Andrew Sanders wrote:
>>It's been a while for updates on the progress of Freebird. Could we
get a few words on how it's going?<<
FreeBird has slowed down for the last few months, but the effort is
ongoing. I haven't checked in with the main CAD designer lately, but
I'm sure he's still plugging away. The "rendering guy" who created the
cool 3D images on the FreeBird site, took a new job that's consuming a
lot of his time, so there's another factor. I have no doubt that
FreeBird will be finished, but just not as quickly as we'd all like.
I'll ping them and report back when I hear.
As for Vne, I've had KR2S N56ML up to about 240 mph TAS....in a dive to
lose altitude to land after flying over HSV's airspace. Having said
that, the elevator was fully balanced, and the rudder was
"aerodynamically balanced". I've dived the "per the plans" KR2 to a bit
less than that....I forget the exact number. I'm not recommending
ANYBODY try this, but I thought it would be a good data point to know.
As others have mentioned, I suspect no real testing was done, just a
dose of conservatism for the plans.
One item to note about FreeBird is performance specs. Somebody pointed
out to me a few months ago that "as published", FreeBird would not meet
the MOSAIC rules so that a "Sport Pilot" could fly it. For that reason,
the specs will likely be amended, but like the Vne numbers, you are free
to test it yourself and make your own decisions...
Mark Langford
m...@n56ml.com
http://www.n56ml.com
Huntsville, AL
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