Experimenter

December 2013

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/234576

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T h e M a ve r i c k L i g h t- S p or t A ir c r a f t added stability in turbulence by dampening oscillations. The demonstrator instrument panel consists of Racepak and Garmin LCDs for engine and flight information. On either side of the panel are T-handles attached to trimming lines. These look like the pull-starter on a lawn mower but instead are used to adjust the trailing edge of the wingtips, similar to the action of the steering lines. Te welding jigs were designed and built as a school project by students at LeTourneau University's mechanical engineering program in Longview, Texas. With me in the double-wide backseat, Troy opened the throttle, and the five-bladed prop accelerated us down the runway. In a surprisingly short run, the nose of the Maverick tipped up, and the rumble of the wheels was gone as we rose into the cool pink and blue morning sky. Troy flew effortless figure eights, low passes, and touch-and-goes. Our Maverick did not have the optional side panels, so I could lean out into the wind with my camera to capture photos and video of the magic morning. Even sitting directly in front of the propeller and 2.5-liter engine, Troy and I were able to converse easily over the built-in intercom. It had been windy all week and this day was no exception. Powered parachutes can be a handful in high-wind conditions, but with the quick power response of the Subaru and the heavier weight of the Maverick, we continued flying long after other powered parachutes would have been stuffed into their trailers. After some runway touch-andgoes, Troy demonstrated some rough terrain landings in the uneven sod, and the long shock struts and large tires handled the gusty touchdowns with ease. After flying we converted back to auto mode, with the wing, rigging lines, mast and boom all packing away into the roof storage on the Maverick. The engine coupler was slid into wheel drive, and we drove back to the Maverick final assembly hangar for a tour of the manufacturing facility. The Beyond Roads facility at the Dunnellon Airport consists of two hangars; a 40-by-60-foot hangar is the Maverick assembly building, and the larger hangar contains offices, machine and welding shops, and a large main bay that is used for A&P; and builder assist programs. In addition to building Mavericks, Beyond Roads specializes in builder assist programs for RVs and Zeniths. A new 10,000-square-foot hangar is under construction that will be tall enough so that final rigging of the Maverick wing suspension and steering lines can be done inside. Te Maverick propeller is made by Warp Drive; it's a fve-blade composite, ground adjustable. 26 Vol.2 N o.12 / December 2013 The Maverick was designed in-house; however, much of the component construction is outsourced for economic and quality control reasons. The Maverick is built with 4130 steel tubing, cut and formed by Cartesian Tube of Stratford, Ontario, and shipped to Dunnellon for tungsten-inert-gas welding. The nose cowl and mast are made from carbon fiber. The 460-square-foot rip-stop nylon, elliptical ramair wing is custom made by APCO Aviation in Israel and Photography by Bruce Moore

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