Sie sind auf Seite 1von 3

Bushby's "LONG MIDGET"

By George Hardie, Jr.

,. .*:

ver since designer Dave Long brought out his "Midget Mustang" (see SPORT AVIATION, July, 1959) there have been many homebuilders interested in building one for themselves. Several have been built and some are now under construction. Bob Bushby of Dolton, 111., EAA member 26, recently completed his "Midget" and now has over 28 hours of flying time on it.

Bob was working as "line boy" at the Joliet airport


late one night in 1952, talking with Dr. Francis Torrey of Villa Park, 111., about prospective designs to build. A Piper pilot on a ferrying flight stopped in about then and revealed that the estate of the late Dave

Long, including jigs and parts of his "Midget Mustang",


was about to be disposed of. "Doc" Torrey lost no time in contacting Mrs. Long and obtaining the "Midget"

material. Almost immediately construction was started on two aircraft, using some of the parts already completed and making up others from the jigs.

warpage, so blanks were cut to shape from 24 SO, then heat treated and kept in dry ice for approximately 18 hours, and then formed before they hardened. Bob finds that he can make a metal rib in about one third the time it takes to make one of wood (counting varnishing, etc.). Wing skinning was no problem. With the help of an inexperienced friend one panel was covered in eight hours. Thickness of .025 was used and the rivet holes were dimpled. Bob says an easier method would be to use .032. use smaller rivets closer together, and countersink. Dimpling by hand causes problems in lining up the rivet holes. Other design changes he'd recommend would be the use of a piano hinge for the elevators, eliminating the tedious problem of lining up hinges at the time of assembly. A trim tab should also be installed to ease the work of cross country flying. A bungee system would probably be a useful substitute. The fuselage requires an accurate jig to hold the bulkheads in place and presents probably the most difficult job on the whole aircraft for the amateur. The "tail cone", the section from the wing trailing edge to the rudder post, is made first. Sheet stock was used without prior forming, since a bending brake of the required length was not available. Burlap straps were used to draw down the aluminum as it was riveted. This produced a satisfactory job, says Bob, but preformed skin for wing leading edges and fuselage would cut down the labor considerably.

Bushby undertook construction of one of the ships, working in a garage located on his parents' farm. Af-

ter about a year the wing panels and fuselage shell had
been completed, when Bob decided to take a job in San Antonio, Tex. The parts of his aircraft were taken over by Dr. Torrey, who with some of his helpers worked on it spasmodically for the next two years. Then Bob returned from San Antonio and made arrangements to take over the project again on a co-owner basis with Torrey, who was to furnish the material and Bob the labor. The aircraft was completed under this arrangement. Bob had one advantage in working on this "Midget" the bulkheads were those from the Long collection (although he later formed several more for other projects). He also had the original Long formica jigs to work with, forming the aluminum by hand

Wing leading edges used on Bob's ship were preformed at Piper Aircraft for Dave Long. They differ from the drawings by having a larger radius. Bob thinks this gives better stall characteristics to his ship, although it affects the speed. He says he flew another Midget built with leading edges formed according to drawing specifications and found it faster but it had a quick stall with little warning. Evidently this larger leading edge radius was a modification by Cantinued on next page

using a plastic mallet or hunks of lead. The ribs are of


.025 and a shrinker was used to complete the bend. On the bulkheads, made of .032 aluminum, the edges are crimped as described in Jim Graham's "Tin Bender" articles, since the greater thickness precludes use of the shrinker. First 24 ST was tried, then SO, forming

it and having it heat treated.

This method produced

Bob's "Midget" and a PA-17 at the farm.


