• Welcome aboard HomebuiltAirplanes.com, your destination for connecting with a thriving community of more than 10,000 active members, all passionate about home-built aviation. Dive into our comprehensive repository of knowledge, exchange technical insights, arrange get-togethers, and trade aircrafts/parts with like-minded enthusiasts. Unearth a wide-ranging collection of general and kit plane aviation subjects, enriched with engaging imagery, in-depth technical manuals, and rare archives.

    For a nominal fee of $99.99/year or $12.99/month, you can immerse yourself in this dynamic community and unparalleled treasure-trove of aviation knowledge.

    Embark on your journey now!

    Click Here to Become a Premium Member and Experience Homebuilt Airplanes to the Fullest!

Search results

Find deals on amazon
Find deals on ebay
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
  1. Hephaestus

    CAD for wiring diagrams

    Tagging along as I've been in a hellish how do I make this understandable / clear to follow. Thus far for me it's been in inkscape with pictures/diagrams from the manual pasted in to identify pins on the connectors, individual cables, and make it somewhat legible but it still looks like a plate...
  2. Hephaestus

    Could a well seasoned homebuilder build himself a vehicle that run on the streets ?

    https://www.autocycles.org/BEDE_Jr.html Trike - check. electric - check. Clearly you want a bede litestar-e1 :)
  3. Hephaestus

    Crashes in the News - Thread

    https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/local-news/plane-crashes-on-private-runway-in-rural-langley-7314354 Highlander goes turtle. Gonna speculate they found some real soggy ground that wasn't like that the week before...
  4. Hephaestus

    FAA actively recruiting workers who suffer "severe intellectual" disabilities and psychiatric problems

    Neurodiversity could actually help ;) Not meaning disrespect - but certainly those on the autism spectrum with very black and white thinking and ability to quote rules/regs rhyme and verse - would be an asset. They're likely the ones that have kept the FAA alive - but we didn't diagnose them...
  5. Hephaestus

    Basic Configuration for a "Safe" airplane

    J3 just fast enough not to kill you. And crop dusters are an exception - with greater speed. Sane people don't fly that low.
  6. Hephaestus

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I'm usually the voice of "screw the engineers we have the technology we can make this happen". But here I feel like being the voice of reason :eek: Here's how I'd tackle your duct assembly. I'd split it - yes it adds labor, but allows you to actually achieve the results without insane needs to...
  7. Hephaestus

    Ducted fan aircraft

    Just sitting on the tarmac - your ambient temps near the asphalt could get you into plastic deformation range - at least in the "usual" hobby grade materials. Kind of why I'm thinking printing a multipart mold so you keep the fiberglass or carbon fiber - but take most of the fiddly finishing to...
  8. Hephaestus

    Ducted fan aircraft

    I think an engineer would have to take a look at the loads and probably take some long hard looks at heat. Something like that markforged printer that lays in TOW fibers might work but - It'll all come down to the numbers. What might work better is 3d printing a multi part mold - so you can...
  9. Hephaestus

    Homebuilt Ballistic Parachute

    Its interesting, the wikipedia article on aviation safety says 2% of fatal accidents involved fire. The only ones I could think of was the Lipo fire on the big jet in the middle east + the swissair incident. Yet aviation safety article said the writer knew 2 people in small aircraft mid-air...
  10. Hephaestus

    Homebuilt Ballistic Parachute

    My curiosity is how one would plan to test/verify deployment in "real world" ish scenarios. Truck mounted at speeds - then some 'real' world tests in something disposable?
  11. Hephaestus

    Homebuilt Ballistic Parachute

    I'll defer to you; My caps training that was my big take-away - besides working hard to engrain "Pull the handle" into the psyche - that last little bit was - once you've pulled, get ready you're not going to have a soft landing, they are relying on structure to buckle and fold, and you're not...
  12. Hephaestus

    Homebuilt Ballistic Parachute

    Descent rate on the BRS/GRS is higher than what you'd have on a sport parachute; As you're not trying to land on your feet. The planes a writeoff - they use it for energy absorption.
  13. Hephaestus

    One Person Cross Country Options

    Get out of my head :) The Asso X Jewel (and derivatives) would be awesome too, and is pretty well proven. I had high hopes Fisher would keep working on Aria but... Sadly it seems forgotten now... In theory it's a 2 seater - so wife approvable...
  14. Hephaestus

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

    Sadler vampire 2 seater (yes I know someone here has rights/plans to resume production) And the glastar 2 seater
  15. Hephaestus

    Yamaha Out of Snowmobile Production by 2024/2025

    Thats a lot of time to order and store a crate spare engine. ;)
  16. Hephaestus

    Yamaha Out of Snowmobile Production by 2024/2025

    However it's not the end of the 3cyl - as they're still available via arctic cat.
  17. Hephaestus

    Crashes in the News - Thread

    I'd tend to agree. Although there's the ww2 technique for the V1 wing tip (or I guess russians vs drones more recently) - but I highly doubt anyone would risk a multimillion dollar aircraft for this scenario... The liability extremes are very different - Doing nothing has minimal risk of...
  18. Hephaestus

    Crashes in the News - Thread

    I mean Garmin already has that ;) G3000s autoland system - if you're unresponsive and not touching stuff for a while, it'll query you then announce its intentions - and land.
  19. Hephaestus

    Apple's New Augmented Reality Goggles

    We need the google glass enterprise style - just overlay a HUD and traffic adsb info - if it's got a camera and AI can highlight another aircraft that doesn't have ADSB, nearby obstructions (cell towers, power lines etc) - that'd be great too. The apple being actually 2 screens you're watching...
  20. Hephaestus

    Crashes in the News - Thread

    Zenair CH701, pilot survived. And that grass out there is tinder dry folks, takes almost nothing to light it up.
Back
Top