Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

[flylo]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

The Phantom is the ultralight I trust the most. Stressed at 9+ & 6- Gs it's plenty strong. It's fun & a nice change of pace to fly open cockpit in good weather. There are very few true ultralights that will make weight. Mine will because of the engine. I'd never give up my Taylor-Young (how many of you guys can claim a Taylor-Young ?) But the Phantom is a nice diversion. I can keep the Phantom hangered at home & The '38 at the airport,which is a mile from my job & have the best of both worlds. That is when I'm back working & flying after back surgery. And then to top it off a tornado hit my airport hanger the end of June. Could have been a lot worse. I can't wait till I'm flying again!

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

Bill,
Afraid I'm not really that familiar with Al Backstrom's work. I am very interested in flying wings though, but more from the aerodynamics perspective.
Notice when I was talking about 2 cycle engines I was talking about "Experimentals" not ultra-lights. Of course I don't fly ultralights, but I did design one (an UL version of the Taube for one person). It is powered by a 2 cycle, but the drag on the "early-birds" is very high and if that engine ever quit, the glide would be an "arrival" at a landing site you might not even be able to see from the cockpit (like directly below you). The Nieuports with 2 cycles had the same problem. When the engine quit, you put the nose down and landed where it was pointed.
Hank

[VictorBravo]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

Backstrom's "plank" flying wing gliders were marvels of simplicity and low parts count. Not very high performance as a sailplane, due to short span and the drag penalty of building the horizontal stabilizer into the trailing edge of the wing.

You can more or less consider Backstrom's work sort of like Fauvel's, but without any French panache and style and less L/D.

But the advantage of accepting these compromises, for an ultralight low power vehicle, is pretty strong.

A 25 foot span Backstrom Plank can likely be built for about 100 or 120 pounds using the carbon rod material and a minimalist cockpit (fabric hang glider style fairing). One of the 30 pound Simonini 2 cycle engines and a 3 gallon tank would bring that to 150-170. The straight wing, being able to hang the seat right off the spar bolt fittings, and an integrated seat/wheel assembly, would allow for a very high structural efficiency. Twin vertical fins, like on a Fauvel glider, would allow a pusher prop and an engine mounted right onto the rear spar, balanced by the pilot hung from the front spar, and without any wing sweep to make it all balance.

Sorry to hijack the ultralight T-craft thread ( call it a UL-2 !) and send it off to exotic flying wings folks

Hank, speaking of early airplanes like the Taube... why don't you design an UL or light EXP Levasseur Antionette for one of the Geo Metro engines? That'd be kinda cool! A whole renaissance of classic historical icons... Demoiselle, Antionette, Bleriot, Santos-Dumont. What a kick that would be! We could build a carbon spar version of that Phillips Multiplane (the flying Venetian blind) and finally avenge that horrible film clip of it folding up on takeoff.

The Aviation History, Take Two Project!

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

OK Bill, who let you into my drawing files? I actually HAVE drawings of the Antionette with a Geo Metro engine (although my mechanic HATES Metro engines). We had a group here that wanted to build each of the planes from "Those Magnificent Men" and I did quite a few of them. The best of the group was the Blackburn Monoplane (which was also the ONLY real "original" plane in the movie). I also have drawings for the Demoiselle, Antionette, and several others. I built models of several and most flew really well. The 1913 Blackburn was exceptional but broke the gear on every landing.
One I DIDN'T draw up was the ornithopter (since it only flew suspended from a crane). I did do a different ornithopter that did fly really well. I still have the models and would fly it again if good Perelli rubber was still available. The new stuff just doesn't have enough power like the old contest rubber did.
Hank

We really need to start another thread for "Other stuff we are flying or messing with".

By the way, THIS is an engine!!! (No, that ISN'T me, I keep my shoes on)

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

Lost the picture some how.
Hank

[VictorBravo]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

We really need to start another thread for "Other stuff we are flying or messing with".

Sir, yes sir... see new thread, same forum category

[taylorcraftbc65]

Re: Life in the "boonies" of extreme west Texas

Bill,
Believe it or not, the Phantom
is, or was when I was flying them,
stressed to plus six, and minus four
Gees OPERATIONAL, not ultimate yield.
I was absolutely comfortable flying loops and
rolls in mine, and she never came apart on me.
The C-2/3 replica will have the same wing, and wing
attatchment system. Brie