Garry Morgan

Airfoils well many manufactures will tell you of all the testing they have done and they have there name on it, another is that how close tolerance they have to be to work. The older gliders mostly used the wort. FX 67 they may have there own names for it but that is what it is now the latter airfoil is the FX 87 all have there own names but that is the trend, except the asg 29 when they testes there new foil didn't work so they went back to the fx 67. And it may be news to you that most wings left and right are not the same because of the manufacturing. although the roughness must be with in 4th max. its not rocket science. There are no plans for glass gliders out there, but i will have drawing for the new ones.

Hi Kev Good to see it painted, it looks great it wont be long now

I don't have any pictures of the Cheyenne flying as yet as one guy did take some but i haven't as yet,pictures of the Shawnne single if you can e mail me I can send you some as I dont know how to put them on the site. I am wrapping the spar root ends now so when I can fit them to the steel frame, then I can glass in the steel frame, then many other parts can be started on as the fin post, seat, rudder peddles etc. This is by far the most advanced aircraft i have tried to build, it is very compact and conplex. And i think the pinnacle of design.To get this aircraft on paper as a home built from planes will be a very big achievement for gliding.

Well things are progressing slowly as the work and time to make and remake control mixer system and setting up the steel frame with the motor mount and retract undercarriage, all in a small space and every thing you do effects every thing else in its way, so I have spent the last month cutting and re doing all of this, the motor has been fitted but not the lifting system as yet, the mixer now works and the u/c is in. Now I will fit the spars into the steel frame before I glass in to the fuse. The Cheyenne is having the span cut to 15m with the the same wing loading, this will take 2-3 months.

No manufacture in Australia will get it passed , if don't hold you own ticket for approval, Howard H did for many years, and now even he cant, and he has more exp. than anybody else at doing it. There is no hope in Australian any more, CASA has done a good job of killing aviation in this country.

Its not our aircraft ,pilots that come for training on type, just are not current enough to fly, and as for test flying after you have built is just asking for trouble, you are also very nervous up tight and maybe not having the right airfield to do test flying. I was asked to do 25hrs in a month to test fly an aircraft when i am already current. sound a bit much .I think not, there is so much going on to check when doing a fast taxi run to feel the aircraft what it wants to do , most people are holding the stick far to tight not allowing the aircraft to talk to them.And a lot of people just think they are just seeing how it fly s this is just doing it all wrong. One pilot through he was 2-3 feet off the ground when his mate told him he was 10-12 feet of the ground on the first t/o and stalled. yea he needed a new nose leg ,but what else can one expect. most people don't realise how much experience is needed.

Yes you are all right , but the weight of motor 2 people etc. changes the design some what. the problem in small thermals which are not very strong is that you cannot bank over very much, as the sink rate increases with the angle of bank. Living near the coast we have small tight thermals.

When we sell a kit we also send a USA test flying file ,The problem is most people just dont take any notice. One has to be VERY current total at home flying the aircraft of the same type. From what i see about 75% of first take offs end in a bent aircraft. But people say they are very experienced , may be so but not current. The last guy to die hadn't flown in 2 years apart from a BFR its not good enough. If any one wants a copy of the test flying just e mail me and ill send it on .we are losing to many.

Thats Right Kev. It only makes work for your self for something doesn't matter. A straight edge wont work as the riveting will have some stretch in it and you cant avoid some bending. when the D box sheet it pulled on it is all removed ???????????? If holes are not straight so what, it wont effect anything. If building an aircraft was so important and require so much skill most would crash.

The longer the wing the bigger the turning radius, thus being near the coast the thermals are norrow, when you bank over the quicker it will sink. wider shorter wing with the same wing loading will get into the core better. For a touring motor glider which isnt as good as a pure glider.

I am still trying to get it to how much the wings flex. Yes for many only German built gliders will win comps. the JS1 from SA is doing a good job. When gliders like the Jantar ,Pic 20 etc of that vintage have 150mm thick wings. 25mm thicker wing equals 1 fuselage of drag. wings now are about 2"thinner so take two fus of drag off a glider of that vintage you are coming close to the new performance of today

The Cheyenne has its first flight last week, not even a trim change was needed, x wind taxing is a problem and we now have a steerable nose wheel which works well. The 18m wing has a very large turning radius when flying in lift, and being near the coast with tight thermals, we are looking at maybe a 15m wing could be better with the same wing loading. The 2.2 jabiru motor was perfect all round . The Shawnee single seater has the fuse almost glassed now and getting the steel frame set up .

The fiberglass rib will still be in one piece long after a metal rib has cracked and fallen out over time. only the Cheetah rear rib that has more load on it we use metal washers. The tail spar roughen up to attach the glass rib, the glass is always shrinking to the tube and making the bond tighter over time. its not going anywhere, and vibration is not going to have any effect over time. its the best of all worlds.

