mstull
R.I.P.
I've spent enough time thinking about ring wings, that I'm confident I can't make the plane come out light enough to be an U/L. It's been fun thinking about it. And it would be fun learning how to fly it. But I'm not inclined to deal with the paper work and expense of making it experimental.
There are a few reasons it would come out too heavy. The rings have an awful lot of fabric area, about twice that of normal wings. With the silver and paint, that's an extra 15# or 20#.
The rings would need fairly sharp trailing edges. That much tubing would have way too much drag. Adding sharp trailing edges adds expense, complexity, and more weight. The rings' spokes would need streamline fairings to decrease their drag, adding the same problems.
The main gear would have to be very wide for a couple reasons, adding weight and drag. The support for the ring wings would add more weight and drag. Since I'd probably have to inflate the rings with ram air pressure, I can't easily put a support through the rings' fabric.
And when I tried to design the fuselage, nothing came out simple. All the parts that need to be connected are far apart, needing trusses, instead of simple triangles. And it might need a bigger, heavier engine to counter all the drag.
I'm sorry guys, it just doesn't seem possible within the U/L weight constraints. I could probably make it at 300#, and surely at 350#.
I'll have to come up with a different project for this winter.
In the mean time, I'm flying my ring tailed plane again, after repairing the tornado damage from SnF. It still flies the same/great.
I finished moving into my new hangar. That was a ton of work.
I'm planning to haul my plane to the Ranger, TX fly-in, which is May 27 through 29. I could fly there with enough ground support, but I'm not comfortable imposing that much on someone. It's about 3 hours flying time in my U/L.
Ranger is just west of Ft. Worth. I drove there last year as a spectator. There were hundreds of planes, and the vast majority of them were experimental or classic/antique. It was really fun, with free admission. They even have a couple aerobatic performances.
There are a few reasons it would come out too heavy. The rings have an awful lot of fabric area, about twice that of normal wings. With the silver and paint, that's an extra 15# or 20#.
The rings would need fairly sharp trailing edges. That much tubing would have way too much drag. Adding sharp trailing edges adds expense, complexity, and more weight. The rings' spokes would need streamline fairings to decrease their drag, adding the same problems.
The main gear would have to be very wide for a couple reasons, adding weight and drag. The support for the ring wings would add more weight and drag. Since I'd probably have to inflate the rings with ram air pressure, I can't easily put a support through the rings' fabric.
And when I tried to design the fuselage, nothing came out simple. All the parts that need to be connected are far apart, needing trusses, instead of simple triangles. And it might need a bigger, heavier engine to counter all the drag.
I'm sorry guys, it just doesn't seem possible within the U/L weight constraints. I could probably make it at 300#, and surely at 350#.
I'll have to come up with a different project for this winter.
In the mean time, I'm flying my ring tailed plane again, after repairing the tornado damage from SnF. It still flies the same/great.
I finished moving into my new hangar. That was a ton of work.
I'm planning to haul my plane to the Ranger, TX fly-in, which is May 27 through 29. I could fly there with enough ground support, but I'm not comfortable imposing that much on someone. It's about 3 hours flying time in my U/L.
Ranger is just west of Ft. Worth. I drove there last year as a spectator. There were hundreds of planes, and the vast majority of them were experimental or classic/antique. It was really fun, with free admission. They even have a couple aerobatic performances.
