• 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 ebay
Find deals on amazon
Advertise with us
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
  1. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Just to update this thread; I am still interested in building a prototype XPS stryofoam lifting body/flying wing airplane. It should be a 16' square section of an airfoil having only 4 ribs and 4 stringers. Its design goal is to reject many-ribbed long wings and be easier, fasster and cheaper...
  2. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Sky pup That is the thread on this forum for an XPS [extruded XPS foam, NOT expanded EPS foam which is the crispy white stuff] foamboard and wood ultralight, just to show foamboard can be used for reliable airplanes. But SkySled cannot have wings, thiss is a lifting body. One SkySled...
  3. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    I've been writing a scifi novel called "BRAVE NEW MARS" Look for it coming out mid 2022. Read the first chapter at Meeceblog.wordpress.com Now I'm researching again my SkySled. Am Still using EXTRUDED polystyrene foamboard, not the white crumbly stuff but the denser, firmer...
  4. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Cheapness is not the only criteria for my ultralight design. The Sky Pup may be cheap but it doesn't look good, it looks cartoonish. Secondly, the Pup uses a wing and a lot of wing ribs. Cantilevered wings add weight and complexity to airplane construction. My wingless airplane design saves...
  5. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    SkySled model movie, utube here is a video of a very rough assemblage of 1" thick XPS quarter-scale study model of the 16' square SkySled. This is intended to show where to put the mortises between the sheets of XPS 2" stryofoam making up the monocoque wing-body of the ultralight aircraft ...
  6. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Yes, I think that 2 larger tails are a better design than adding the 3rd control surface for more complexity and perhaps more drag. With a "plank" body as they call them in RC models, there is no problem having a strong enough fuselage to pass the rudder forces into the rest of the plane, since...
  7. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    My favorite UltraLight is the Lazair which has an inverted Vee tail. They ALL should be that way. The angled rudders also do the banking. Due to their orientation they also impart a 'twist' to the fuselage that banks it.
  8. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    So there's nothing to do but trim out the pitch with trim tabs on the wings trailing edge? I want to use a 20% chord thickness. That should pull the nose up. The wing bottom is flat, but might later put some wash upward on the trailing edge. I am not at the point of refining the airfoil yet. I...
  9. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    I like the idea of building more 'up' force into the leading edge radius. This means raising the whole radius up to, or near, the camber line instead of having the usual 'droopy nose' look on the face of the cutting edge. That looks to me like it will counteract the down-pitching moment of a...
  10. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Here's where I'm at with SkySled research. I am practicing cutting and taping specifically XPS Styrofoam, just getting familiar with working the materials. The plane in the picture is a rough work in progress that shows how the ribs and the spines are box finger-jointed together. The wingtips...
  11. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Also regarding wings pitching downward, I can adjust the radius of the leading edge of the wing to push it upwards more. by raising the center of the radius higher on the LE.
  12. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    It seems EZest to merely put some washout in the trailing edge of my SkySled 'wing-body' airplane design. I understand that built-in solid feature simulates upward deflection of both horizontal stabilizers which are the trailing edges of the flying wing design. The horizontal stabilizers can be...
  13. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Thanks very much for the good advice. ;=] I will get some RC equipment and thoroughly flight test the quarter scale version when it gets done. I wonder if there are wind tunnels that can fit a four-foot wide model to rent some time on at Embry-Riddle Univ. or elsewhere in Florida...
  14. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Experimenting with tape. Trying to replace epoxy/glass taping mess and expense and time. Tape is impressing me. It needs special techniques to make good bond not simple. Needs research on different tape types and techniques. It is lightweight and fast to apply. We'll see how it goes.
  15. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    SkySled rough mockup quarter scale model is started. Using 1" thick Owens-Corning pink XPS foam because its all i can get locally. 2X2' sheets are $5.50 and itll need abt ten sheets. Its good for practice using the materials on a mockup. I am impressed with the 3" Tyvek tape and will...
  16. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    How bout simply moving the pilot seat forward? Would that be a good remedy for the pitch-up moment??
  17. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Simplified even more....
  18. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    SkySled cutaway view of the 'egg crate' frame upon which the Styrofoam brand monocoque skin can be mounted. The inner two ribs will be trimmed to follow the airfoil shape. The outer rib wingtips will remain the same shape and will include rudders. Ribs will get lightening holes cut in them...
  19. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    Also for discussion.... can I omit some of the 4X7' foam skin panels and instead use fabric skin between the wide spacing of the spars? It seems that normal fabric wings want ribs every foot or two. But how necessary IS that if ur only going 30 knots? [Maybe just put some foam strips...
  20. Allen

    "SkyWing" hybrid wing body ultralight

    What would be the arguments for and against standard fabric covering versus thin fiberglass cloth for covering this monocoque foam wing-body SkySled?
Back
Top