This is a continuation of a discussion begun here, and rather than hijack that thread, I'm moving this different discussion here.
It's not impossible, but I've been hoping very much to avoid multiple structural and control-system breaks. My work and storage space won't allow me to keep the wings attached even if I remove the tailboom. I need to be able to take the wings off easily regardless, since this is a sailplane and there is a very real possibility of off-airport landings and subsequent trailering.
Basically, my ongoing requirement has been this, for any airplane I might build:
The diagram shows what I have to work with. The scale bar is ten feet long, and the 'medium length' graduations on it are a foot long each.
My best available space ('blue zone' on the drawing) for an aircraft puts the wings (up to 20' long each) hanging one above the other in cradles against the right-hand wall (green rectangle) and leaves a space between 16-20' long for the fuselage, depending upon how much of the nose can go under the shelf on the back wall. Most tractor designs can't fit under there if they're on the gear, so I was limited to about 16' long if I used a nose-mounted prop. If I switched to a pod-and-boom pusher (like a Kolb, for example), I could slide a bit of the nose under the shelf, but practical landing gear lengths meant that I couldn't use that entire space - I only gained about a foot.
The other option would be to hang the fuselage up against the ceiling and let the gear hang down (it clears the car just fine), but that leaves a very short vertical stabilizer, even if I let the tail hang down some. On the floor is much better in that regard. The vertical stab goes into the narrow gap between the wall of the garage and the door in any case.
This is what pushed me into tailless designs. They fit easily into the space available, for the simple reason that the fuselage pod is very short. I'm still leaning that way, since a tailboom alongside the Porsche will make it hard to get into the car. That may be livable, however.
However, now my airplane has no engine, and has a partially-buried single-wheel and skid landing gear. Which is to say it's not very tall, giving me the ability to slide the entire nose of the airplane under the shelf. That gives me a full 20' fuselage length, which is reasonable.
Couple that realization with my concerns about dynamic behavior in my short-chord flying plank (expressed in the parent thread), and I'm entertaining some thoughts about whether there might be a better way to build a first airplane, using the more conventional tailed arrangement.
I don't know. It all hinges upon the level of real risk inherent in the dynamic characteristics of my tailless flying-plank sailplane, and I have few resources to actually determine the magnitude of those risks. It makes me uncomfortable, and I don't like that feeling.
It's not impossible, but I've been hoping very much to avoid multiple structural and control-system breaks. My work and storage space won't allow me to keep the wings attached even if I remove the tailboom. I need to be able to take the wings off easily regardless, since this is a sailplane and there is a very real possibility of off-airport landings and subsequent trailering.
Basically, my ongoing requirement has been this, for any airplane I might build:
- Construct in a one-car garage. (No big deal so far.)
- Storable in that same one-car garage. While I know all the realities of how often people actually take their aircraft home even if the aircraft has folding or removeable wings, my 'home' airport is about an hour from my home. I very well remember what a hassle it was with my dad's Aeronca (see my profile) to take tools out and work on the airplane. You have to haul every tool with you, inevitably forget one, and then have to button everything up again when you leave, no matter what stage the work is in. I hated that with a fiery passion. Not to mention that even tie-down rents here in SoCal are beyond obscene in price. Especially in this economy, and owning my own business, I can do a lot with that money every month.
- Buildable and storable in that one-car garage, while still using the garage to hold a car. This one is the kicker, and it drives all the issues here. There are two reasons for this requirement. The car involved is somewhat vintage German type ('73 914) and as-such does not have any galvanizing on the steel body. If I leave it outdoors long-term, it rusts into a pile. The other issue is with my condo association. I have to keep a car in my garage - I can't use it as a storage unit, and that includes vehicles like boats and airplanes. I'll simply say that I will not defy that rule. The reason that my condo complex has visitor parking available when friends come over is that people around here generally respect this rule, so I'm not going to go breaking it either. If I went out and got a storage space for the 914, I'd have to park the Tacoma (truck) in the garage, and that's even less space for an airplane.
The diagram shows what I have to work with. The scale bar is ten feet long, and the 'medium length' graduations on it are a foot long each.
My best available space ('blue zone' on the drawing) for an aircraft puts the wings (up to 20' long each) hanging one above the other in cradles against the right-hand wall (green rectangle) and leaves a space between 16-20' long for the fuselage, depending upon how much of the nose can go under the shelf on the back wall. Most tractor designs can't fit under there if they're on the gear, so I was limited to about 16' long if I used a nose-mounted prop. If I switched to a pod-and-boom pusher (like a Kolb, for example), I could slide a bit of the nose under the shelf, but practical landing gear lengths meant that I couldn't use that entire space - I only gained about a foot.
The other option would be to hang the fuselage up against the ceiling and let the gear hang down (it clears the car just fine), but that leaves a very short vertical stabilizer, even if I let the tail hang down some. On the floor is much better in that regard. The vertical stab goes into the narrow gap between the wall of the garage and the door in any case.
This is what pushed me into tailless designs. They fit easily into the space available, for the simple reason that the fuselage pod is very short. I'm still leaning that way, since a tailboom alongside the Porsche will make it hard to get into the car. That may be livable, however.
However, now my airplane has no engine, and has a partially-buried single-wheel and skid landing gear. Which is to say it's not very tall, giving me the ability to slide the entire nose of the airplane under the shelf. That gives me a full 20' fuselage length, which is reasonable.
Couple that realization with my concerns about dynamic behavior in my short-chord flying plank (expressed in the parent thread), and I'm entertaining some thoughts about whether there might be a better way to build a first airplane, using the more conventional tailed arrangement.
I don't know. It all hinges upon the level of real risk inherent in the dynamic characteristics of my tailless flying-plank sailplane, and I have few resources to actually determine the magnitude of those risks. It makes me uncomfortable, and I don't like that feeling.
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