Being done since I have been working on a new type I beam spar that
does right to the tip instead of have foam extension. Rear outboard spar has
been finished and even without the lightening holes it weighs very close to
the existing spar (without the foam extension) Going to finish the front
spar and send the pair out for testing. These were built to be completely
destroyed as I want the complete analysis right up to failure, not some
arbitrary number that I feel should be maximum they will be subjected to. I
want to know exactly what they are capable of. As and added benefit with
this arrangement, each spar can be constructed singly and assembled at the
field permanently with epoxy to form a single spar thus doing away with
WAF's and the dihedral can be easily cut on the cut off saw and when the
wings are joined the dihedral is right on the money without a bunch of
making sure the fuselage is on completely level ground as well as level
itself and an added benefit of NO measuring. The resulting joint will be the
strongest part of the wing instead of the weakest with a very small addition
to overall weight but that will make little difference with a rotary
cranking out more horsepower than most of us will ever need.
Dana has valid points regarding the torque and weight issues but
these can be overcome by locating the battery/s to the rear and judicious
use of the throttle. Now I would not recommend this combination for all as
only those experienced with high performance military aircraft are trained
in the proper attention to power bands as most of their aircraft are
overpowered under all but combat situations. The extra power available under
takeoff conditions on short fields is handy and could in many circumstances
save your life but used improperly can lead to a premature meeting of one's
maker. Many obstacles have to be overcome with this type of engine
arrangement and there is little doubt in my mind that the resulting design
will only roughly resemble a KR and that is the reason I have designated my
project as a KR Super modified instead of the usual designation of KR2s.
Early on when I purchased the project I stated that it would be a
flying test bed for the project currently on the drawing board. With that in
mind I have run all design changes through Aircraft PDQ to attain some
semblance of what these changes will do to flight and handling
characteristics. The resulting aircraft is to be a tandem seating
arrangement that does not feel like I'm crawling into a funnel.
Doug
