SVSUSteve
Well-Known Member
MODERATOR NOTE: These posts were moved to their own thread from "LE Flaps for a VW-Powered Homebuilt", as they were branching off into their own topic. - Topaz
______________________________
The seat is designed to accommodate the elbow to elbow breadth of the aforementioned 95th percentile man (24.2"), then there is 6" clearance on the outboard side and a foot between the seat backs. The control sticks are Airbus style sidesticks but mounted in the center instead of outboard as in many designs. Elbow room was a consideration in my design as well.
That wasn't an option because we wanted to have a maximized energy attenuating seat and good over nose visibility (with a tractor configuration).
Forward visibility should not be a major concern based on a mockup we built to test layout and visibility. A pusher configuration would have provided somewhat better forward visibility but one of the basic tenets of crash survivability is to have as much of the mass forward and below the occupants and possible. The other issue is that, if you're thinking about crash survivability/structural integrity, you'd have to really reinforce the front end to make up for not having the engine and its mount up there which might actually have a significant negative effect in terms of weight. If I can offer any assistance with terms of the safety side of your design, let me know via PM.
______________________________
The seat is designed to accommodate the elbow to elbow breadth of the aforementioned 95th percentile man (24.2"), then there is 6" clearance on the outboard side and a foot between the seat backs. The control sticks are Airbus style sidesticks but mounted in the center instead of outboard as in many designs. Elbow room was a consideration in my design as well.
That wasn't an option because we wanted to have a maximized energy attenuating seat and good over nose visibility (with a tractor configuration).
Forward visibility should not be a major concern based on a mockup we built to test layout and visibility. A pusher configuration would have provided somewhat better forward visibility but one of the basic tenets of crash survivability is to have as much of the mass forward and below the occupants and possible. The other issue is that, if you're thinking about crash survivability/structural integrity, you'd have to really reinforce the front end to make up for not having the engine and its mount up there which might actually have a significant negative effect in terms of weight. If I can offer any assistance with terms of the safety side of your design, let me know via PM.
Last edited by a moderator:
