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Seems he heard you...
[youtube]https://youtu.be/K0hXM05og80[/youtube]

Seems he heard you...
[youtube]https://youtu.be/K0hXM05og80[/youtube]

Tim

I was pretty surprised by that also. I guess we all have our level of risk that we are willing to take. I can’t imagine what it takes to get comfortable getting out of a plane that running.

Mike

na·ive·té
/ˌnäˌēvəˈtā,näˈēv(ə)ˌtā/
noun
noun: naivety; noun: naïvety
lack of experience, wisdom, or judgment.

I stopped two minutes in.
Starting the plane, then getting out to remove the tow?
This guy obviously is not thinking about safety or how things fail; and likely will not have a good outcome as a result.
That one is very basic safety consideration. If you have never been around planes, and are building one from scratch, you better be considering failure modes.

Tim

Further in he describes how he fixed the door so it can be opened more easily with one hand so the test pilot can open it in flight while maintaining control with the other hand. This raised my eyebrows twice. First I doubt that he has any idea what the aerodynamic forces will be holding that door shut but it could be considerable given the shape of the cockpit. Second, I don't see any practical way to egress with a chute without getting hit by the wing and probably the spinning prop.

If the test pilot manages to accept this challenge, I would love to know where he buys his underwear... They must be custom made.

Just realized they are a mere 79nm away from me. Very tempting to take a hop over there and take a look.

Wanna become the test pilot?

Wanna become the test pilot?

38 miles for me. Let’s set up a Beechtalk look see !
I spoke with him one day while over flying. He was doing high speed taxi testing. I told him we all (me and who ever) were pulling for him.

That day he was mostly getting in the way of folks.

Wishful thinking... You may have to circle a bit over the airport, with a good telephoto lens.

That bird is made to taxi.

He assumed that the gas shock would open the door just like it does on the ground. I think my eyes rolled a full 180 to the back of my head when he said that one. Remember, this is an experimental plane designed by a guy who didn’t understand the concept of balancing control surfaces and doesn’t understand that airflow will have an impact on the forces needed to open a door.

If the door is openable in whatever form of uncontrollable flight/descent condition the taxicraft (hard to call it an aircraft) is in, and the left wing is still attached, the wing strake comes all the way to the door. The lucky pilot has a shot of using their left hand to grab the strake and guide themselves either above or below the wing. I wouldn’t bet on it, but perhaps the mere possibility of such a maneuver is comforting.

As for the spinning meat grinder, I would not agree to test fly that thing without a prop break or release. Maybe shoot a rod through the reduction gear, or use explosive bolts to jettison the prop before attempting to bail out. I would also insist on quick pull hinge pins on the door. Actually, never mind, I would just insist that the plane be redesigned by someone who understands things like aerodynamics, structures and power plants.

[youtube]https://youtu.be/laW_6jxsQrQ[/youtube]
Hmmm. He forecasts Vr as 97 mph, and max ROC of 1400 fpm. But the ROC graph also shows a positive climb rate down to 40 mph, and 200 fpm at 50. I'm having trouble reconciling that; if it needs 97 mph to generate enough lift to fly, how can it have excess lift to climb at 40-50 mph? Doable with a high enough thrust to weight ratio (think F-15) but this ain't that. He also says max thrust is 1,000 lb. vs. a 3,800 lb. flight test weight.