Like many others, I'm eager to see what Dave Thatcher pulls out of his hat with the new CX5 design, a two-place version of his CX4. The CX4/CX5 community hangs out at a Yahoo (uggh!) site, and speculation about the CX5 isn't much encouraged there ("Stop bothering Dave!"), so I'll stir the pot here.
For those new to the CX4 and CX5, here's a spec sheet for both aircraft (CX5 specs are provisional--no aircraft flying yet).
There are 32 CX4's flying. Two prototype CX5s are being built now, a trigear and a taildragger.
I haven't found much published about the CX5's attributes, but here are some things I'm hoping for:
- Mild acro capability. The CX4 has a limit load of 3.8Gs (i.e. FAA "normal" category) at it's max gross weight of 850 lbs. If the CX5 could be designed a bit "stouter" to meet FAA "utility" category (4.4 Gs) at it's (higher) max weight, then the plane would have quite a bit of safety margin for mild acro when flown single-place.
- Removable/foldable wings. The CX4 has these. The CX5 will reportedly have flaps (the CX4 doesn't) and fuel in the wings (the CX4 doesn't), which could complicate matters. The tandem seating provides for a narrower fuselage, so 3' fixed stub wings could hold the fuel and small flaps and still allow the plane to fit on a standard trailer. Anybody know if Dave is planning for easily removable/foldable wings?
- Empty weight: <675 lbs. The CX4 is 520 lbs.
- 550 lb useful load (the CX4 is 330 lbs). That would provide for 2 people wearing clothes and shoes, headsets, etc (200 lbs each), 50 lbs of bags, 4 hours of fuel (100 lbs).
- Approx 120 kt (138 MPH) cruise at SL. Dave's preliminary specs call for a 104 kt (120 MPH) cruise, but the CX4 does 125 MPH on about 20 fewer HP. The CX5 will have more drag than the CX4 (about 5" wider fuselage and a wingspan of 4 feet more: 28 feet rather than 24 feet).
- Meets LSA requirements
- Keep the same good looks, honest handling, and ease of construction that has made the CX4 popular.
Other thoughts?
For those new to the CX4 and CX5, here's a spec sheet for both aircraft (CX5 specs are provisional--no aircraft flying yet).
There are 32 CX4's flying. Two prototype CX5s are being built now, a trigear and a taildragger.
I haven't found much published about the CX5's attributes, but here are some things I'm hoping for:
- Mild acro capability. The CX4 has a limit load of 3.8Gs (i.e. FAA "normal" category) at it's max gross weight of 850 lbs. If the CX5 could be designed a bit "stouter" to meet FAA "utility" category (4.4 Gs) at it's (higher) max weight, then the plane would have quite a bit of safety margin for mild acro when flown single-place.
- Removable/foldable wings. The CX4 has these. The CX5 will reportedly have flaps (the CX4 doesn't) and fuel in the wings (the CX4 doesn't), which could complicate matters. The tandem seating provides for a narrower fuselage, so 3' fixed stub wings could hold the fuel and small flaps and still allow the plane to fit on a standard trailer. Anybody know if Dave is planning for easily removable/foldable wings?
- Empty weight: <675 lbs. The CX4 is 520 lbs.
- 550 lb useful load (the CX4 is 330 lbs). That would provide for 2 people wearing clothes and shoes, headsets, etc (200 lbs each), 50 lbs of bags, 4 hours of fuel (100 lbs).
- Approx 120 kt (138 MPH) cruise at SL. Dave's preliminary specs call for a 104 kt (120 MPH) cruise, but the CX4 does 125 MPH on about 20 fewer HP. The CX5 will have more drag than the CX4 (about 5" wider fuselage and a wingspan of 4 feet more: 28 feet rather than 24 feet).
- Meets LSA requirements
- Keep the same good looks, honest handling, and ease of construction that has made the CX4 popular.
Other thoughts?
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