Woodenwings
Well-Known Member
I have been thrashing away for over 10yrs (on-and-off) on my own design. It uses the LSA amphibian specifications as a guide but will be made as an amateur-built (experimental) to allow me more artistic licence.
Aircraft Mission:
Just for me....not a commercial venture...unless someone buys the design from me! I want to go places close to home that are on or near the water. Flights of Approx 3Hrs return expected. I want to see, smell and feel as much of the flight as is possible. Getting wet is not a concern. keeping the passenger dry is more important (because they are often not as passionate about all that "feeling" stuff as me). The design may be retrofitted for range/duration by adding gas and engines (designing with this in mind for the possibility of an epic cross-Canada tour...maybe!).
I am about 10yrs away from having this accomplished - taking my time - i enjoy the design process immensely. I love talking to other people who have made their own designs. Not too interested in having "what-if" conversations or unproductive discussions. I'm also not into social media. please don't post my stuff on social media. let me post my own work as i see fit please!
The philosophy of the design is:
Aircraft Mission:
Just for me....not a commercial venture...unless someone buys the design from me! I want to go places close to home that are on or near the water. Flights of Approx 3Hrs return expected. I want to see, smell and feel as much of the flight as is possible. Getting wet is not a concern. keeping the passenger dry is more important (because they are often not as passionate about all that "feeling" stuff as me). The design may be retrofitted for range/duration by adding gas and engines (designing with this in mind for the possibility of an epic cross-Canada tour...maybe!).
I am about 10yrs away from having this accomplished - taking my time - i enjoy the design process immensely. I love talking to other people who have made their own designs. Not too interested in having "what-if" conversations or unproductive discussions. I'm also not into social media. please don't post my stuff on social media. let me post my own work as i see fit please!
The philosophy of the design is:
- Designed cockpit-out.
- Simple, traditional, proven design solutions
- Simple, traditional & proven materials
- Emphasis on visibility and safety, then comfort.
- Limited use of composites (i hate working with them and they are environmentally troublesome)
- Electric - the ability to move props wider, and to reverse them simply is of great interest ( i have spent hours working with Rotax, HKS and Verner layouts). Verners is my fav. for a petrol alternative.
- Cockpit: i love simple well laid-out interiors of cars/boats/whatever. I find traditional cockpits like a Cessna 150/172 Etc. to be loathsome. I find the desire to make aircraft interiors look like cars a waste of time. Something smaller, more to the point and not in my way is ideal. increasing the tactility of the cockpit interests me a lot. i want to reach for everything and know it is in reach. I want to teach my children to fly and having dual controls makes sense. Everything needs to be water resistant or tolerant (freshwater). Electric trim.
- Undercarriage: I continue to be close to omitting the undercarriage all together. It would save a lot of weight and simplify my life a lot (as a designer/builder). But the first time i want to get the thing up on a beach to inspect the hull for damage or for the reassurance that it won't be gone in the morning will probably justify the complexity and expense in time and money. Having decided to add retractable gear...i want the simplicity of the See-bee without the drag....and i want tricycle gear for a variety of reasons (i love taildraggers...it started as one). Mechanical an/or electrical actuation. There is not really room in the cockpit for manual retraction - the tandem arrangement also complicates this - electric with no backup is probably the best compromise. I have my eye on some servos for the job. Suspension is elastomeric. It will be a little stiff, but underinflated tires will be used to help with beaching...and shock absorption. the gear will be strong enough for terrestrial use but i anticipate using it for launching and beaching mostly. i want to be on the water.
- Wing: High-Lift, non-laminar flow wing made of AL. I am in-love with wooden aircraft's smooth surfaces and ultra-rigid wings....but i was having a hard time finding suppliers and adequate storage for materials during construction (a place to put bulk orders). So i have chosen AL ...will have to change my profile name....na! The design used to have flaps....but they have been deleted in favour of simplicity. i have added area instead. Space will be made in the wing to facilitate baggage, extra batteries and fuel tanks. retrofitting for gas engines or for a hybrid system should be prudent. A folding wing will allow the kite to live up to it's mission of being trailered from my driveway to lake Ontario (300m). at present this is a substantial design challenge. I might need some help. or just a lot more time! The wing was a hershey-bar, now it is tapered for several reasons. I have access to CNC so cutting out lots of different wing-ribs and their forms is not a problem. i like the flying qualities of a tapered wing. it also helps with loading. there is very minimal washout at the tips. the airfoil is the same from root to tip.
- Fuselage: Steel Tube, Plywood, Fabric and composites....as Reqd. I like steel cages...especially when the entire mass of the plane is behind me. i want to walk away from a prang.
- Hull: im very interested in the designs that came about at the very tail end of the flying boat era. the Supermarine Gull, Martin designs and the integration of these concepts and forms into the Shinmaywa us-1 & 2 deep-V designs. I have modified the basic shape for my purposes. the addition of a ski-surface on the bottom to allow a forgiving first contact combined with a deep-v profile and spray suppression skirt were introduced at the onset of the design. There are so many great concepts already in existance - incorperating them into one simple form has been an intellectual treat (i use the word intellectual lightly!).
- Propulsion: options still fill this space but the feeling now is towards the MGM Compro offerings. Currently in discussions with them (very early stages). I have lots to learn about these systems beyond what i already know. Dealing with 800VDC is probably going to be touchy in aquatic conditions.
- Extras: i love lighting and will probably have to add some cracking LED lights for .... intimidating shipping. Dedicated action camera locations will be added for documenting flights like flightchops does.
- Stowage - Entry/Exit: the front seat is like a kayak - the rear is like a champ or cub. Light baggage can be placed behind the rear seat (weight and balance permitting). Most storage will be in the wings.
- Avionics: I like open source philosophy - i will have basic steam gauges and some arduino/raspberry-pi based digital systems. there is lots of progress in this area at the moment. i'm keeping my eye on it. currently i have an android tablet shown. i like moving maps. I am even considering making a series of servo actuated simulated steam gauges like the sim-nerds do. some are awesome and it give me the chance to get very individualistic.
- Livery: i can't wait to get to this phase - but as it is completely irrelevant - i will just muck about in renderings. expect to see lots of variation in colours and i feel them out. Don't be surprised if the final paint scheem seems very RCAF or RAF-Costal command. It's a boyhood thing! I like D-Day stripes too!
- CADD - everything is in 3D.