The fuel didnt leak from a hose that came off, cable ties are one of the best ties just look at a out board motor tank. The fuel filter was NOT forward of the fire wall as stated. The fuel tank split open. The 747 has wires inside the fuel tank, there is no safety issue with tiring a wire to a fuel proof line to stop it vibiriting, this was removed ,but it will brake with vibrating. there was no shafing of the trim bungee this was made up.the stick yes some one in the work shop has not done a good job here . Have a good look at a piper of such and you can find fault with anything. The reason it never passed the second time we did all the paper work by our tech guy the first thing he said my plane hit a ferris wheel. and then condemned ever thing we had done, no through of how much time and money a small business has put in. Also the guys did walk away and not taken away . I get abusive calls and mail that it flew into a hole, but i can tell you that is not the case ,it took out the two main outer supports and two gondoliers. A 22G main fuse stayed together.So if you think it a crap aircraft you had better take a closer look at the imported craft. Your aussie designed aircraft are going to come out better in a crash.

The Cougar in Qld is finished and ready to fly , it has moved to just south of Cairns. It is a 4 seat. There is not a lot of change in performance I am told at 800kg I am going up to look at it next month .

Yea I have had it at Coffs and Taree

I have received a notice from RAA MARAP amendment to 95.55 on the 24 feb. This doesn't say you can not make changes it means some one will look at it to see if you are making a death trap. Best news ever.

Glider development is said to be German rocket science, but after a lot of research I find it isn't. Some country's build there first glider and prove it to be one of the worlds best the JSI ,Sparrow hawk. etc. Gliders are like racing boats and cars. they follow the trends, of development and they finish very much the same. When fibreglass gliders came along the home building form plans stopped and if you wanted a new glider you had no choice but to pay big money for it. My aim is to change this. A high performance glider and self launch. 90% of new gliders now have some sort of motor. It will have all the latest design improvements, and of the highest performance. No specials moulds, i think this is where most people think inside the box. Yes a foam core, not a hot wire foam core and glass,this wont work on a glider with the filler shrinking at different rates, and in no time the 4 th max surface roughness is exceeded. Using the same 60kg sq m foam 5mm thick when glassed one side only it will still flex, bonded over foam ribs. When glassed on both sides the shape is locked in. not only that the surface is very flat , there is very little filler needed leaving little work to finish off for paint. The learning curve here that with the foam ribs ( which are not in a moulded wing) make for a very stiff piece, in turn makes weight. this is another learning curve. The glider is an 18m 4 piece wing self launch, which is where gliding is going. And designing a build process one can do at home with hand lay up. but you will need a lot of time on your hands and like being in the workshop, but then it is a very special aircraft, and not many could afford to go and buy a new one. but 15k and hard work could get you one.

I just received an Email from RAA the approval for modification made to you home built. When you have a set of plans or a kit that is proven and tested, dont change it .The problems when a builder makes changes is that they don't see the hole picture. I get many phone calls from people who have have made changes to there aircraft and wonder why it doesent fly right. And some that tell me they cant get the right control movement, when they have reversed the controls . and this is by a very experienced person, and many others that they think a simple change they will make the aircraft harder to fly. I see this as the BEST thing that has happened to RAA in a long time. to many people stuff up a good aircraft by there own doing. The more experience they have the more they stuff it up.

Friday was within 3 hours to having my c of a application for the Cheyenne cancelled ,that's after a year of doing the paper work trying to please some people that i wish they would go back to the planet they came from. after some dummy spits it is all done for test flying phase one. The new single seater has the spars and webs in place ,also the fuse plug is almost ready for glassing. the tail boom test piece is nearly ready for the torsional test ,A better way for the fuse plug is to plank it up is foam ,sand to shape it and glass over it inside and out . I have spent 2 weeks filling and sanding. The tail is made with my new 5 mm foam sandwich . it is extremely stiff. I left the outer surface un glassed for a couple of weeks ,and got a slight concave between the ribs, this was sander out very easy and glassed, very little filler was needed over the glass skin, which will help with shrinkage over time. Balancing the elev. to 100% took 3.4 kg of lead to make a total of 10kg for the tail. not much one can do about that .

The Cheyenne is still on the ground Just a RAD 47 100.5 to go and the cert for test flying will be done. The new 18m self launch is coming along the wing spars have the web fitted and ready for the joins. The tail is now being closed up . 2.43kg of lead fitted for the mass balance. Mold plug for the fuse is being made for the front of the half ,and testing of the rear tail cone is not far away.

The kit also has factory built wing spars.

For sale a sierra kit mostly complete $14,900 0418253466

I don't do my web site it is other hands.This forum is good to get feed back and by the no. of people looking it has interest it what is going on. Which makes one wonder where is aviation is going. Also the GFC and CASA have almost put a stop to what all like doing.

For fabric covering we use round tube, so the out side gusset just folds around, bend it by hand. for alloy skin the square tube sits on the sides. To do it the other way is a real pain. For about the 8.5k you will only need paint and a seat cushion. and go. Options may be wheel spats, brakes if you want them, doors. Yes it has to be able to go on the trailor for the days flying, this has made me come up with a very simple control rigging, not with cables, but with two push rods in the fuse vertical and just clip on the end of the aileron horn.