ORIGINAL: Ed_Moorman
The canard is an original from the fertile mind of Carl "Flaps" Laffert with an occasional sanity check from me. That's his 9th canard and our 22nd twin.
Ugo and I fly together every weekend. He and Flaps are my two flying buds. Flaps is 85 so I drive him out every weekend. He has quit flying and now just builds.
But we have strayed away from the nice flying little Sonic. I have a thread started over in the Twin Forum on the twin fuselage modification. Prograss has been slow as my column is due to be mailed on the 15th and I am working on it. I have already removed the old, 1"-1 1/4" ailerons and have 2" aileron stock and 3/8" tri-stock for wider ailerons. They'll end up being about 2 1/4" wide and should (1) increase the roll rate and (2) lower the wing loading slightly. They add 50 sq in or so.
Flaps will build the new center section with a long dihedral brace. We'll also add a center flap for crow and a landing flap, if needed. I also plan a wider rudder, maybe up to 4" in width. I think the elevator is OK as is.
Sounds like you fellows have a great time together. It's also reassuring to hear that 85 year olds can still maintain an interest and participate in this monomania of ours!
That canard is going to be blast to fly. I am going to check out the 'twin forum' to see what you've done,
Nitro Planes have that 'Long EZ Voyager' on for $114.00 - Looks kind of tempting. I have never built or flown a canard, but apparently they are quite forgiving when it comes to stalling.
I often increase surfaces, too. Since the advent of computer radios, I have become an exponential junkie. Just get as much deflection as possible and dial in a lot of expo. - The best of both worlds!!
Gotta go - take care........J.T. Hammer