From the sketch book
Twister Hybrid. Using a Gas turbine Genset (with 30% efficiency) and a small battery.
French company TurboTech’s gas turbine GenSet. Almost good enough for the Twister Hybrid but still a little too heavy and needs approx 70kW output to be viable.
nXtreme. Design for an Unlimited Reno Racer using a Nemesis NXT airframe with single seat conversion and cutdown canopy with Rolls Royce Griffon powerplant and contra-rotating props.
AerobatEk. Design for an Unlimited aerobatic aircraft. This layout positions the pilot’s head close to the centre of rotation to minimise G effects in tumbling figures as well as providing better visibility. Tricycle landing gear with retractable nose gear for easy handling and no loss of performance. Powered by 8 electric propulsors the wing is ‘blown’ with full span ailerons for max control even at zero airspeeds. The electric propulsors are powered by twin gas turbine gensets in the rear of the fuselage.
VeeTOL. Design for a single seat VTOL aircraft. 8x electric propulsors mounted on small rotating wings provide vertical take off and transition to horizontal for fast forward flight. Gas turbine genset in the rear provides electric power to the propulsors. All airframe parachute for emergencies above 200ft. Lower body contains an ‘airbag’ which would deploy automatically in the event of a sudden drop to the ground, cushioning the impact.
zAero. Design for a TT Zero racer bike. Above 60 mph the dominant force to overcome is aerodynamic drag. This design features all enveloping streamlined bodywork to cut drag down to the minimum. The rider would also be kitted out with a ‘slippery’ over-suit over their traditional leathers. The rider would have to adopt the old style of riding with no leaning or knees out to maintain the least resistance. They could however lean out on slower corners.
QuickE. Design for a modified Rutan Quickie. The original design suffers from a lack of power and lack of yaw authority. 3 electric propulsors would be used. The main one in place of the normal ICE engine at the front and two small motors on the rear wings tips which would reduce vortex tip drag and also provide far greater yaw authority as they could be used differentially. The tailwheel is also modified to be fixed to the rudder so that steering on the ground roll is superior to the original design.
GyroPlane. Design for utilising an existing Gyrocopter but replacing the rotor with a fixed wing. Advantages are a 50% faster cruise speed whilst losing none of the outstanding visibility that the Gyrocopter cockpit offers. Cruise would be expected to be 120 knots versus 80 knots of a typical Gyro.
Lunatic. Design for a speed record machine in the C-1a/0 (Sub 300kg) class. Using a Lak12 Glider fuselage and wing roots as basis for the main structure.
Scalloped trailing edged propellor. Using the same theory as applied to the Boeing Dreamliner engine nacelles to reduce noise. Would it work?
UPDATE: This year I discovered a guy in Austria who is making his own props - Thomas Brandsetter - and lo and behold he is trialing the scalloped trailing edge which he believes will reduce the noise. Exciting times!
Asymmetric race car. Design for a lap record attack car. By placing the driver between the wheels and the powertrain between the other wheels the centre of the car is freed up for a giant wing which sees clean laminar air producing the most downforce for the least drag. The sides would be skirted and the rear sealed with electric fans to suck the car onto the road as per the Brabham Fan Car from F1. 4 wheel electric drive with a 4-rotor rotary turbo-charged engine producing 1,200hp which acts purely as a generator for the electric motors. Lap records would tumble…
Design for Boeing’s GoFly competition. The GoFly competition calls for an easy-to-use, personal flying device. These devices needed to be safe, quiet, ultra compact, and capable of carrying a single person 20 miles or more without refuelling or recharging. This design is controlled via a single ‘stick’ which articulates an all moving single ducted fan. The battery pack in under the seat. Using current battery technology this vehicle would not be capable of a 20 mile range.
Revised design of the above. Now using 6 ducted fans for redundancy and elimination of torque effects. Also the downwash would now be outside of the pilots location. This would need a step-change in battery tech to be viable for anything other than very short joyrides.