k suggested figure.

So, although as far as a designer is concerned, the show was very ho-hum, the very fact that there WAS a dearth of design innovation was encouraging. If I had arrived to see something like the Razorback, or a Horten-like flying wing, I think my heart would have dropped. As it is, the field and the race is anyone's at the moment.

One other thing which did emerge from the show - there were no single-seaters - except for a lone RV-3. Everyone wants two side-by-side seats. So the Razorback will have no chance I think of attracting much interest when I finally get one flying.

When I got home, I went off to check out the Friedrichschafen 2013 airshow in the hope of seeing some really innovative new designs. Fat chance. High wing clones, low wing clones, tadpole clones, etc etc. Talk about the Clone Wars...

So I sat down, and began thinking.

The Razorback will have to be my personal plane. I will love it but I recognise that it will be a personal plane and not for sale. I will definitely need a two-seater if I want to sell any kits. So here is what I came up with.

Based strongly on the Razorback, still very small, but departing completely from the "usual" plan view. A bit weird at first glance, but it kinda grows on one. A bit like the plan view of Formula 1 racing cars, don't you think? 42 inches at the shoulders. The side view is very sexy, however. I will have to think long and hard about the CG issues this will present. But those are details I can worry about later. Maybe it's time to build my first model to see what it looks like in the flesh...

Regards,
Duncan

Razorback F2 plan view.jpg Razorback F2 Side view.jpg

Regards,
Duncan
 
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