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Old June 15th 18, 09:57 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
JS[_5_]
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Default New low budget two seater

Another hurdle in producing the Puchatek / Krosno / Peregrine:
From memory, the existing 5000-hour limit never got to the point of having an inspection program for extension. This was to be worked on, but then Barry Aviation was awarded a contract that kept them quite busy.
The glider is a decent trainer: Roomy cockpit, good visibility, instruments front and rear, spin capable, aerotow or winch launching.
Jim


On Friday, June 15, 2018 at 1:14:31 PM UTC-7, Bob Kuykendall wrote:
On Friday, June 15, 2018 at 12:26:35 PM UTC-7, Paul Agnew wrote:
Meanwhile, the jigs for the Peregrine (Krosnos) are just sitting in shipping containers somewhere in Georgia. Could it be produced cost-effectively?


As I understand it, the problem with the Krosnos is that the engineering and certification are based on material specifications and thicknesses common in Europe but basically unobtanium here in the US. You'd need to either source all your materials from Europe, or re-engineer the aircraft to use US materials and thicknesses.

As a practical matter, it's not that hard. As a regulatory matter, however, it's a huge paperwork effort to go through every single blueprint and justify the change from some metric thickness to the nearest inch size. You basically have to re-engineer the entire structure.

Sourcing materials from Europe is a huge gamble. Here in the US there is a fairly fat supply pipeline supporting the homebuilt aircraft movement that currently produces the majority of all new general aviation aircraft. In Europe, the pipeline is a lot thinner and has a lot more friction and regulatory risk aversion, so it is likely that material costs would be a lot more.

Furthermore, given that prices for carbon fiber in terms of cost per unit mass and cost per unit stiffness are steadily declining, I think that carbon fiber is the way to go for any new design, even for a primary trainer.

Thanks, Bob K.