On Friday we completed the last major part of the airplane -- the fuselage fairing. Pretty much done and ready to fly!
The fairing has aluminized Mylar in back to keep the heat load down, and a cooling duct that should direct air onto the pilot's head. The Mylar is not fully tightened yet in these photos, and we hope to be able to remove at least some of the remaining wrinkles before flight.
The shape is somewhat modified from the original concept to make enough clearance for the feet around the pedals and cranks. This means there is a bit more of a protrusion at the nose than originally intended, but it came out pretty well.
If we ever do a version 2.0 of the fuselage fairing, the bottom tub and front nose portion would be replaced by a molded Kevlar tub. What we have now, which uses only formers and ribs made of laminated balsa and carbon fiber, is lighter, but isn't as aerodynamically smooth as a molded tub would be.
It will be interesting to see how this current version fares on first test flights.
Getting into the pilot seat is a challenge. The second rib from the bottom is fairly low so the pilot has to carefully duck his head underneath when getting in. One also needs to make sure the feet are carefully moved until they get onto the pedals -- the very lightweight materials used for the ribs, formers and tub are fairly delicate. With a bit of practice, though, it becomes second nature.
The fairing has aluminized Mylar in back to keep the heat load down, and a cooling duct that should direct air onto the pilot's head. The Mylar is not fully tightened yet in these photos, and we hope to be able to remove at least some of the remaining wrinkles before flight.
The shape is somewhat modified from the original concept to make enough clearance for the feet around the pedals and cranks. This means there is a bit more of a protrusion at the nose than originally intended, but it came out pretty well.
If we ever do a version 2.0 of the fuselage fairing, the bottom tub and front nose portion would be replaced by a molded Kevlar tub. What we have now, which uses only formers and ribs made of laminated balsa and carbon fiber, is lighter, but isn't as aerodynamically smooth as a molded tub would be.
It will be interesting to see how this current version fares on first test flights.
Getting into the pilot seat is a challenge. The second rib from the bottom is fairly low so the pilot has to carefully duck his head underneath when getting in. One also needs to make sure the feet are carefully moved until they get onto the pedals -- the very lightweight materials used for the ribs, formers and tub are fairly delicate. With a bit of practice, though, it becomes second nature.
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| The completed fuselage fairing (in test rig frame) |
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| Aluminized Mylar on back half to reduce heat load. Still needs more tightening. |
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| Finished fairing with open pilot door. (Can be covered after ingress.) |
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| Idler pulley assembly with chain |
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| Alignment issue with front idler pulley -- we'll fix with angled washers |
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| Testing out the new fairing -- thicker 0.010" Mylar provides a clear view out the front |
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| Working on the air inlet |
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| Side view |
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