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  1. H

    Any rutan quickie design for 2016?

    I'm not 100% sure, but that looks like Elliot's plane... If it is, they have moved the engines a bit. He had it a the Mojave Experimental Fly In a few weeks ago. Here is a video of them doing an engine run-up. Not sure if they have started flight test or not but I know they have the release to...
  2. H

    Inspecting OLD fiberglass?

    A tap test is a common method used to test for voids or delamination of composites. Generally you want to use a brass coin or tap hammer The key to using a tap test is a slight variation in tone. A void or delam will have a "dead" sound. It's very distinctive but takes years to get good at...
  3. H

    How to safety a rod end?

    I may be missing something here: The Green bolt needs to move freely through the blue stop block The Rod end needs to move through the mount (Stock L angle from the picture) And it needs to be field adjustable... If this is for a flight critical item (ie flight control), you shouldn't want...
  4. H

    Ducted fan aircraft

    200 knots for a homebuilt one of a kind ducted fan is awesome. What kind of performance numbers have you been getting in your current flight test? I'd really like to see a set of full numbers both calculated and actual from the first round of flight test. Weight both empty and MtoW cruise...
  5. H

    Bondo in glass

    When using the "Rutan" method of using Bondo to affix something you always put something between the surface and the Bondo. We generally use aluminum tape laid down tight and smooth with a squeegee. You do not want Bondo on any surface that isn't completely finished being constructed as it will...
  6. H

    Use of deformed nuts

    The tables that I linked above are from the NAVAIR 01-1A-08 (Structural Hardware Manual) which are generally the same as used in the AC43.13. Over my 13+ years in the military and working on military contracts, we "almost" always reused nylon/Teflon lined locking nuts. As Dana said for the...
  7. H

    Use of deformed nuts

    The above is just a standard table. Those numbers are available for all nuts per the ASME, Mil-STD, or whatever contract/government you are working to. You can also subtract 10% from the minimum running torque for nuts smaller that .5" to get a good "rough" calculation of the min. prevailing...
  8. H

    Use of deformed nuts

    This is called minimum prevailing torque. All self-locking nuts should be checked before being reused.
  9. H

    Commuter Craft (3 surface) Innovator Has Flown!!!!!!

    Excellent work! I can't wait to see the performance numbers from flight test.
  10. H

    AD rivet length selection chart

    Calculating Correct Rivet Length Rivet Diameter Material Thickness add 1/4 or less 1/2 inch or less 1.5x diameter of rivet...
  11. H

    Splicing Aluminum Spar Caps

    Chris' picture is how I would do it depending on the shear and bending moments in that area. If the bending moment was a little high, I would make the doubler an L shape with the inboards radius of the doubler matching the exterior radius of the spar and a transverse row of rivets on the flange...
  12. H

    Extremely simple hybrid power concept

    Why not design an build with the intent of using the Mirai system? By the time the design and build stages are complete, you should be able to find components from crashed cars/aftermarket. The motors, controllers, and batteries are the same they are already using in the Lexus and Prius cars.
  13. H

    Double vacuum bagging

    Can anyone point to a validation of this comment? As bill stated, we commonly get 65%ish fiber content with wet-lay bagged (yes, the company I work for does/has done thousands of test coupons) and from the NASA study I read they were only seeing 2-4% weight savings.
  14. H

    Discussion: "Conceptual Design of a Three-surface, Composite Four-seater"

    The catbird is a rather well performing 3LS aircraft. I personally know the owner of the aircraft and he LOVES it. It also has (had) a few records. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scaled_Composites_Catbird
  15. H

    Flight Control Linkages in a Pressurized Aircraft

    I can't seem to find a good picture, but it is done via a sealed torque tube.
  16. H

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I'm a Marine that has since gotten out and contracted on Marine, Navy, and Army aircraft over the years and now work in the Space industry. The Air Force does fly in and over Mojave Air and Space port frequently and over the 14, and did fly into my last employment location regularly, but I...
  17. H

    Ducted fan aircraft

    Ah, they do rotate slightly fore and aft like the F-18 does. Thank you for correcting me. I've only seen them take off and land a few times, and it appeared that they rolled directly inboard. < Not an Air Force guy by any means.
  18. H

    Ducted fan aircraft

    Actually the B-52 all rotate inboard into the body of the airframe not forward and aft.
  19. H

    Carbon fiber firewall

    Kevlar actually swells slightly when placed in direct flame, closing off the porous cell structure and can easily handle 500C. It will never actually catch fire but it will lose it's structural integrity based off the number of hours it sees at what temp. There are resins suited for this...
  20. H

    Carbon fiber firewall

    Why not use a single layer of armid (Kevlar) with nomex core?... If it is structural then use the ply count required via FEM/calculations. Most military aircraft without afterburners (ie helicopters) use this method. The Avenger (Pred C) uses BTM high temp carbon pre-preg, just FYI. It's hard...
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