zero74

I am new to rc planes, but i am quickly taking a liking to it! Anyways I was looking at flying wings the other night when I was watching a program on street bikes at the same time. Would it be possible to design a flying wing type plane with a place where someone could ride and control from on top? Think of it like cutting a horizontal section off the top of a GSXR, say down to where the fuel tank ends, and attaching it to a huge combat wing or something like it. The wheels of the vehicle would be 2 in the front and 1 in the rear. They would stick 4 inches out of the bottom of the wing, and retract in flight. Does this idea sound nuts or what? The reason why I put this topic in this thread is so that it might give someone an idea for a project. If by shear luck someone makes a lot of money off this idea, which i doubt anyone will, I just want 1% of the net profit and partial credit for the idea.

BMatthews

This has been moved to Full Sized as it's more about the idea of a man carrying design than a model at this point.

As an avid motorcycle rider myself I can see where you would think this is a good idea. But in practical terms it would not be that ideal. First off the rider of a motorcycle uses gravit, hands and knees to stay on the bike. But if such an airplane were to flip over then it would be incredably hard to hold on. So at the very least some sort of restraint belt would be needed. Second the wind over the normal sport bike tends to create quite a bit of a low pressure area over the tucked in rider's back. So the flying suit would need to be quite tight if it was exposed. And finally as an airplane banks and turns it seems to be "climbing" around the turn from the pilot's perspective and to see where they are going they need to angle their heads up. From a typical sportbike crouch that is not easy.. TRUST ME!

There's been a few prone pilot designs over the years and it's this difficulty in being able to look upwards from that position that I strongly suspect has lead to their poor showing.

From a purely aerodynaic standpoint such a hybrid or motorcycle inspired design is quite possible. Perhaps if the aggresive look of the bike could be coupled into a pilot forward cockpit shape but with the pilot seated in a more or less normal semi reclined position you'd have the best of both worlds. Play with some sketches and see what comes out of it.

FLYBOY

My Feedback: (11)

geez, if your going to do it, make it like the ones on the old space show, maybe battlestar galactica where the just jumped on them and they flew. They looked just like a normal bike. Would rock!

zero74

I know if someone made one it would get off the ground, of that I'm certain. Its the control factor while in the air that I am not so certain about. I have also thought about the wind and the way the pilot would have to be mounted on the vehicle, maybe straps could be integrated into a flight suit/ harness with a quick release for emergencies. Either way, its an interesting idea that I thought I would just throw outhere.