Flite Fest 2018 Peter's Airplane 

dwcobb43 I see. You can look at the right landing gear and it's bent some. Must be crash damage.

dwcobb43 didn't he say he might not take it to oshkosh because of upgrades that are needed?

Isaac Lyons L Oop iiiiiimd

He is a licensed pilot and this isn't his first ultralight. I worry for his safety as well.

Our culture seems to have lost the idea that there are more important things than living a long boring life...like actually living life while you are alive.

So he just needs to cover the gap, put an angle on the front windscreen, secure the batteries properly and upgrade his ESCs? That seems like a relatively simple list of fixes.

+Ethan Utter G'day, You haven't seen what you haven't looked for, so open your eyes, perhaps ? My first Aeroplane hangs in the Inverell Transport Museum, NSW, Australia ; to view it, either backtrack me to my "Personal Aeroplanology..." Playlist, or title-search YT for, "The 8Hp, 1975, Red Baron Skycraft Scout ; World's 1st Legal Minimum Aircraft...!" Of course, I was it's 3rd Owner, and I did nothing actually "pioneering" in it ; apart from flying it in 1978 & not crashing it, which is why it survived - because I was the last person to get it off the ground until it was chained-up in the Museum in the mid 1990s. My second Aeroplane is a VJ-24 Sunfun, it began as a Hang-Glider, when the "e" modification appeared the project was upgraded with an Engine, and when the "w" mod. came out it recieved Wheels as well...; I wasn't building it, but I was being consulted, and I redesigned the Wing Trailing-Edge & the Undercarraige, and both my alterations were built in. In 1990 the project still hadn't been completed, and I bought it ; and once it became mine I redesigned & rebuilt the Wing Leading-Edges, and designed & fabricated a streamlined Fuselage Pod for it, added a Ballistic Parachute, and conducted the Flight-Test program, as well as designing & laminating & carving 2 different Propellers for it (one 42" x 26", the other 41" x 12"). And, I still have it ; though I have yet to begin rebuilding it after landing it inverted in a Potato Patch, when I hit the Fence in 1992 ; while foolishly attempting a downwind Takeoff in a 200 yard paddock..., because the Fine Pitch Prop. wasn't as good as I'd thunkeded that it were (!). To see that one, title-search YT for, "The 22 Hp VJ-24w....; World's First Ultralight Motorglider !" However, perhaps my best contribution to the Art of the Defiance of Gravity is that since 1997 anybody wanting to aerotow Rogallo Hang-Gliders behind 3-Axis Ultralights in Australia is required by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority to use my method & procedure for the first 300 ft of the Tow. To view that video, title-search YT for, "Aerotowing Rogallo Hang-Gliders ; Development & Implememtation Of The Lockout-Index..." Do not expect "high production values", my Channel runs on a prepaid Mobile Phone, and those are old early Videos ; made when that was a Nokia 2160c..., so they were made with a 2 Megapixell "Potato" (but on the other hand, in 2013 they sent me a "Gold" {coloured} Medal from Falmouth University in England, for winning an International YT Videomaking Competition - with a Video made using that very same Potato.....!). You haven't seen me making anything (quite as bad as Peter's second Hairygoplane, because I know better than to do that.... However, the particular way I know what a HUGE mistake it is for him to leave the Gap-Cover off his Wingroots...; is because after 10 hours of flogging up & down the Runway, hopping and feeling the Jensen out, to become familiar with it's handling (and because I had not flown for TEN YEARS when I began the Flight Test Program...!), I flew up out of Ground-Effect, crossed the Boundary Fence, got to 60 ft - and discovered that to be it's absolute ceiling BECAUSE THERE WAS NO GAP-COVER, and having 4 Wingtip-Vortices on an underpowered Monoplane adds too much Drag for Climbing - once out of Ground-Effect...! Because it would be a very long way back to the Runway, all the way around the World going in a straight line at 60 ft, I had to make a gentle turn, 90 degrees Right, losing 20 ft, then another one, going down again during that turn.....; and when I was almost level with the Hangar I turned Right again, finally pointing myself back at the Airfield - crossing the Fence with 2 ft to spare...., and landing safely ACCROSS the Runway, dumb, de Dumb Dumb, DUMB DUMB ! Then I went home, & FINISHED MAKING the Gap Cover....; and with that fitted, the JPX-powered Volmer Jensen 24-w was able to sustain 200 Ft per minute Climb-Rate, in still air. To gain Altitude (I took it up to 5,000 Ft above terrain, ie 8,365 AMSL) I used to find a Thermal, or some Ridge-Lift, & go merrily upwards inside of that....; I trained ab-initio as a Sailplane Pilot, so that trick came fairly naturally. So, actually mate, it turns out that I'm not quite as silly as I look ; and compared to what I made my first Solo in, back in 1978, the Wright-Brothers actually had a better Aeropane in 1903. Now, perhaps you'd bettter start sniffing around my Playlists, just(ifiably ?) to see what a seriously high-grade Oddball you've been chatting with. Take it easy, Such is Life... ;-p Ciao !

+fromkentucky G'day, Thanks. Well, I'd be going with a "staggered" V-shaped Split-Screen in front of the Cockpit, which is a little bit more complicated to cobble up...; and replacing that Spaghetti-Strength Undercarraige will be a big job. The Gap Cover is pretty easy, but it's an absolutely vital bit of Kit ; which will probably add 200 ft/min to the Climb-Rate - which is currently at Zero... The (overbuilt) Tail-Heaviness could be cured with sufficient Nose Ballast - if the new Motors will produce enough Thrust, and if the FAR's will permit the extra weight ; but a new and lighter Rear-Fuselage & Tailgroup would be a much better actual solution. Tattooing "Secure The Batteries !" backwards onto his Forehead, and mounting a Mirror on the Instrument-Panel would be something of an over-reaction ; but a simple Cheklist would be pretty good...(!). Those inboard Ailerons will probably work, tolerably-well, but they sure do LOOK wrong ; and purely for the satisfaction of it, I'd like to see them relocated outboard to the Wingtips where they'll be much more effective (Leverage, Moment-Arm, and all that...!). The whole concept of leaving all his Trailing-Edges about an INCH thick, with FLAT Edges perpendicular to the Airflow (because that's how thick the Foam is, & it's easier to leave it that way, & it's what he's used to doing on Models....?) is a really really Silly WRONGNESS of an Idea, in my opinion..; because 70% of the Aerodynamic Drag of ANY Shape is caused by the Slipstream turbulating as it attempts to UNSTICK from the Object's Trailing-Edges.., which is why "Aerofoils" always Always ALWAYS have the Pointy-Bits at the back end. Thus, the big fat thick blunt Trailing-edges to the Wings & Tail all functionally add up to being a "dispersed" Air-Brake, probably about as bad as the Flat-Plate Windscreen (!). So, to be honest, there are so many things which it would be better to fix on this iteration...; that a proverbially "Clean Sheet Of Paper" might be a better option, and then build something which has all the "fixes" incorporated into it from the start (?). Learning is often an expensive procedure, but it's always cheaper than refusing to learn from mistakes, in my experience (!). Such is Life... Have a good one, ;-p Ciao !

WarblesOnALot You sure know a lot for someone who hasn’t seen it fly yet... Idiot.

You bitter asshole. It seems you didnt see Peter page and fly some of his stuff. You seems to be a scientist but a flop one.