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  1. T

    Motorglider definition

    Having lost sight of my desire to experience soaring, after a house renovation that ended up taking too long and consuming all my money, and diddling around with airplane designs that I realize I'm never going to build, I was reminded that sailplane flying could likely be the most fun I've...
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    Gyroscopic Controls

    NASA uses control moment gyroscopes for spacecraft attitude control. Of course, in zero gravity that may work, but is it doable in an airplane? Looking at some new tech coming out using gyroscopes to balance vehicles it got me to wondering if a gyroscope could be used to control pitch and roll...
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    closed Wing design Revisions

    This is an update of the closed wing design that addresses the difficulty of proper controls and vertical stability. First, to get the awkward part out of the way, I really wasn't going for the flying-penis design, this is just my lack of skill with sketchup to make a proper cockpit and...
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    Halving an engine

    What are some of the concerns, issues, pitfalls with taking an off the shelf auto engine and cutting it in half? It's apparently a fairly straightforward process with the VW air-cooled engine, would it be so with other engines, or is there something about the VW that makes it easier to do? The...
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    3D Printing - The Future of Aircraft Design?

    This topic has been discussed, but I wanted to revisit it specifically as a consideration for testing unconventional aircraft designs. In another post I presented an idea for an airplane that is very unconventional - 2 curved wings in a closed, or boxed, shape. The overwhelming feedback...
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    Please Critique My Design Idea

    Firstly, the images should be considered a napkin sketch at best as the rendering is very poor. I'd been banging my head against the wall trying to learn 3D programs like Blender and Maya, then I tried sketchup from a recommendation in a current thread (thanks CheapRacer) and it truly is...
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    Drag Penalty of a Biplane Design

    My design idea is something like a biplane wing. Disregarding wing tip drag, in comparison to a monoplane with the same wing area and lift coefficient, would the biplane take a greater drag hit because of having more area of leading edge? To clarify, in comparing 2 wings, a single wing with a...
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    Consideration of Turbo/Supercharging or Nitrous for Burst Power-on-Demand

    Although this topic has been discussed before, I would like to revisit it with a slightly different focus, if only for the purpose of revealing its infeasibility. The idea is to start with an airplane of a certain type and fit it with an engine and prop that are optimized at cruise, and...
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    Supercharger to increase low-end power

    I was wondering if it would be possible to supercharge an auto engine to increase power at a lower rpm so that a PSRU could be avoided. My reasoning is that a supercharger would be more reliable than a psru, and perhaps cheaper? If you took a common, cheap, reliable and fairly lightweight...
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    Difficulty of designing an airframe for non-engineer

    I hate to bother the forum with this kind of personal question... but I figured if anyone can give me the straight truth about this you guys can. I have a specific idea for an airframe that I'm excited about, and would like to try and design and make, but alas I am not an engineer. I'm a fairly...
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    question about building a scale model

    If I were to design and build a 1/4 scale model airframe and tested it, would there be any possible discrepancies or inconsistencies with the final full-size version. I realize the propulsion would have to be a completely separate consideration, but would the aerodynamics be the same between the...
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    Diamond DA20 - any similar kit/plans design

    Anybody know of a kit or plans airplane designed similar in characteristics to the Diamond DA20? I think that is a great little plane but the price tag is too steep.
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    Hybrid Electric - New Motor....

    There is a relatively new electric motor that claims some pretty impressive power density, 10kw/kg (6hp/lbs), and torque density of 30Nm/kg: YASA-400 | YASA Motors Max Peak Power = 150kw (202hp) @ 700v Peak Torque = 400Nm Continuous Power = 90kw (120hp)...
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    More propeller questions

    I've been reading about propeller principles and design, and the typical description of a propeller is that it is merely a wing, a small wing, or airfoil. And in looking more closely at the aerodynamics of wings it seems that the only area for improving efficiency, or lift to drag ratio, is at...
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    Propeller design for greater efficiency and much higher RPM's

    This idea came to me for how to make an auto engine conversion work without the normal complications and expense. I'm not an engineer, I'm a new pilot who from the beginning has been fascinated with how antiquated and expensive the current options for engines are in the general aviation world...
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    Audi/Volkswagen 3.0 V6 Diesel torque question

    I intend to build an experimental (the Bearhawk is my first choice). In researching engines based on what I think good specs should be for a direct drive application I've come across this new Audi/Volkswagen 3.0 V6 TDI: max power 240 hp @ 4000rpm max torque 368 lb-ft @ 1500-2800 rpm weight...
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    Advice and considerations for a float plane on a tropical island

    Greetings, we are looking at options for a bush type plane with floats that we would use in Fiji. Our main criteria are: 4-6 place with high useful load, STOL, something that can withstand the rust/corrosion factor, and price. The planes in consideration are: Bearhawk Tundra Super Cyclone...
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    How to verify the quality and accuracy of a Bearhawk welded fuselage

    I'm interested in building a Bearhawk. Since I'm not an experienced builder I believe a quick build kit is my best option. However I came across a Bearhawk fuselage for sale that was built from plans. The builder passed away and his wife is selling it but she has little information about it...
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