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/96284
ratio. FanWing models have been tested in wind tunnels, and Peebles received United Kingdom government financial support for scale-model flight tests. The project team received a boost with the addition of former United Kingdom BAE Systems engineer George Seyfang whose analysis confirmed some of the potential of this unusual form of propulsion. Early FanWings had a conventional tail mounted high to avoid the powerful downwash behind the wing. A new model with twin booms and twin tails (or outboard horizontal stabilizers) was first flown in 2010. Wind tunnel tests have convinced Peebles the performance advantages of his concept will increase as the aircraft is scaled up. The proposed full-sized design shown in the drawing would have a 32-foot rotor span but retain the outboard horizontal stabilizers, giving it a total width of 46 feet. His initial proposal had a Rotax 503 mounted on each wingtip (hence the wingtip bubble in the drawings), but his latest specifications indicate a center-mounted Rotax 912 engine and a 60-knot cruise. trike I had never flown before, shooting approaches and landings at a busy uncontrolled airport. The passenger and owner of the LSA trike, a designated pilot examiner, had set the radio and intercom controls before takeoff, and everything worked fine. I was doing a great job in the flight and was calling out traffic to the examiner as we went around the pattern for yet another landing. I wondered who taught these other pilots to fly, as most were not self-announcing in the pattern. When asked, the examiner advised that the squelch control on his radio was overly sensitive. He touched it lightly, and the world of aviation came back to my ears. » Please send your comments and suggestions for this column to dgrunloh@illicom.net. Dan Grunloh, EAA 173888, is a retired scientist who began flying ultralights and light planes in 1982. He won the 2002 and 2004 U.S. National Microlight Championships in a trike and flew with the U.S. World Team in two FAI World Microlight Championships. The FanWing can be viewed as a kind of hybrid between fixed-wing and vertical-lift aircraft but with very simple controls. Because engine power provides both thrust and lift, reducing power suddenly will cause a rapid descent. Clearly the turbine blades are vulnerable to foreign objects (including birds) as are the blades of helicopters, jets, and even the blades of our airplane propellers. If a FanWing turbine stops or cannot autorotate, it may descend in a manner that would require an emergency parachute. Read more about the unlikely looking aircraft at www.FanWing.com and check the simulation tab for information about how to download and run an X-Plane flight simulator version of the design. Pilot Tip – Failsafe Radio Controls Here is a quick and easy aviation radio tip. I marked the volume and squelch control knobs of my cockpitmounted handheld radio to indicate the perfect settings for normal cruise flight. A dab of white office correction fluid worked great for me. Now I can confirm with a quick glance that they are set properly and have not been bumped out of position. It may be less of a problem with a panel-mounted radio, but in an open cockpit like mine, the controls can be bumped while moving around or taking pictures. It could lead to missing important radio transmissions. The marks also help confirm I have turned the radio off at the end of the flight. I've been flying for several years with this setup and I love it. This idea came to me during the practical exam for my sport pilot certificate. There I was in the front seat of a Box cover of new DVD features an ultralight, but the flm covers much more. EAA EXPERIM ENTER 41