coloredcoat
Well-Known Member
New member, been a pilot since 1994, A&P since 1998, mechanical engineer now. I built a Q200 Quickie from 1996 until 2000 and flew it, sold the parts.
I used to work in aviation, now I work at a fertilizer plant across the river here near Dubuque. My current aircraft mental disease has me designing a new engine in the 600-1,000 hp range for experimental aircraft use. My premise is that many of us won't really care that much about a little extra fuel burn if we could afford the engine at these power levels in the first place. Figure you can only find time to fly 25-50 hours a year if you work and have kids like I do. It's not going to matter much if you burn 5 gph or 50 gph. If you have time to fly more, you still would rather fly something bigger and more comfortable than something tiny and uncomfortable.
My airframe design I'm working on is incorporating elements from Cessna Caravans, Kodiak Quest, Antonov AN-2, and the Wilson Private Explorer. The true limitation to modern aircraft becoming affordable centers on powerplant for me. Anyone can build any airframe they choose, and it won't cost much more in time or materials whether you build a single seater or a 10 seater. There's just not that much of a difference between them. The aircraft engine above about 300 hp is a huge expense, 600-1,000 hp is forgettable in cost.
My inventions are somewhat represented in the USPTO website, but I still hold the best inventions. Boeing didn't get much more than a dozen patented, and thankfully their selection process is fairly random. If I had more time, I'd have a couple businesses making money from inventions, but that's not reality.
That's enough about me!
I used to work in aviation, now I work at a fertilizer plant across the river here near Dubuque. My current aircraft mental disease has me designing a new engine in the 600-1,000 hp range for experimental aircraft use. My premise is that many of us won't really care that much about a little extra fuel burn if we could afford the engine at these power levels in the first place. Figure you can only find time to fly 25-50 hours a year if you work and have kids like I do. It's not going to matter much if you burn 5 gph or 50 gph. If you have time to fly more, you still would rather fly something bigger and more comfortable than something tiny and uncomfortable.
My airframe design I'm working on is incorporating elements from Cessna Caravans, Kodiak Quest, Antonov AN-2, and the Wilson Private Explorer. The true limitation to modern aircraft becoming affordable centers on powerplant for me. Anyone can build any airframe they choose, and it won't cost much more in time or materials whether you build a single seater or a 10 seater. There's just not that much of a difference between them. The aircraft engine above about 300 hp is a huge expense, 600-1,000 hp is forgettable in cost.
My inventions are somewhat represented in the USPTO website, but I still hold the best inventions. Boeing didn't get much more than a dozen patented, and thankfully their selection process is fairly random. If I had more time, I'd have a couple businesses making money from inventions, but that's not reality.
That's enough about me!
