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Your Zombie Survival Homebuild? [opinions needed]

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FlimFlam

Member
Joined
Apr 20, 2015
Messages
14
Location
Canada
Greetings aircraft nerds! You glorious and majestic people you!!!

I come before you today with a rather unorthodox request that I think will prove an entertaining thought experiment for you folks and provide an informative source of information for myself!

Before anyone worries about my mental well-being or physical safety, I am seeking information with which to aid in the design of a zombie apocalypse survival video game.

None of the information I receive here will in any way shape or form be used in the construction of any real aircraft, and nor do I fear the impending zombie doom that we all know is coming... :)gig:)

With that said, what I am looking for is a general design concept for a light airplane that could serve some purpose to someone caught in an apocalypse. In the game itself, "survivors" (players) have dozens of cities with many broken down cars and industrial areas, and also two or three airfields with some broken down aircraft. They have access to things like chainsaws and wood working equipment, along with some metal working tools like tig welders, drills, etc...

What I am looking for exactly is an airplane design that is relatively cheap and easy to build while being as useful as possible something that could feasibly be built with the right knowledge and as minimal advanced tools and materials as possible. This airplane will co-exist along side of two other aircraft that players can construct, which will be an open autogyro/gyrocopter, and an open 'mosquito' helicopter (If you can believe that). The autogyro is (I think, please correct me if I am wrong) in reality the cheapest and easiest to build, and so far as I know, and requires the lightest engine. The mosquito helicopter will be harder to build and require a more rare and more powerful engine, the benefit being that you can do vertical take offs and landings from your fortified or fenced in home. Some players will make the mosquito because they are more successful and can afford to do so, some players will make the autogyro either because it has a better top speed, is a tandem gyro, or is cheaper to build. Whether the plane has advantages in cost, top speed, load capacity, or passenger capacity makes little difference, so long as there is some realistic advantage of having one versus one of the other two aircraft.

I had some ideas such as the Pietenpol Air Camper Official Pietenpol Air Camper Family Website | Building

The advantages of the air camper are that it is mostly made from wood, can use some old car engines, and can carry two persons. It has a relatively low top speed but the low tech requirements make it a realistic project with minimal advanced tools and parts.

I'm not sure if there are any doable hombuilds that can seat 3 or 4 passengers, but if there are, then the lowest tech ones would make good options.

I was also considering The Legal Eagle Milholland Legal Eagle - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It seems like this plane would be cheaper and easier to build than just about any other powered aircraft I know of with the possible exception of an AutoGyro.

The thing is, I just don't know enough about light planes (or heavy planes for that matter :gig:) in order to make any kind of really informed decision about what would be realistically doable, and what the best option would be.

If possible, something that can be modified with stronger engines in order to enhance top speed and performance would be quite ideal, because in a zombie apocalypse you never know what kinds of engines you might have access to. Any criticism, opinions, ideas, or input of any kind would be appreciated, as the realm of flight is to endlessly complex that I reckon any information I get from experienced individuals is going to far outweigh my own novice abilities.

If this is the wrong section for this sort of post then I do apologize and an admin should move it promptly.

So, what kind of aircraft would YOU build?
 
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