Suitable airframes for industrial engines?

[BBerson]

I think Calder bought a Briggs but didn't follow up?

 

[rv7charlie]

I would love to see a new all metal basic airplane, fashioned after the T-18, with a T-18 style landing gear and a low, cantilever wing. Like the T-18, it could be open cockpit or enclosed. I would have a flying vertical to match the flying horizontal. The spar would need solid rivets, but everything else could be tied together with pull rivets.

The plans could have options for repositioning the wing to accommodate several different engines.

I think that a kit approach to this concept would be better in composite, but for a plans built, I think that it would be more popular as an all metal.


BJC

Not exactly a T-18 (or new), but...here you go:
Leeon Davis' DA-11

Charlie

 

[Hot Wings]

Pic of the engine in the DA-11:

 

[fly2kads]

The post war french designs are elegant and fly very well...but you need to be similar in size to the post war emaciated pilots! The Turbulent has a pair of re-design details available from the LAA that raise the knee line of the panel and move the seat back ~4".

I have seen the mod to raise the panel, but not the one to move the seat back. I'd be interested in finding out the details of that one.

I am not built like a 1950s Frenchman! I'm 6 ft. tall, and I'm in good shape, but I still weigh 200 lbs. Those older homebuilts are a bit on the small side.

 

[addicted2climbing]

The original single-seat le Pelican was an elegantly simple design reminiscent of the Aeronca C-2. It's too bad that no one seems to have kept the design alive and it is now only found on some Russian-owned pirate site. Something similar designed from the ground up for the weight and power of an industrial V-twin with an Ace redrive would be a great little fun machine.

View attachment 103822

Was the Le Prlican ever plans built? Thought it was a kit? Wonder what the plans look like. Anyone buy them?

 

[don january]

If a person could take two 50 hp Briggs and hook them in line and get 80 hp on take off 60 cruise mounted in a plane that can take the G's such as the Taylor-m or ? I think the torque at the prop would be real great guess like VW . RPM cant be too much different and would be a weight saver on FWF.

 

[Tiger Tim]

Was the Le Prlican ever plans built? Thought it was a kit? Wonder what the plans look like. Anyone buy them?

It was a kit and they are tiny. Because the Le Pelican has normal airplane proportions we tend to think from pictures that it’s normal airplane size but to put it in perspective I’d be surprised if the distance from the wing’s trailing edge to the stabilizer’s leading edge was more than sixteen inches. A friend of mine is probably around 5’8” and was so twisted up to get inside it he could only fly for a half an hour at most.

I know, and I used to fantasize about having one too, but if someone were to design a new one I think half-again bigger would be a good start.

 

[BBerson]

If a person could take two 50 hp Briggs and hook them in line and get 80 hp on take off 60 cruise mounted in a plane that can take the G's such as the Taylor-m or ? I think the torque at the prop would be real great guess like VW . RPM cant be too much different and would be a weight saver on FWF.

That's what I am working on. But Briggs are not 50 hp. The lighter Briggs are 20-27hp each.

 

[Stuffengineer]

It was a kit and they are tiny. Because the Le Pelican has normal airplane proportions we tend to think from pictures that it’s normal airplane size but to put it in perspective I’d be surprised if the distance from the wing’s trailing edge to the stabilizer’s leading edge was more than sixteen inches. A friend of mine is probably around 5’8” and was so twisted up to get inside it he could only fly for a half an hour at most.

I know, and I used to fantasize about having one too, but if someone were to design a new one I think half-again bigger would be a good start.

 

[Stuffengineer]

I have a Super Pelican that I am re doing. I am 5’11 and yes it’s a tight fit to get in. It is my intention to rework the design at some point. Overall it is well built.
The B&S engine should fly it well. They don’t approve of their engine for use in aircraft so unfortunately there won’t be a aviation version from the factory.

 

[Victor Bravo]

Hot Wings the original super light JCD Pelican was designed for a small engine at the trailing edge. I was thinking of a V twin behind the spar and a shaft... yes with all of the issues shafts bring. And my version would be sheet metal under fabric. A little heavier and stronger than the minimalist wood prototype.

 

[karmarepair]

I think the PDQ would be a good candidate for the industrial engine

PDQ Aircraft Products PDQ-2

en.wikipedia.org

Wayne Ison. Plans?

 

[Vigilant1]

Pic of the engine in the DA-11:
View attachment 103833

That's good looking, certainly no wasted space. I've seen videos where he showed the firewall forward and, like this, didn't see his baffling or where the air exited the engine compartment.
He's driving the prop off the PTO end of the crankshaft. It's nice to have the hot side of the heads exposed to the incoming air, but I wonder what he did about the flywheel (and the ignition magnet, starter gear ring, alternator magnets that are incorporated in that stock flywheel)
His packaging philosophy for the pilot was similar to his approach for the engine.
Mr Davis was quite a designer and apparently very generous in sharing his time and expertise with others. I wish I'd met him.

 

[bmcj]

The plans-built Headwind is very much like the C-2/C-3. It has a short nose, which is a better option if your engine is heavy.
There is also the Pietenpol which originally flew with a heavy (but not overly powerful) Ford engine.

 

[David L. Downey]

I have a Super Pelican that I am re doing. I am 5’11 and yes it’s a tight fit to get in. It is my intention to rework the design at some point. Overall it is well built.
The B&S engine should fly it well. They don’t approve of their engine for use in aircraft so unfortunately there won’t be a aviation version from the factory.

Are you talking about reverse engineering the entire as is plane and then modifying it?

 

[Stuffengineer]

Are you talking about reverse engineering the entire as is plane and then modifying it?

My main beef with the design is getting in and out. I am looking at a slightly longer seating position and squaring the cockpit up. This would be more like a Headwind cockpit than the triangular shap it currently is.

 

[cluttonfred]

I'm all for an new "big boy" Pelican-style design, but the Headwind is also quite triangular in terms of the structure, the rest is just fairing.

 

[Protech Racing]

I had a Headwind /VW .It was hard to get out of. Easier getting in then out . Too big for the Baby V twins to tug around IMHO . Maybe with downsizing the fuse tubing a couple sizes,and using a cleaner airfoil with a little more wing .

 

[Vigilant1]

Are there any old time two seat plans-built gliders that could be adapted to place with a V-twin on the nose and just one seat? Lots of wing, relatively clean and light, 25-30 hp might be fine.

 

[cluttonfred]

An Aeronca C-3 is pretty much a single-seat motor glider with a hefty pilot. Seriously.