Jannie: Try one on for size before you fall in love with it. I like KR's but they are pretty tight for me. I'm 71 inches tall, 185 pounds. I need to remove the seat cushion to comfortably close the canopy.
I'm also a little prejudiced about large engines. Any aircraft is typically limited in top speed by it's drag profile. A large engine will give more power for climb, but only marginal improvement in cruise speed. I think it was Steve Wittman who said, "Whenever possible, add lightness." That extra 40 pounds of engine, or radios, or servos, or whatever, will haunt you forever. Wichita Spam Cans can carry a little extra weight, but remember a 172 is nearly twice as heavy, a little over half as fast, and one third as fuel efficient. A light homebuilt really doesn't have that kind of margin. Elaborate on that cooling sysem idea. I'm fascinated with the idea of radiators inside wings with spanwise airflow, but I'm a little ignorant on pressure distribution at the tips where flow would exit. It would require a low pressure exit, which might rob lift. There is typically a low pressure area in the bottom of the empennage between cockpit and tail which suggests a radiator location aft of cockpit, but that also raises some problems. Slowing airflow for radiator efficiency reqires a divergent duct, which secondarily requires horizontal space. Moving scalding water through the cockpit has hazards as well. Anyhow, I've offerred my babble. Good luck, Russ Bell The KR2s is specified to have an gross weight of 980 lbs. Is this independent of the size of the motor. I mean surely if you have a 140Hp motor in stead of a 70Hp motor you can lift more. I understand that gliding will be an issue on a heavier plane. What I am actually asking is this. How do they spec gross weight? Can I get past this limitation? As I might have or might not have mentioned before. I am a big boy 335 Lbs. I have a heavy Soob motor and I am seriously considering adding weight by placing the cooling system under a wing. Thanks Jannie jan...@jadsys.co.za
