Our Cap 232 design has been a long time in the works. We've been through several design iterations to get a plane that flies well and is strong, light, and looks nice. I think we've done this.

But as we all know every airplane is a compromise of strength, weight and cost. The more one leans on one or two factors the more the third one gets out of hand. Making a great effort to build a plane both light and strong will certainly result in one that is expensive. If we concentrate on strengh and cost I guarantee it will be heavy.

Anyway, this new plane flies great at 18 pounds with a MVVS 58, should be just about the same as one of our 28% planes in the 17 lb. range with a DA-50. But the fuse is much larger than our 28% planes, leaving us some options.

Many people have asked if it's OK to use a larger engine on the 28% Edge/Extras. I've heard of people using a ZDZ-80 and other huge engines. I always advise against this, but they do it anyway. With the Cap I want to make the plane as versatile as possible.

My plan is to make the plane available in two versions. The first will be the 17lb plane with wing area similar to our 28% planes, 85" span. This is what we have been designing and testing.

We also will be making the Cap available with a larger, stronger set of wings to expand its ability to fly with a larger engine. I hope to offer wings that will expand it to 89" span and a little over 1500 sq. inches of area. They will be sheeted foam and have the CG moved forward on the fuse about 1" allowing use of a larger engine like a ZDZ-80, 3w75, etc. The cowl is huge, wide enough to support small twins like a Brison/Fox 4.8, ZDZ-80b2, or the Roto 70 twin. Some reinforcing to the firewall will be needed, adding a little more weight.

With a ZDZ-80, the 89" wings and some firewall strengthening, the Cap should weigh about 19 pounds, certainly no more than 20. Anybody out there ever flown a ZDZ-80 at 19 pounds? It's exciting.

Will this make it look weird? With the larger wings the cap will have exactly the same proportions as the H9 33% Cap, just at the 30% size.

With the smaller wings it's lighter and the slightly smaller wings are not really noticeable. Fly it with a DA-50 or for outrageous performance the Evo 58.

Comments?

TF