I am going to gingerly dip my toe in and see if the whole thing gets bitten off or just a little nibble.
My brother and I (mostly him) built and flew (mostly me) a B10 back during the ultralight craze. It was a "wow" experience except for the hang cage. Not that the cage was a bad design but it didn't have the finished quality like the wing did. Also, even back then when I was closer to 100 pounds than 200 it was still a hassle getting in and out of. Now, even more so.
So, I've got the wing and the demolished parts of a hang cage and the plans that I bought a couple of years ago. The wing had very little damage but the covering is all off and I'm rebuilding it.
The cage was bolted together aluminum tubing and didn't like anything approaching hard landings. I'm not going that route. Probably foam/fiberglass.
I've got years of fiberglass experience, built my own shop and all necessary tools. Not an A&P but worked for Lancair in Santa Paula and have messed around with airplane building off and on.
Heres the thing: I know how to think like an engineer, but I'm not one so I would love to have some input. Through the years I've read everything I could find about the Mitchell stuff and I don't intend to change anything about the aerodynamics of the wing.
The attach points to the wing are fixed. Thrust line is known and pretty much fixed but it depends on the hang cage. Control linkage doesn't really need to change. Rudder cables can be lengthened/shortened without issue, and the mixer box for the for the push pull stabilators are all in the wing
I'm planning on higher landing gear and slightly bigger tires. Shouldn't be any aerodynamic issues because that's been done before with bicycle tires, etc.
However, I would like to get more headroom, even if it's just an inch. Some people have stretched the cage up to a foot but I'm not tall so that's not something I plan on doing. Don't know if anyone has "dropped" the cage. Pitch is pretty sensitive with the mixer box and they made it less sensitive in the A-10 (aluminum wing) by basically making the stick longer. So my initial thought is that dropping it shouldn't change much. The C/G is narrow but the pilot is on the C/G so it should mostly be pendulum(?)
I will need to be careful about the windshield. In the past it affected pitch sensitivity as you approached VNE. They figured it out but I don't know what they did.
Basically I would like it to look a little like the original cage with the pod attached. However, I would like to design a structure that carries the load from the wing attach points to behind the pilots seat. Kind of a reverse "C" kind of structure.
Anyway, I wanted to get this posted for motivation to get going on it. I'll sketch out some ideas later. I plan on finishing the wing this summer and get the cage going as I'm finishing the wing.
Any ideas are appreciated.
My brother and I (mostly him) built and flew (mostly me) a B10 back during the ultralight craze. It was a "wow" experience except for the hang cage. Not that the cage was a bad design but it didn't have the finished quality like the wing did. Also, even back then when I was closer to 100 pounds than 200 it was still a hassle getting in and out of. Now, even more so.
So, I've got the wing and the demolished parts of a hang cage and the plans that I bought a couple of years ago. The wing had very little damage but the covering is all off and I'm rebuilding it.
The cage was bolted together aluminum tubing and didn't like anything approaching hard landings. I'm not going that route. Probably foam/fiberglass.
I've got years of fiberglass experience, built my own shop and all necessary tools. Not an A&P but worked for Lancair in Santa Paula and have messed around with airplane building off and on.
Heres the thing: I know how to think like an engineer, but I'm not one so I would love to have some input. Through the years I've read everything I could find about the Mitchell stuff and I don't intend to change anything about the aerodynamics of the wing.
The attach points to the wing are fixed. Thrust line is known and pretty much fixed but it depends on the hang cage. Control linkage doesn't really need to change. Rudder cables can be lengthened/shortened without issue, and the mixer box for the for the push pull stabilators are all in the wing
I'm planning on higher landing gear and slightly bigger tires. Shouldn't be any aerodynamic issues because that's been done before with bicycle tires, etc.
However, I would like to get more headroom, even if it's just an inch. Some people have stretched the cage up to a foot but I'm not tall so that's not something I plan on doing. Don't know if anyone has "dropped" the cage. Pitch is pretty sensitive with the mixer box and they made it less sensitive in the A-10 (aluminum wing) by basically making the stick longer. So my initial thought is that dropping it shouldn't change much. The C/G is narrow but the pilot is on the C/G so it should mostly be pendulum(?)
I will need to be careful about the windshield. In the past it affected pitch sensitivity as you approached VNE. They figured it out but I don't know what they did.
Basically I would like it to look a little like the original cage with the pod attached. However, I would like to design a structure that carries the load from the wing attach points to behind the pilots seat. Kind of a reverse "C" kind of structure.
Anyway, I wanted to get this posted for motivation to get going on it. I'll sketch out some ideas later. I plan on finishing the wing this summer and get the cage going as I'm finishing the wing.
Any ideas are appreciated.