SPORT AVIATION 5

BUSHBY'S . . . Continued from preceding page Dave Long that was never incorporated into his drawings. After completing the wings and fuselage of the ship, Bob claims the work is only half completed. The control system was not shown in Long's drawings so Bob and his partners had to design one. Cessna rudder pedals were used. Ailerons are connected differentially to counteract drag. The cockpit is quite roomy - 22 in. wide, and the instrument panel is mounted about 29 in. from the seat back, giving plenty of leg room. Bob wears a back-pack chute with plenty of room. The windshield is from a PQ-14, and although it is somewhat larger than necessary, it worked out very well. The rest of the canopy is hand formed, and is hinged on the right side. It is designed for a tight fit to the windshield and at the cockpit rear bulkhead, and is operated by sliding rearward one - half inch and then flopping over to the right. Visibility is excellent. The cowling and spinner were adapted from another ship in hopes of saving time in order to make the 1959 Fly-In. However, trouble with construction of the gas tank delayed completion and the initial flight did not take place until September 9. The ship is heavier due to the large canopy, the oil tank is of iron instead of aluminum, and the cowl is larger than shown on the drawing. The engine cooling baffles are somewhat unique in that the engine cooling is entirely independent of the cowling. This simplifies cowl construction to a great extent and works very well. At the Fort Wayne air races Bob had to wait over 30 minutes, idling the engine. The oil temperature never exceeded 140 deg. and the cylinder head temperature never got above 225 deg. F. Landing gear is of spring steel, mounted on a torque tube connected to the rear spar. Bob says it's a bit stiff and if he was to make another he would use 4 in. stock rather than the % in. called for. Narrowing the strut would also allow a softer gear. Ideal would be a Wittman tubular type mounted off the engine mount ahead of the firewall. This type would save about 15 Ibs. of weight and provide a simpler, softer gear. The flight characteristics turned out to be much better than expected, says Bob. The plane is comparitively easy to fly, and is similar to a Culver Cadet in handling. Test flights were made from Morris airport off the concrete strip. High speed test runs made on Bob's farm sod strip resulted in losing clips out of his Goodyear brakes caused by the vibration. He's not had this trouble since, although he has been flying it off the 2000 ft. farm strip. Takeoff distance is approximately 600 ft. and climb-out at 90 mph indicated is steep. With no wind a 400 ft. altitude can be attained by the time the end of the strip is reached. Rate of climb checks out to be 1750 fpm. Aileron rolls can be performed with both feet on
power off stall speed without flaps is 63 mph, while stall with full flaps is at 57 mph. There is ample stall warning in the form of tail buffeting at 5 to 10 mph before the actual stall. Recovery is very quick upon relaxing elevator pressure, or applying power. The flaps are very effective and give the plane a nice
the floor. The stall characteristics are very good -

1. Bulkheads, spars, flaps and aileron. 2. Landing gear detail. 3. Cockpit and panel. 4. Tail wheel and rudder post detail 5. Wing panel ready for top skin. 6. "On the gear" after one year's work.

glide. The procedure Bob uses is first or second notch under 100 mph and full flaps at 80 mph, with an approach speed of 70-75 mph. Without power the approach is like that of a loaded Tri-pacer, so Bob likes

to hold a little power to flatten it out. landings are always made.


6 MAY 1960

Three point

ideal speed range and Bob feels that a two-position prop would provide what he wants. Fuel consumption is 4.2 gal. per hour, which indicates a low power output. The present propeller turns up 2250 rpm at takeoff and 3000 rpm full power in level flight. Since he has plenty of take-off and climb performance, a Continued on Page 28

Cruising speed is not as good as expected - 148 mph, but Bob thinks this is due partly to the propeller he is using. It is a cut-down metal prop which he classes as a "climb" propeller. This does not provide the

sure travel is obtained. In the end, the lightest, simplest, best-performing method of minimizing adverse yaw effect proved to be the Frise type aileron, and retention of aileron control well into the stall is now obtained by wing twist, which makes the root stall first and the tip stall last. Tip ailerons mess up the wing tip vortices and add drag, they spoil climb, they are structurally heavy, and pose so much of a flutter and control force problem that they seem a profitless path for designers to follow. This is not to say that they won't work or can't be made to work, but that since it is possible to gain the desired advantages more easily and reliably by using Frise ailerons and twisted wings, the fellow who wants to get into the air with minimum effort and maximum safety would do well to stick to common aileron forms. After all, common features of today's airplanes are used not because of the designer's lack of imagination but because they are the result of many decades of work to find the most practical ways of making airplanes! Q
SKYHOPPER PLANS

