8:10 PM 12/20/2011
Need to look at corporate aircar fleets.
2:00 PM 12/11/2011
Added a graphic to explain the design in the main file and in the preliminary design file.
1:35 PM 12/10/2011 48,130 visitors to date
3:21 PM 11/27/2011
A blog about fan safety for impacting birds may be viewed at http://www.stormingmedia.us/04/0425/A042503.html .
The time for coast-to-coast jet flights has remained the same for 50 years.
3:56 PM 11/26/2011
A very well-written article about STOL cna be read at http://www.zenithair.com/stolch801/design/design.html .
11:11:11 AM 11/11/11
[from AOPA Pilot] Studies have been done in the past on the value of flight simulation in GA training. The bottom line is that all have found they are effective. Redbird is taking it to a new level. The students will become completely proficient in the maneuver or task in the simulator before ever touching an airplane. This concept is being taken so far that the company has received approval from the FAA for no minimum airplane time—for the private pilot certificate. It's not inconceivable that someone off the street could get a certificate with five hours in a real airplane.
9:22 AM 10/20/2011
Rich's oncologist informed him that his most recent PET scan confirmed the previous scan that
his throat cancer had diffused and was no longer a concern.
http://www.aopa.org/training/articles/2011/110519impossible_turn_practice.html?WT.mc_id=110520epilot&WT.mc_sect=tts
will give a good look at practicing The Impossible Turn Back to Runway after Power Failure After Take-Off.
The AOPA's Alyssa Miller writes a description of Barry Schiff's approach to the problem with practicing.
You can estimate that a fully-loaded two-seat Strongmobile taking off from sea level standard day would do a 45 degree
bank gliding turn at a descent rate of 800 f.p.m. for a minute, to turn 180 degrees, plus safety factor.
So you can consider turning back after you reach 1,000 feet. You could make smaller turns at proportionately
lower altitudes, i.e. a 90 degree turn at 500 feet, and so on. With this information, you can better plan according
to the terrain for your particular take-off situation, including other factors, such as weather, and so on.
Rich is undergoing treatment for esophegeal cancer and the other things that accompany octogenarianism;
such as COPD, heart congestion, diabetes, etc., etc., so updates may be slow for a while.
5:03 PM 4/10/2011 Added to History.
Although Rich was unaware of it, historical records show that Trajan Vuia made the first car-plane.
Some might say that he did not intend to drive it on the roads, but it did take off autonomously,
unlike the Wright Flyer and others that required catapults. *Vuia.
4:31 PM 4/7/2011
Rich queried EAA about using LSAs for business, to which EAA replied:
"In the preamble to the sport pilot and light sport aircraft regulation the FAA provided the following comment about this limitation: “Section 73 of proposed SFAR No. 89 stated that a sport pilot would be limited to sport and recreational flying only. Sport and recreational flying, however, was not specifically defined in the NPRM. That limitation is removed in the final rule and replaced with prohibitions against acting as pilot in command of a light-sport aircraft when carrying a passenger or property for compensation or hire, for compensation or hire, or in the furtherance of business. This change better describes those types of operations it intended to restrict when it proposed that a sport pilot would be limited to sport and recreational flying only.”
3:13 PM 3/24/2011 Rich is considering making a Waiting List for those who want to buy a StrongMobile.
Graphics of historical precedents of lifting-body research were added to the main page.
*The air conditioning system design was clarified by referring to a vendor, * flightlineac).
* Several minor website changes emphasized the long-range economy cruise for commuting.
Economy cruise of 35% would give 33 m.p.g. at 100 KTAS, nice for a 50 to 100-mile commute.
This mode may also be used where endurance and/or range are priority operational parameters,
such as patrolling or observing, or for sport flying.
A graph of drag vs. velocity was calculated and displayed in * Calculations,
*Economic and Operational Analysis.
Conventional aircraft have wingtip vortices and wingroot vortices; StrongMobiles have reduced wingroot
vortices. Induced drag depends on the span loading. A graph shows this at *Design
*The *AvWeb website ran a video of the project mockup model in their 'Picture of the Week' feature;
over 200 visitors viewed the project.AvWeb reports FAA predicts 0.9% General Aviation growth rate over next 20 years.
This obviously ignores development of flying cars, which would give about a +120% rate.
The Chinese government has announced plans to, over the next five years,
invest more than $228 billion to improve its aviation industry.
*Generally negative articles in POPULAR SCIENCE and POPULAR MECHANICS about other
flying car projects were rebutted and clarified as omitting any mention of this project and
how it resolves the problems discussed in the articles, such as the physics of taking off.*Added a graphic of a B-52 to *History to illustrate how, when the wing flaps
are deployed to provide lift at a low angle of attack, the level attitude allows a quadricycle landing gear.
The same actions are embodied in the StrongMobile designs, as explained in detail at *calcs.
with a click on the link to the section about Launch and Take-Off.
Rich: I have circulated your information around, and I wanted to get back to you with some comments. First, the general consensus is that DoD doesn't have a requirement for a flying car right now. I might suggest that you take advantage of the new personnel coming in with the change of administrations and try this again in about 6 months to see if you get a better response. Second, the DoD has been working hard to eliminate the use of gasoline in the field for a while, and we are pretty well there now. Recommend you look into the use of one of the new generation of small diesel aircraft engines now in development, in place of the converted Subaru power plant. Integration with the DoD logistics system is a major driver. Finally, you will be in a better position to get a good response if you have more detailed designs to show, so more design work might help. Good luck with your project and as always, thanks for your interest in national defense. AEH Alan Haggerty Deputy Under Secretary of Defense International Technology Security
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