From another thread...


If Peter were serious, he'd purchase or build a Velocity, then prove out some of his ideas on it. I really want to know how you take that basic shape, use 60% the power and get 150% of the speed. What is it, 3.3x more drag from 300kt to 200kt? Or retrofit the Velocity with a cabin O2 concentrator and show us how you can fly at FL250... never mind, scratch that.

Thinking about his box-wing -- I'm not sure why he went to that, maybe because it looks different, or he really wants to fit in a 2-car garage -- but structurally, if the top of the wing is going to be generating significant lift, I'd think it would be worth it to put a structural member between the top wing and the fuselage. Otherwise all the lift has to be transferred through the bottom wing. That bottom wing is really cut up on this design, with gear, the blowers, probably fuel tanks.

My guess is Raptor 2 is just a CAD exercise. More power to him, if what he really enjoys is drawing pretty pictures with animations in CAD.

I can't wait to see him start selling this...
In this video, he makes so many claims, it's difficult to pin point which one is the nuttier...

The weird thing is that some people will actually give him money...

I won't write him a check until he adds to his claim that he can make the whole thing transparent.. Always loved to have an invisible airplane...

Just WOW

At first I thought oh this looks cool and he must be working with someone that has the tech and can help. Then a couple minutes in I realized he has just been by himself creating a 3d model for the last year.

He has not learned a thing from his last experience which is the worst part of all. I love the enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit. But true entrepreneurs learn from their failures and improve. He seems to have gone backwards.

Ideas and dreams are worth nothing without the ability to execute. Especially when the dreams and ideas are disconnected from the reality of physics.

I just hope he does not sucker someone into giving him money. But if he does that’s on them for being so gullible.

Btw- I have followed him from the beginning and I am pretty sure I have seen every video. What a waste of my time. Haha I could have learned to play the piano in that time. So I am just as much a sucker.


Mike

If Peter were serious, he'd purchase or build a Velocity, then prove out some of his ideas on it. I really want to know how you take that basic shape, use 60% the power and get 150% of the speed. What is it, 3.3x more drag from 300kt to 200kt? Or retrofit the Velocity with a cabin O2 concentrator and show us how you can fly at FL250... never mind, scratch that.

Thinking about his box-wing -- I'm not sure why he went to that, maybe because it looks different, or he really wants to fit in a 2-car garage -- but structurally, if the top of the wing is going to be generating significant lift, I'd think it would be worth it to put a structural member between the top wing and the fuselage. Otherwise all the lift has to be transferred through the bottom wing. That bottom wing is really cut up on this design, with gear, the blowers, probably fuel tanks.

I agree that Peter has gone completely delusional. And Ford probably already has him on their ‘crazies’ list — as in do not communicate with in any way.

Best,

Tom

Nah, it’s no different than watching your favorite series on TV. Yeah, it’s a waste of time, but it’s entertainment.

The really exciting part comes when he gets a flyable prototype. I can’t wait for that

I don’t believe for a second any of the claims about his ducted fan concept (1500 lbs thrust from 180 hp in particular), but someone called on this and said what about an R-22 main rotor that produces 1400 lbs of thrust from 80 hp? Yeah, but…..

Does anyone know anything about this? Why can a large diameter rotor produce so much thrust on so little power? It is probably simple aerodynamics but I do not know the reason.

for the same reason a sailplane can fly so well on very little power. long thin wings done right can be very efficient.

Your gut instinct is correct. This stuff is aerospace propulsion 101. If you want to make a lot of thrust, you can use a little bit of horsepower to move a lot of air slowly, or you can use a lot of horsepower to move a little bit of air fast.

The problem with the low horsepower approach is it's like a truck with a lot of torque but not much horsepower- it'll handily pull a huge boat up the boat ramp and get it going to city speeds reasonably well, but it'll be nothing special on the highway. What's worse, tow that sucker up a steep hill and everybody behind you will be cursing.

Upwards of 10-20 lbs of static thrust from 1 hp is pretty normal in a light helicopter (ground effect helps for about another 10% benefit, neat to know). About 3 or 4 lbs thrust per hp is normal with a large diameter climb propeller (maybe better with those extreme STOL contest airplanes).

Back to the idea of how much air are you moving so you can estimate how much horsepower you need to achieve the desired thrust, the R22 has a 25' main rotor though. How big are the ducted fans on this NG? 5' ~ish?

It’s the standard reasoning of our buddy Pete. If he doesn’t understand an aerodynamic principle, he just dismisses it as irrelevant, and then concocts some half-baked reasoning why it doesn’t apply to his project. Or, in the case of Raptor 1.0, half-baked reasoning why the transonic area rule does apply. It appears “half-baked” is right in Pete’s wheelhouse.

My understanding was it was 1500 lbs of thrust PER BLOWER, and the three blowers were powered from 2x 90 HP generators. So 4500 lbs of thrust from 180 HP, giving the vertical take-off.

I still maintain this would be an amazing reality TV show.

I think Peter actually believes the stuff he’s saying, which would make it amazingly entertaining. It’s like mythbusters, but instead of an experiment it’s a guy absolutely certain the conveyor belt will prevent the plane from taking off. It would accidentally educate so many about aerodynamics and physics. And maybe psychology.

Unstoppable motivation without understanding is mesmerizing and terrifying all at the same time.

Mike C.

Unstoppable motivation without understanding is mesmerizing and terrifying all at the same time.

Mike C.

My understanding was it was 1500 lbs of thrust PER BLOWER, and the three blowers were powered from 2x 90 HP generators. So 4500 lbs of thrust from 180 HP, giving the vertical take-off.