Hello all - Mike from NE Florida.
I’ve been interested in flying as long as I can remember. Growing up and pursuing a career - time and money got in the way of being able to chase that dream. Now that things have somewhat leveled-off and I’ve got some of both, I’m ready to start moving forward. This seems to be a common theme in some of the introductions I've read so far.
I don’t have a pilot’s license so that’s first on the checklist. I’m thinking that while working on getting that, and then building time, I could be working on an airplane. I’m a compliance and risk manager for a living so attention to detail and safety will be top of mind for me.
Two considerations on what I'm thinking about building:
Since joining a few days ago and reading what threads I can, I’m very impressed with the knowledge and experience that the community has. As a veteran of other forums, I’m continuing to look around for questions that have already been answered; I’ll do my best. A couple of the VW performance forums can be brutal when it comes that. I’ll keep reading and re-reading what I can in the days to come.
Some topics I’m trying to think through and haven’t stumbled on answers yet:
No electrics on the Teenie Two or Youngster? Weight seems to be an issue as light as those are. I’m thinking that without onboard charging, I’d be fairly limited in range. If I wanted to use the Diehl Accessory Case, I’d get the range but in addition to a few more pounds, it would push the engine a bit forward with a detrimental impact on the center of gravity. Coupled with my weight – I’m already going to be pushing max gross with a full fuel load. Or should I be thinking about something like using a slightly larger battery further aft?
On stock stroke VW engines, I haven’t seen anything on 1776cc – only 1600’s and 1835’s. Again – I’m only leveraging street experience so I’d be interested in learning more about bore diameter at cruise speed. Does the horsepower gain of the 92mm piston negate any additional heat generated at speed?
AeroConversions AeroInjector – yea/nay? Seems pretty slick and less susceptible to typical carburetor issues.
I’ve been interested in flying as long as I can remember. Growing up and pursuing a career - time and money got in the way of being able to chase that dream. Now that things have somewhat leveled-off and I’ve got some of both, I’m ready to start moving forward. This seems to be a common theme in some of the introductions I've read so far.
I don’t have a pilot’s license so that’s first on the checklist. I’m thinking that while working on getting that, and then building time, I could be working on an airplane. I’m a compliance and risk manager for a living so attention to detail and safety will be top of mind for me.
Two considerations on what I'm thinking about building:
- VW powered. Myself and some close friends have been working on street and dragstrip VW’s for over 30 years so a VW powered airframe is an easy call for me. With easy access to parts and familiarity with the engine specifics, I’m comfortable wrenching on my own. Browsing around this site so far, I’m already seeing a ton of divergence in thinking about street/track vs. aviation. Big cams, high flow heads, massive spring pressures and high ratio rockers are out the window. Fine with me – a VW powered plane probably doesn’t fly well with a connecting rod sticking through the case. What works best for the plane and will keep me in the air reliably are the keys. It’s also very reassuring to see the confirmation on the effectiveness of the Bob Hoover mods. My friends and I had heard of those a while back and incorporated several into street engines.
- Short build time. While I do have some spare time, I don’t want to spend years and years tinkering to get it done or never finish at all. I won’t be rushing – just trying to get a straightforward and proven design off the ground (and back down again) and done right.
Since joining a few days ago and reading what threads I can, I’m very impressed with the knowledge and experience that the community has. As a veteran of other forums, I’m continuing to look around for questions that have already been answered; I’ll do my best. A couple of the VW performance forums can be brutal when it comes that. I’ll keep reading and re-reading what I can in the days to come.
Some topics I’m trying to think through and haven’t stumbled on answers yet:
No electrics on the Teenie Two or Youngster? Weight seems to be an issue as light as those are. I’m thinking that without onboard charging, I’d be fairly limited in range. If I wanted to use the Diehl Accessory Case, I’d get the range but in addition to a few more pounds, it would push the engine a bit forward with a detrimental impact on the center of gravity. Coupled with my weight – I’m already going to be pushing max gross with a full fuel load. Or should I be thinking about something like using a slightly larger battery further aft?
On stock stroke VW engines, I haven’t seen anything on 1776cc – only 1600’s and 1835’s. Again – I’m only leveraging street experience so I’d be interested in learning more about bore diameter at cruise speed. Does the horsepower gain of the 92mm piston negate any additional heat generated at speed?
AeroConversions AeroInjector – yea/nay? Seems pretty slick and less susceptible to typical carburetor issues.
