Folding wings

I wonder how many times the Wright Brothers heard this statement or
something like it.

I agree the challenges are great and his statement ignores many
engineering issues that are required for adding additional weight to
the airplane (i.e. Additional wing area required, Addtional structure
required, the Addtional weight of these additional structures) I can
come up with many well reasoned and logical reasons why it won't work.

I think the Wright brothers were probably in the same boat when they
started, But their greatest acheivement was their ability to solve
difficult problems and question and attempt to prove or disprove all
the known issues. They started off with little understanding of
engineering and design (related to aircraft) and were clueless as to
the what it would take to acheive flight, So they taught themselves in
a way that no one else had and as result were successful.

I remember when the Rubik's cube 1st came out I had no Idea how it
could do what they it did. After I had disassembled it it seemed easy.

I am careful to tell people what the can't do, while most will fail. A
few are just clueless and crazy enought to be succesfull.

Brian

...Add some turn signals, brake lights, etc, and that's it...

Whatever the contraption, could you take it around an obstacle course?
To my knowledge there's only one tricycle CAR in the world (it's
British). There's a reason.

For the added weight, is the solution as simple as adding power?

We did this with model rockets - took a little one designed for a 1/4A
engine and put a C6-5 in it. The engine went higher than we could
track, the fins remained on the launch pad.

For the added weight, is the solution as simple as adding power?

I'm pretty sure it's already been done. But there's a bit more to it
than just taxiing on the street. It needs to be safe on the street.

Jose
--
Nothing is more powerful than a commercial interest.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

mindenpilot wrote:

OK, you have to humor me on this.
I'm not talking about anything unrealistic (like Moller's skycar, etc).
But what would prevent a design (even low performance/ultra light to start)
that would allow a pilot to fly into an airport, then fold up his wings and
cruise down surface streets at 45mph?



Just for fun, lets explore this idea some more. Obviously weight is the
biggest problem or you could just mount a folding wing, tail feathers
and prop to your Honda. The weight of a transmission to drive the
wheels directly alone would probably add to much weight to be
practical. So you suggested driving it with the prop with some kind of
cage around it. If you are going to put a cage around the prop, you
might as well make it useful. Make it a pusher prop with a ducted fan
instead of a normal simple prop. I think some home builder is working
on a design like that. Second have you ever noticed how amazingly
horrible the ground handling of every airplane I have ever seen is? To
make it road worthy, even if just for non-highway use, you would have to
have a more car like suspension. That of course is going to add a
significant amount of weight to the machine. One of the reasons
airplanes are so unstable on the ground is, by necessity the main wheels
need to be pretty close to the CG. I'm not sure you could get good
ground handling with out moving the main wheels further from the CG.
Tires alone are going add a huge amount of weight, if you try and drive
around on typical airplane tires you are going to be replacing them
every time you turn around. Finally brakes, you are never going to
drive a vehicle like this on the road with out a much better brake
system than most airplanes have, and again that is going to add a lot of
weight. As another poster so rudely put it, no you can't make up for
weight with more horse power. Obviously it can and has been done, but I
doubt you will ever see a flying car that can drive or fly very good at
all.

A much better idea is a flying garage Just get a small car and a
DC-3, and you have the best of both worlds

--
Chris W

Gift Giving Made Easy
Get the gifts you want &
give the gifts they want
http://thewishzone.com

"They that can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, 1759 Historical Review of Pennsylvania

Anti-Gravity ?
If there is a will there is a way. I think the only thing keeping it from
happening is the cost. There is no way to make it cost efficient at this
time.

On Sun, 6 Feb 2005 19:25:59 -0800, "mindenpilot"
wrote:

OK, you have to humor me on this.
I'm not talking about anything unrealistic (like Moller's skycar, etc).
But what would prevent a design (even low performance/ultra light to start)
that would allow a pilot to fly into an airport, then fold up his wings and
cruise down surface streets at 45mph?

Here is a website describing Moult Taylors Aerocar as well as other
types.

http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/aircraf.../info/info.htm

Corky Scott

Chris W wrote:

Just for fun, lets explore this idea some more. Obviously weight is
the
biggest problem or you could just mount a folding wing, tail feathers

and prop to your Honda.

That's pretty much what past attempts at flying cars have done.
Google for "aerocar" and "convaircar". For a more current project,
head on over to http://www.aerocar.com/ and see the Aerocar 2000.
It's pretty much the same concept with a Lotus Elise. One of Molt
Taylor's last efforts at a flying car came in the 80s. I think it was
called the Aerocar IV and consisted of a Honda CRX with detachable wing
and tail assembly. As I recall, that one had a 500 shp turboprop.

John Galban=====N4BQ (PA28-180)

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 15:13:56 GMT, Jose
wrote:

...Add some turn signals, brake lights, etc, and that's it...

Whatever the contraption, could you take it around an obstacle course?
To my knowledge there's only one tricycle CAR in the world (it's
British). There's a reason.

Hmmm, a small ATV with a detachable powered chute? You won't get
anywhere fast but a big enough chute might carry the thing.

Corky Scott

Here's something like what you are looking for--a roadable vehicle that
can fly. It is a parachute conversion for a Honda Reflex motorcycle.



http://www.ultralightnews.com/airven.../flitebike.htm

George Patterson writes:

The two approaches I've read about are 1) Have the wings and empennage attach
to the car. The car lands, unhooks the assembly, and leaves it at the airport.
2) Use detachable and folding wings and tailfeathers and trailer them. The EAA
museum at Oshkosh has one of these on display.

A (Lotus) concept car for #1 was on display at Oshkosh a couple years ago.

--kyler

Jose writes:

To my knowledge there's only one tricycle CAR in the world (it's
British).

http://www.3wheelers.com/azlist1.html

There's a reason.

Laziness?

--kyler