Does anyone here know if / what-section-of FAR rules govern the operation of "ground effect" vehicles? Specifically, how high can a machine fly AGL before its technically classified as an aircraft and not a hovercraft, hydroplane-boat, Ecronoplan, etc.? Is there a loophole for a powered...

Veedub: Usually I defer to your great wealth of knowledge about all things that fly. But in this case, I feel the need to point out a few corrections to your statements about the 1903 Wright motor, per my last reading of "The Papers of Wilbur & Orville Wright" (complied from letters and field...

Looks like our old friend Paul is at it again. Reminds me a lot of the contractor-guy in that movie "The Money Pit". (When will my house be done? Oh, in about two weeks!) Right. And Jerry Lewis said that we were only a few years away from a cure for MD. That was in 1977. At least the reporter...

Behold fellow aviators, for I have finally lighted that damned welding torch that I got for Christmas...last year. Yep, bought a "b" tank and an empty 40cu/ft oxy. tank off Ebay from Indiana Oxygen Co. Shipped out next day and items were exactly as described. And free shipping! Swapped it out at...

Hello everyone. I've been practicing. Tubemiter has generated a working set of templates, The angle grinder and my dad's 1/2 round tripple-cut ******* were given a thorough workout. I even made a pilgrimage to H-F on Saturday and picked up a tubing notcher. (Do those (insert slur of your choice)...

Wilbur and Orville Wright are the source of many a great quote. They had a perspective on life, work, and the flying problem that many folks would do well to adopt. That being: chop the problem into little peices and work on them in stages. And if you don't know how to do something, then get some...

Hello everyone, Remember a while back that I was having problems with the incredibly long, tall, narrow, light trailer that I built to haul my Wright Brothers machine? If you have forgotten, that wonderfully practical (cheap) trailer had a tendancy to roll faster than a Pitts in a crosswind....

For the past few days, I've been working on a project that is semi- related to aviation. That is, its related by the fact that the skills necessary to complete it may also be usefull in building an aircraft. I like to think of it as a training project. What I'm building is a kinetic-sculpture...

Finished up my kinetic sculpture at 6:30 AM last Saturday morning. Made it to the race by 8:30. (Photos available at: http://www.kineticists.org/Community/tabid/56/forumid/1/threadid/278/scope/posts/Default.aspx) Sound familiar? Good news though. By the end of the project I was making fairly...

While browsing a bit more of that "good 'ole internet wizdom", I ran accross this page: http://www.ihpva.org/com/PracticalInnovations/materials.html Its a human-powered vehicle website, but on this page, the author seems to think that 4130 cro-mo steel can't be welded with an oxy- acetylene...

Damned if it ain't flew. Well sorta. On Tuesday we had chinooks here in Boulder, so at lunch I snuck over to Scott Carpenter Park (uh huh that guy has a park named after him) and managed 14 flights with the replica Wright 1899 kite before it rendered itself unflyable. This may have been the first...

Anyone know what this type of engine weighs? I know that hog-air claims 200 lbs, but that's with a starter, PSRU (PRSU?), exhaust, etc. I'm wondering what the engine itself weighs with its standard starter, and nothing else. Any bikers in here have a spare engine and a scale? My much-discussed...

LOL! Correct me if I'm wrong, but anything that could climb at 60,000 per minute would probably be powered by a big-ass rocket engine and piloted by someone named Yeager, Crossfield, Glenn, etc... Excepting of course for Burt Rutan's ship. All of us poor-boy hang-glider pilots use electronic...

FYI to everyone on RAC: I have recently moved from Covington, GA (20 mi. east of Atlanta) to Lafayette, CO (20 mi. west of Denver.) The Wright 1902 glider, airshow equipment, etc. were towed out (in their trailer) about two weeks ago. The first two days were uneventful. However, the weather...

DONE!!!! Yep, I finally broke down and drug the table saw up the stairs. Made a v-block out of a chunk of 2x4 that I salvaged from a dumpster. Tried the v-block yesterday, and after 2 hours of setup time, finally got everything aligned and drilled the holes in the bike frame. Following that I...

For some time now, I've been thinking about building a replica of Ben Epps' 1907 monoplane. For those of you not familiar with Georgia aviation, this was the first plane built and flown in the state. Ben's youngest son, Pat Epps, currently owns the big FBO at DeKalb-Peachtree in Atlanta. This page...

Just wondering what the general consensus is on the best method of welding 4130 tube structures. Advantages / disadvantages of each considering I will be building in an attached garage, in a residential subdivision, and will be limited to a 110AC/ 20 amp service? Is an off-the-shelf MIG unit like...

If anyone out there will admit to driving a C-172, I have a question. In MS FlightSim 2003, Rod the VR flight instructor tells me that I should be controlling my altitude with the throtle, and my airspeed with the elevator? Does that make sense? In Microsoftland, I've got to constantly play with...

According to the NBAA website, there will be a reproduction Epps 1907 monoplane hanging in the enterance hall of the Georgia World Congress Center for the NBAA 2007. In fact, it should be there right now. Anyone going to, or at, NBAA 2007 in Atlanta? Anyone near Atlanta? Can you get me a photo or...

Hello everyone, I'm having an issue with my H-F acetylene torch rig. After nearly a year of non-use, I fired it up over the weekend. Ox side was fine and working exactly as expected. But the Act. regulator is having the following issues: 1. With the regulator t-handle unscrewed completely, open...