Surely not?
Weight gain, loss of stiffness/risk of breaking(not the same construction, but see the Impact threads)
Also,does it really save space for transport?
There's room for a 2M. fus. (even with a one-piece wing) in most little European cars, unless you want lots of people as well.
Again, perhaps one of those grey boat-like things on the roof might be an option?

Well, -I- wouldn't do it......but that being said, it COULD be done. I'm like you there, I'm not sure the gain would be worth the risk.

-Mike

I'm just thinking out loud really. . . . . . .. . . .

I definatly think it could be done, however i doubt i'll have the heart to slice right through the fuselage when its done.

I have an Alfa Romeo 156 and i know full well there is not a chance in hell of getting the fuselage in to the extent that i'm considering changing to the sportwagon version. a 2M wing will not go in and a 2M fuselage doesnt stand a chance, i've also got a ski hatch in the back seats which i considered for using as well.

Mike, any more chance of some flying shots on the website, it does look good in the air

yeah Ian, I have a load of them and I'm in the process of working with a web designer to redo the site. So, give it a week or so, and everything should be up and running like it needs to be.

Also take special note that I have finalized the shipping prices overseas, and adjusted some prices due to the fact that carbon canopies are temporarily unavailable. As soon as I find a new supply, they'll be back, but I'm afraid I may have to increase the price. This stuff is getting very difficult to get in the weights and weaves I need for these canopies.

The good news is I've been working with some new layups using a different S Glass, and the weight and stiffness is very comparable to carbon, at a fraction of the cost.

Anyway, I need to get back to work, have to deliver one to a local club member tomorrow.

-Mike

I've got an airplane, cool!

a few detail pics...

Looks great Dean, I bet you can't wait!!! looks like your doing doing a top notch job building that thing. Win a few more in sportsman and you might have a back up, lol

I've seen a few 37% Godfrey Extra 300's with a split fuselage. All the points about extra weight etc. are correct ofcourse. It does work, but personally, it always made me a bit nervous to trust keeping the tail on via the method I saw and it was heavy. It was basically just a pair of mating thick ply plates with guide dowels and metal bolts, so there was a lot of concentrated stress on those bolts. It might work better with 3 or 4 smallish CF tubes, similar to how we do wing tubes, to allow the stress to be distributed longitudinally and not be carried by the fasteners. Then, you could just use a few nylon bolts to join and not worry about vibration undoing them in flight.

Done correctly, it might not add alot of weight and could be worked into the strength and stiffness of the structure fore and aft of the mating point. I'm thinking that by integrating them to the structure along the outer edges of the formers it could work out.

If using a YS 160 would there be any benefit or necessity of moving the wing forward a little bit for balancing purposes? Or would doing this mess up other things?

Thanks,,,,,,,,,Dave

Yep, I strongly suggest moving the wing forward about 1/4"-3/8", depending whether or not the servos for the elevators will be in the stabs.

The optimal placement for the CG seems to be about 1/8" behind the front edge of the wing tube.

-Mike

Thanks Brian! it's becoming a labor of love... and hopefully I'll be flying the Black Magic in a couple months.

See you at Andersonville,

dean

Sure is nice to see someone design and build a wood airplane at the "Local" level. Thanks for the ride and once I get my new workshop built I might try my hand at one.

Has anyone built one that could give the overall dimensions of total wingspan (widest measurement), height (including prop and fixed gear) and length with prop installed?

I am trying to get a visual of whether this would fit in the limited space here for storage between flights.

Thanks.

you should go to Mike's web site customeairframes.com all the specs are there

customairframes.com sorry

Mike won Advanced with the Black Magic in Andersonville this last weekend. Watching this plane fly was a treat!

Congratulations Mike,

Be great if somebody has a video of one flying, I'm in the UK so wont get a chance to see it unless somebody can.

Thanks Evan, it was nice to meet you! Best of luck with the build, just let me know if you need anything.

Yep I managed to win every round except the one where I broke my fuel tank loose in my negative snap. Tank cut the fuel lines, slammed into the nose, dumped about 6-8 oz of fuel inside the plane......

But, it's fine, I just put new rubber bands (and more of them) in place and finished it out. No damage. I filled the fuse with kitty litter, but it didn't seem to soak anything up. It was dry feeling, but now some parts have an icky green tint [:'(]

Anyway, the web site has been revamped a bit. Have a look, I fanally have someone working on it that knows what they're doing!

[link=http://www.customairframes.com]Custom Airframes[/link]

-Mike

Oh and BTW, the carbon stuff is available again, and I don't forsee a shortage any time soon. So, everything is in stock!

-Mike

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Mike,

Try using fuel tubing instead of rubber bands. . .
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You didn't see that snap. I'm thinking 1/4" stainless braided cables.......

-Mike

Think Velcro

Instead of one big tank why not 2 small tanks, wouldnt this require less fixing in place ?,

Noob question, what size tanks you using 450cc ?

I think I broke velcro 6 or 8 times already [8D]

And I'm using a 580cc tank. 2 sequences a flight. I just need to secure it better.

-Mike

Big News

July 1, I will have available a fairly full set of wood parts for the Black Magic V2. These are hand cut from my own templates. This set will include all formers, root ribs, false ribs, firewall, gear block, canopy frame, etc. You will still have to provide the sheeting and capping, stringers and such, but this set will substantially reduce the work required of the builder. Pricing TBD and I should have it on the web site next weekend. I tried and tried to get this done in either CNC or laser, but I hate laser cutting and by the time I go through the trouble of getting a CNC set up I may as well do them myself. (Well, the wife will be doing the lion's share!)

I will also integrate this into a "Level 3" kit, which will include all of these wood parts, all cores, composites, drawings etc.

Also I am going to run a "pre-Nats" special, as it looks like I will have to take a trailer to the Nats anyway. I might as well knock some off the price and bring a few more. I'll need the $$ in advance, because space is limited. But I will also extend the pricing to anyone else, but the customer will have to pay shipping.

I'm also working on having some fuse jigs available in the future. And hopefully by this fall, I'll have a full kit, but that depends on the availability of the wood that this plane needs.

So, I don't have the pricing down yet, but if you're interested at all, be ready in the next week or so!

-Mike

PS I'm not entirely sure about the canopy frame yet, because that piece needs to be FLAT and even if I cut it from a flat piece, by the time it gets to you it may be curled...that's the nature of lite ply.