FACTS ON AILERONS . . . From page 16 to be rather stiffly made to take all the control and air loads at its pivot point and distribute it without deflection. In short, tip ailerons and their controls can work out to be heavier and more complex than plain ailerons, and the problem grows more acute with increased span. A tip aileron is of course an extension of the wing, and normally would have the wing's airfoil if a noticeable and objectionable discontinuity is to be avoided where wing ends and aileron begins. Given any commonly used wing airfoil, the center of pressure of a tip aileron will have that airfoil's normal amount of center of pressure travel with varying angle of attack. This quirk leads directly to problems of control linkage and leverage. NASA found that tip ailerons usually resulted in appreciably heavier control stick loadsup to three times as great for plain ailerons giving the same amount of rolling action. If the pivot point is located reasonably far back on the tip aileron, there is of course a greater aerodynamic balancing effect, which would be useful in reducing control loads if it were not for one thing . . . it appears to aggravate tip aileron flutter problems. You can stop flutter by moving the pivot point forward, but in so doing you reduce aerodynamic balance and increase the control forces. The use of aerodynamically efficient long, narrow tip ailerons leads to a reduction in structural stiffness and an increased proneness to flutter. To get away from this by going into short, wide tip ailerons leads to increased control loads because an airfoil of greater chord and consequently greater center of pres-

BUSHBY'S "LONG MIDGET" . . . From page 6 ' higher pitch prop would give an improvement. A controllable pitch prop would of course be the best. The ship turned out to be heavier than the 525 Ibs. empty weight of the original built by Dave Long Bob's weighs 572 Ibs. empty. Additional weight is due to the canopy, cowl and thicker spar stock used in the wing. Wing loading works out to about 10 Ibs. per sq. ft. The ruggedness of the ship is evidenced by the 7% G's registered in flight test. Bob is completely sold on the superiority of metal construction over "tube and rag". He says the actual hours required for construction are no more for metal than the more common fabric job, if everything is counted. He figures that it's possible for the average builder to build a "Midget" in about two years of spare time work if he's not held up by a lack of capital, an overly-demanding full-time job, etc. Durability of metal over fabric, with economy of upkeep as an added feature, makes the former extremely attractive. He says he was comparatively inexperienced at the start but close study of CAM 18 and the assistance of available information helped a lot. In particular he found the "Tin Bender" articles by EAAer Jim Graham (see the EXPERIMENTER for July, September, October and November, 1957) to be very helpful. Bob works in the research department of Sinclair Oil Co., and is a licensed A & E mechanic and a commercial pilot with flight instructor's rating as well. He does A & E work part time, and his "spare" time has been devoted to the "Midget" project. He has offered to assist other "Midget" builders in EAA his home address is 14612 S. Edbrooke Ave., Dolton, 111. A
Error in "Tapered Wings"

An unfortunate typographical error appeared in John Thorp's article "Tapered Wings are for Birds and Very Large Airplanes" in the April issue of SPORT AVIATION, which changed the meaning of one sentence. On page 7 at the bottom of the center column the sentence should read "The maximum lift coefficient of a wing section is a function of its local Reynolds number". Author John Thorp is preparing other factual and educational articles which will appear in future issues of SPORT AVIATION. Next to appear will be "Which Airfoil Section?" in the June issue. "How Much Aspect Ratio?" and "Performance at a Glance" will be two in the series to follow. We indeed appreciate the opportunity to present this valuable information authored by one of aviation's outstanding aircraft designers.

ONE MAN TWO PLACE - $50.00 MONEY BACK OFFER

HELICOPTER
known "SKYHOPPER" frotr
SPECIAL OFFER

Build the

SKYHOPPER AIRPLANES, INC.


3500 Enville Place MAY 1960 Los Angeles 16, Calif. 28

All ribs and fittings are drawn full size and may be used directly as templates in fabricating parts. Approximately 300 sq. ft. of drawings supplied.

clear, simplified and easy to read drawings.

world

Inboard, ThreeView, Photos and


Data 52.00

True copter, no belts, chains or power plant shortcuts. You build from our drawings. Parts available. Send $2.00 for photo, 3-view drawing, specifications and design information. Send $2.00 for our book "Basic Helicopter Aerodynamics", uses above helicopter as example problem for performance calculations.

HELICOPTER

RESEARCH
BOX 121

CO.

Write for

descriptive literature.

LA MIRADA, CALIFORNIA

Das könnte Ihnen auch gefallen