Culleningus
Well-Known Member
Hi.
Ive been looking at the Bumble Bee, I think the worlds smallest aircraft:
It would seem easy to hitch an aircraft onto the towhook of a small car and tow it in reverse on the road.
If I were to add 4 wingtips (semi symetrical aerofoil profile) that were inflated to extend the span say a yard in each case using either ram pressure or a compressor driven by the motor, I envisage getting from road tow to airborne in a couple of minutes.
However please can someone advise:
1)how much the increase in wingspan (using inflated tips) on this rearward staggered biplane will affect the pitch stability without a proportionate increase in the area of the tailplane/fin (thus moving cg rearward)?
2)how much extra lift might the existing design derive from the 'lifting' body? or can a small alteration to the shape improve matters?(aka hyperbipe?)
3)whether a telescoping tubular spar within the inflated tips is sufficient to carry the necessary loads IF the aircraft was then destined to fly considerably slower than this purely 'one use' experiment.
Dave
PS I know the visibility is crap, but the Ultalight Hiperbipe uses clear panels in the fusalage which seem to work.
Ive been looking at the Bumble Bee, I think the worlds smallest aircraft:
It would seem easy to hitch an aircraft onto the towhook of a small car and tow it in reverse on the road.
If I were to add 4 wingtips (semi symetrical aerofoil profile) that were inflated to extend the span say a yard in each case using either ram pressure or a compressor driven by the motor, I envisage getting from road tow to airborne in a couple of minutes.
However please can someone advise:
1)how much the increase in wingspan (using inflated tips) on this rearward staggered biplane will affect the pitch stability without a proportionate increase in the area of the tailplane/fin (thus moving cg rearward)?
2)how much extra lift might the existing design derive from the 'lifting' body? or can a small alteration to the shape improve matters?(aka hyperbipe?)
3)whether a telescoping tubular spar within the inflated tips is sufficient to carry the necessary loads IF the aircraft was then destined to fly considerably slower than this purely 'one use' experiment.
Dave
PS I know the visibility is crap, but the Ultalight Hiperbipe uses clear panels in the fusalage which seem to work.
