N2T18S
Well-Known Member
I've been thinking about trying to building a Thorp T18 to meet the LSA requirements. There was a RV9 registered ELSA with an empty weight of 900 lbs. The standard T18 wing has 86 SQ FT of area. The Sunderland Convertible wing is a LDS-4-212 airfoil. The outerwing is made two foot longer with basically the same style attach points. Bigger pins and steel brackets. It would be easy to attach the CW to the standard innerwing and gain 16 foot of wing area. Also, the Continental O200/100 is about 50-70 lbs lighter than the Lycoming O290/125hp. The lightest plans built T18 came in at 850 lbs with the O290 (C.B.T. has a 701lb T18). Both wings are rated for 6G's at 1250 lbs gross. Stall approximately 58 MPH.
The reasons I have been thinking about this are:
Projects are cheap and I have most of the parts.
I may need LSA before I finish this project(nice option if it works).
Both TD & Trigear is available.
The cheapest LSA's I've seen are $50K.
I think I can have this in the air for $10K.
My biggest questions are:
Can I get the stall down to 51MPH? (set the flaps down 5 degrees in trail for more lift?)
How many G's will the wing take with the extra area?
Can I get the Weight & Balance in with an O200?
Bob
N2t18s
The reasons I have been thinking about this are:
Projects are cheap and I have most of the parts.
I may need LSA before I finish this project(nice option if it works).
Both TD & Trigear is available.
The cheapest LSA's I've seen are $50K.
I think I can have this in the air for $10K.
My biggest questions are:
Can I get the stall down to 51MPH? (set the flaps down 5 degrees in trail for more lift?)
How many G's will the wing take with the extra area?
Can I get the Weight & Balance in with an O200?
Bob
N2t18s
