ironnerd
Well-Known Member
Has anyone looked into a built-up tail boom?
More often than I would like, my mind takes voyages of exploration without me
I was looking at my plans for a PoorBoy with an interest towards the PB-1 or PB-H. It’s a pretty simple design that seems like a nice starting place for an okay pod-n-boom pusher. Looking at the boom part, it uses 6061-T6, 6” OD x 0.063” wall drawn aluminum tube, which appears to be unobtanium. I looked through a fe more plans I have lying around, and they ALL seem to use the same boom tube. The things must have been common way back when, but I only found it at once place online that even lists them, but they don’t list a price, or state that they are in stock.
So I started pondering my options in case I got an overwhelming urge to build a PoorBoy. I thought about using a cluster of smaller tubes like the Quad City Challenger. Some math says about $90/linear foot for four tubes (6061-T6, 2” x 0.063”). Three tubes is a bit better at $70/foot. Multiple tubes also have a weight penalty.
Then I thought “why not build a tube?”. 6061-T6 0.040 sheet. Several 0.040 bulkheads (rough guess… one every 18 inches) and maybe a few (like four) 0.040 aluminum angle stringers to add a bit more stiffness. It’ll be a bit heavy, but it has availability going for it and allows me to remain pretty darn close to the original design.
I also figure someone else has done it, but A search of HBA did not find anything.
Any thoughts?
More often than I would like, my mind takes voyages of exploration without me
I was looking at my plans for a PoorBoy with an interest towards the PB-1 or PB-H. It’s a pretty simple design that seems like a nice starting place for an okay pod-n-boom pusher. Looking at the boom part, it uses 6061-T6, 6” OD x 0.063” wall drawn aluminum tube, which appears to be unobtanium. I looked through a fe more plans I have lying around, and they ALL seem to use the same boom tube. The things must have been common way back when, but I only found it at once place online that even lists them, but they don’t list a price, or state that they are in stock.
So I started pondering my options in case I got an overwhelming urge to build a PoorBoy. I thought about using a cluster of smaller tubes like the Quad City Challenger. Some math says about $90/linear foot for four tubes (6061-T6, 2” x 0.063”). Three tubes is a bit better at $70/foot. Multiple tubes also have a weight penalty.
Then I thought “why not build a tube?”. 6061-T6 0.040 sheet. Several 0.040 bulkheads (rough guess… one every 18 inches) and maybe a few (like four) 0.040 aluminum angle stringers to add a bit more stiffness. It’ll be a bit heavy, but it has availability going for it and allows me to remain pretty darn close to the original design.
I also figure someone else has done it, but A search of HBA did not find anything.
Any thoughts?
