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  1. P

    To what out-of-production aircraft would you buy the rights, if you wanted to start a 'kit-plane' company?

    Mooney M-18
  2. P

    Parts Wanted Wanted: Installation or Cooling Requirements manual for any aero-engine

    I'm working on a cooling systems design book, and I need examples of how certified engine manufacturers present their engines' cooling requirements to manufacturers and other potential installers.
  3. P

    Any PWC engine conversions out there?

    Which book is that?
  4. P

    Any PWC engine conversions out there?

    They definitely do need water cooling if the engine does. And like Spratt's conversion, it has to take into account the fact that an outboard or PWC engine's cooling system is a once-through, while the aircraft will need to recycle the coolant and therefore operate at higher temperatures. Main...
  5. P

    Any PWC engine conversions out there?

    Very helpful replies - thanks!
  6. P

    Any PWC engine conversions out there?

    Personal Watercraft engines seem more attractive now that they've made the transition to the 4-stroke cycle. Does anybody know of any actual PWC engine conversions out there? How about outboards (I know about Spratt's outboard conversions for his Controlwing projects...)? I'm working on a...
  7. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    Thanks! Quick note about the "high-speed lip" vs "low-speed lip" illustration. The low-speed lip is correctly illustrated, but the high-speed lip is married to a shroud that is cambered outward, which is not the correct camber for a shroud intended to increase the mass flow through the fan.
  8. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I have some samples. They are all right for their original purpose - moving air through ventilation and air-conditioning systems - but I will need better efficiency than they can provide.
  9. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I think he means containment ring, for preventing pieces of a failed rotor from becoming high-speed projectiles. Logical material is aromatic amide (Kevlar) reinforced resin, and I think that is what they use. Stiff, strong and TOUGH - very useful for resisting ballistic impacts. They've...
  10. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I looked into available fans when I first got interested in hovercraft, after emigrating to the Philippines. Having already written the ducted fan book, I was in a good position to evaluate them, and I was impressed by their availability, but not by their efficiency. Not surprising, as they are...
  11. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    What type of foam should I use?
  12. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    My project is much less complicated than yours. It is a propulsion unit for a hovercraft, a shroud with a chord that is shorter than its diameter. The means of holding it in accurate relation to the rotor is an NPL straightener, most likely with three vanes, as mentioned in my book and several...
  13. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I'm fairly familiar with composite construction. It's designing accurate molds that is bending my neurons.
  14. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I'm hoping that folk with more shop experience than I have can help me. I am faced with actually building a ducted fan from the ground up, rather than simply designing one for others or analyzing the characteristics of an existing unit. Although I have very little trust in reinforcement and...
  15. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I'm having trouble visualizing your system - can you show a sketch? As for clearances in general, flow straighteners are useful because they can double as support struts near the propeller hub. They allow maintaining very narrow clearances between the rotor blades and the duct.
  16. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    You can find it on Amazon and on Lulu. Search "ducted fan design" or my name "Piolenc." Not a lot of entries....
  17. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    Have fun fitting that tensiometer in a safe structure. Integrating acceleration is doable if you know the mass of the machine and your accelerometer is very accurate.
  18. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    The reason is actually that few people have learned how to design ducted fans. That's the reason that George Wright and I wrote our book. Ducted Fan Design, Vol. 1, first published in 1997, now in its third edition. One of the early chapters lists the most common errors.
  19. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    It might be of interest to examine actual correlations of static thrust per horsepower for fans (open and ducted) that were NOT designed to maximize static thrust. The diagram is taken from a report to the US Navy by Peter Mantle regarding Air Cushion Craft Development.
  20. P

    Ducted fan aircraft

    A reasonable suggestion, except when it comes to reverse thrust.
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