Kieran Shanley wrote:
>>I know these things always take much longer than expected and I
don't mean to hassle anyone. Would it be okay to ask for a brief update
on the status of the Freebird plans ?<<
FreeBird is coming along, just taking longer than expected. There's only
one CAD guy, and solid modeling an entire aircraft and its structure,
and making drawings...isn't trivial. AND he's changed jobs and moved
across the country....so he's a little busy lately. Progress is being
made, and it will get done, just not as soon as everyone would like.
And also, >>Another question for you - if a new builder is considering
starting to build a "KR2 like" aircraft should they sit tight and wait
for the release of the freebird plans or could they get started on some
part of the aircraft ?<<
--------------
Kieran, the main problem with getting started on something like the
wings is that the wing's outer spars need to align perfectly with the
main spars in the fuselage, which is not predictable given the curvature
of the "boat" sides. Best to build the fuselage first, then attach
outer spars to the main spars and build the wings around the spars. The
whole plane is built that way....build onto existing structure for a
perfect fit. For more on that, spend a week looking through my KR2S
build website at http://www.n56ml.com and you'll see what I mean. If
you read through that entire website, you'll walk away feeling like "I
can do this....let's get started". It's all just one simple job after
another. Just takes perseverance.
At this point, we don't have a list of exact dimensions of all the
spruce parts, but we're not far from having it.
As for getting started on something, go for it! The examples of
forerunners to FreeBird on the FreeBird page at
http://www.freebirdplans.org/ are fine examples. These were built on
the experience of others who "expanded the envelope" a bit at a time,
and it turned out to work just fine.
Basically, add one or two 14" bays to the aft of fuselage and about 2"
to fuselage in front of the wings for each added bay. At some point
there's a limit to the length of spruce you can buy (or pay to ship), so
scarfing longeron material that's only have as long as required makes a
lot of sense. You'd want to make the scarf joint somewhere like in the
aft fuselage halfway between wing trailing edge and horizontal
stabilizer (and not in the same place as a fuselage skin splice). If
joining wood sounds dangerous, it's not if you make a good scarf joint
and use T-88 epoxy made for the job. Make the width something
reasonable but not cramped. It depends on your size and intended
passenger size. A Dragonfly canopy is very flexible and will fit just
about anything. Ask on KRnet what folks are using for upper longeron
max width, or something like 44" is likely close. Maybe some recent
builders will comment on what worked for them.
There are copies of the KR plans construction notebook floating around
on the web, and somebody else can post a link to that. Somebody also
posted the large detailed drawings to the list a few weeks ago, which
should be in the KRnet archive at
https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/ .
We'll try to get some basic dimensions on the fuselage shortly on the
FreeBird website at , but really, past KRs are built to fit, and it
almost always works out fine. You just have to save the engine mount
for last and compensate with engine spacing to get the CG just right
(see http://www.n56ml.com/corvair/mount_fit.html ) for what I mean
there. Also study the other build stuff at http://www.n56ml.com and
you'll have a very good understanding of what's involved. And best of
all, you don't have to reinvent the wheel like lots of us did. Let us
know how it goes, and take lots of photos for the on-line manual! Where
there's a will, there's a way.
For the newbies, the FreeBird website is at http://www.freebirdplans.org/
I'm off to spend another full day at the airport....where I seem to
spend all my time lately.....
Mark Langford
m...@n56ml.com
http://www.n56ml.com
Huntsville, AL
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