I'm starting this thread as a "sneak preview" of an idea I'm working on. It's still very much in the conceptual stage, so absolutely everything is subject to change. Still, I thought having a couple more images on the forum would never be bad.
The goal is to build a rather light weight (900 lbs with payload), medium powered (85hp - 95hp), moderately high speed (60 knot stall, 160 knot cruise) single-seat tail dragger that is quite different than what's out there today. To make that explicit: Some of the very basic design choices are being explored simply because I haven't seen them explored before, and I'm curious what the consequences are. A guiding force in many design choices is mechanical simplicity.
The basic design is a high wing loading forward swept flying wing. Controls are outboard elevons (forward of the CG, so deflection is similar to that of a short-coupled canard) and a vertical tail. Wing span is 18 feet. Longitudinal stability in the current design is marginal at high speed, but positive. Lateral stability has not yet been assessed.
In any case, too much text would be silly, since most of it won't be true any more next week. So here's a top view of the planform. Isometric view blocked on tail sizing and dihedral design.
The goal is to build a rather light weight (900 lbs with payload), medium powered (85hp - 95hp), moderately high speed (60 knot stall, 160 knot cruise) single-seat tail dragger that is quite different than what's out there today. To make that explicit: Some of the very basic design choices are being explored simply because I haven't seen them explored before, and I'm curious what the consequences are. A guiding force in many design choices is mechanical simplicity.
The basic design is a high wing loading forward swept flying wing. Controls are outboard elevons (forward of the CG, so deflection is similar to that of a short-coupled canard) and a vertical tail. Wing span is 18 feet. Longitudinal stability in the current design is marginal at high speed, but positive. Lateral stability has not yet been assessed.
In any case, too much text would be silly, since most of it won't be true any more next week. So here's a top view of the planform. Isometric view blocked on tail sizing and dihedral design.