As our longtime members already know, I have a thing for old French designs and have often thought the Farman F.455 Moustique III/Super Moustique would be a great inspiration for a retro open-cockpit two-seater with VW power: Interest in a modern incarnation of the Farman F.455 Moustique?
Essentially, it would be like a plus-sized TEAM MiniMax with side-by-side seating for two and a largely exposed VW engine. I suspect I would go with V-strut bracing rather than wires, though I could see an argument for V-struts below and wires above to reduce landing loads on the struts and retain the vintage feel. My question here is about the combination of wing bracing and landing gear.
The original straight axle is not ideal for brakes, which I would like to have, and I also want to keep some sort of springing to the gear even if it's just bungee wraps. Right now my thought is rigid X-strut bracing for the bottom pylons (where the wire bracing is now) and maybe bent half axles hinged from the intersection of the X.
Does anyone have any better suggestions or historical examples of how to work this out relatively simply?
Cheers,
Matthew
Essentially, it would be like a plus-sized TEAM MiniMax with side-by-side seating for two and a largely exposed VW engine. I suspect I would go with V-strut bracing rather than wires, though I could see an argument for V-struts below and wires above to reduce landing loads on the struts and retain the vintage feel. My question here is about the combination of wing bracing and landing gear.
The original straight axle is not ideal for brakes, which I would like to have, and I also want to keep some sort of springing to the gear even if it's just bungee wraps. Right now my thought is rigid X-strut bracing for the bottom pylons (where the wire bracing is now) and maybe bent half axles hinged from the intersection of the X.
Does anyone have any better suggestions or historical examples of how to work this out relatively simply?
Cheers,
Matthew