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Re: Sealing Door gaps
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:02 am
by blaswichk
Hmmm . . . . . . , I was contemplating whether to replace the door lexan with 3/32 or leave it as is and continue the side raising on the door, (about 9 inches at the front sloping to about 5 inches at the door latch. I have done some flying with my first stiffening of the door with the raised side and indeed it stopped the door flutter, but my fix was cosmetically flawed so now I’m making it nicer, and if I have to put a second latch on the door I’ve already sketched out that arrangement. I too get the best fuel consumption at 80-85 mph, but 95-110 is more fun to fly unless it’s bumpy, then back down to 90 or so.
Re: Sealing Door gaps
Posted: Mon Jan 12, 2015 11:16 am
by mkoxxy
Second latch: whatever you do, make sure both latches are obvious and can
be opened from outside. If someone has to extract you after a crash, every
second counts.
Good to hear that Vmax of 110mph is possible, even fun, even though as an
Ultralight, I'll have to be judicious where I venture past 63mph...
Re: Sealing Door gaps
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:10 am
by blaswichk
Yes, good call on the second latch. My sketch includes a connecting link so that one handle would open both latches from inside or out.
Now about those Vmax speeds, Mark has flown my plane at Arlington and came back with a big grin telling me that it is a fast Gull. 110 mph is easy, and 120 mph isn’t real hard either, straight and level. Other than the door jiggle and the right side droning until I put my elbow against it, the Gull is rock solid at those speeds as it is not squirrely or twitchy. It just stays put in the sky right where you want it, and that’s why we love our Gulls, and the Titans copied it. I have three friends with Titan II’s with Rotax 912’s on them, and they can’t outrun me as they are also heavier with their bigger engines. Mark gave us the best bang for the buck out here, and his electric planes are the future. (now imagine a twin engine electric Gull, oh what fun!!)
Re: Sealing Door gaps
Posted: Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:36 am
by rahulchoudhary73
Amen. I thought Mark designed 150mph Vne gulls too. Just curious, why not a quad engined electric Odyssey?
was wondering, how does the Gull match up with the C-130J variants in terms of operating weight, mtow, payload and fuel, range as normalized ratios? what does operating weight signify here?
http://airforcelive.dodlive.mil/2015/01 ... r-hercules