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  1. brehmel62

    Ampaire 337- largest hybrid to date takes flight

    I couldn't get their battery pack over 1 hour duration at 55% economy cruise (116 HP). That was at 350 watt hours/Kg and 270 Kg of battery. That seems like a far cry from the normal 6 hour flight time. Feel free to check my math.
  2. brehmel62

    Engines to replace the dominance of Rotax

    I can't quite tell what scale you are referring to. At 15.9% scale with 12 HP engines, we would have about the same power and weight as a Cessna150 but with longer wings, 60% of the wing loading, and a cruise of only 70 mph. A DLE-120 only weighs about 1/3rd of the scale engine weight. So, you...
  3. brehmel62

    Engines to replace the dominance of Rotax

    Looks like I hit a '1' instead of a '4' or something like that. 72" is a radius of 3' 3 ^2 = 9 9 * pi = 28.3 110 / 28.3 = 3.9 56" is a radius of 2.33 2.33 ^2 = 5.44 5.44 * pi = 17.1 65 / 17.1 = 3.8 So, about the same ratio.
  4. brehmel62

    Engines to replace the dominance of Rotax

    I seem to recall that the last time I went over propeller loading that you could do up to about 65 HP with direct drive with your engine revving to 3,600 RPM and a 56" propeller. Let me check at Great Plains to see if that matches. Looks like they go up to 76 HP with direct drive. Let's double...
  5. brehmel62

    The state of flying in the US

    I was looking over the FAA statistics and some things come to mind. We seem to be losing pilots. There were about 358,000 private pilots in 1980, but this was down to 163,000 in 2017. A loss of 195,000. Maybe some of those moved up to commercial. In 1980 there were 183,000 commercial pilots...
  6. brehmel62

    Winch Requirements Full Size Glider

    No, it should be pretty constant until you level off right before release to prevent stalling. But we can double check that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Qh95I_YM0 The angle looks pretty constant to me. I think the glider is a Schleicher ASK-21. The rate of minimum sink is about 2 fps @...
  7. brehmel62

    Winch Requirements Full Size Glider

    It's fairly easy to derive an answer for this. Let's take an example. Schweizer 1-26 Gross weight - 700 lbs Best L/D - 23:1 @ 53 mph Minimum sink - 174 fpm @ 40 mph Stall speed - 28 mph Best rate of climb (Vy) = L/D max Best angle of climb (Vx) = Sink min Since we have a limited distance (the...
  8. brehmel62

    What Did You Do To Save General Aviation Today?

    I don't know if I should answer this or not. Lately, I've tried to consider the concept of general aviation in the US and tried to come up with alternative regulations that would promote more experience and knowledge in pilots, reduce the cost of aircraft, and create a minimal barrier of entry...
  9. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    I'm thinking at this point we have a design split. One configuration would be an aircraft like an Aeronca C-2. For this, you could get engines, props, and instruments for about $1,300 and could probably stay under $4,000. Most likely, fabric covered wings. Probably wooden structure and this...
  10. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    If someone is serious about a low cost aircraft, you can't really avoiding discussing materials. However, materials are quite complicated. I'll start with a general rundown. You have 6061-T6 aluminum, traditional aircraft wood: Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir, non-traditional wood: Yellow Pine...
  11. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    Nice correction; I wasn't familiar with these. Apparently, a lot of them are used for PPGs. I couldn't find prices for all of them. Compact Radial MZ100: 18 HP, $2430 with recoil starter. If the target price were $6700, I might look at this engine. The TBO is low at 500 hours. The maintenance...
  12. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    Yes, it's the same with the B&S engines. You have one size up to 23 HP which weighs about 77 lbs. Then from 27-35 HP, you go to 125 lbs. Right, that seems to be similar to the B&S. The Vanguards have aluminum blocks with cast iron sleeves so I doubt there is much anyone could do to build one...
  13. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    I can't find any information that would indicate that a Generac engine is any lighter than a comparable B&S Vanguard engine. The B&S 35 Gross HP H/S Air Cooled V-Twin Big Block Horizontal Shaft weighs 125 lbs so it's 3.6X.
  14. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    That would be fine. You could probably build a light single-seat with 20 HP (Quickie and Starlite come to mind) and perhaps a light two-seater with 40 HP. But, I haven't seen any like this. Do you have a reference?
  15. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    Good. Big teddy bear hugs. That's not what I said. So, let me go over this again to avoid confusion. When I say "stock" I'm referring to the carburetor that came on the engine inside an automobile. I have no doubt that a Volkswagen Beetle with stock carburetor was fully capable of climbing...
  16. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    If enough of the chaff blows away, maybe we can get back to the topic. To be honest, I'm puzzled why those who seem to hate this topic so much feel compelled to post here. You can state that you think it is unrealistic or whatever without getting nasty. And, to be honest, I'm fine with it being...
  17. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    You are correct. I guess I should have said half a dozen available locally.
  18. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    Neither of these are in production. The smallest engine Rotax makes today is the 582. That leaves Hirth as the only small engine maker. Hirth's cheapest engine is 28 HP for $2,500 without PSRU which is another $700 for belt-drive reduction. New and used engines Hummel's price list is here...
  19. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    You seem to be talking to someone else. I'm the one who talks about using new OEM cases. Pops is the one is talking about using reconditioned cases. I guess you should be asking him that. I'm also the one who talked about using properly counterweighted cranks instead of factory cranks. So...
  20. brehmel62

    $5,500 aircraft?

    The publication for aircraft deals used to be Trade-a-Plane. I did a search covering the entire US on their website and only turned up a single candidate: http://www.trade-a-plane.com/detail/aircraft/Single+Engine+Piston/1994/Homebuilt/1761473.html Aerotrader only turns up two: 2007...
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