Well, what can I say? Early days, but so far so good! The drawings are of excellent quality and clarity and are backed up with a great build manual containing much advice. The design is simple and has a nice rounded look but without complex curves. As many have said ... very pretty!
I can see why the LAA dislike the rudder control set up, but don't let that detract from the otherwise excellent design. The rudders hang down from a cross tube straddling the upper longerons. they are elongated "squared C" in shape, and quite stalk like. As such they may be weak and would experience a twist force that may accentuate wear. Further to this, the connection between the pedals and rudder is via heavy duty "bowden" type cable, not unlike throttle cables. I'm not so sure I'd trust that idea to last well in service. I see no reason why a normal pedal and exposed cable set up could not be easily incorporated and that is what the LAA would like. I've had a good chat with Nigel Bamber of the LAA and he is very upbeat about the aircraft. FD has put him in charge of overseeing the CX4, which I see as a good thing as Nigel is likely to be more accessable than Francis and probably has more time to dedicate to the project.
So as it stands we have an as yet unapproved but very sound design which the LAA are confident will see no significant problems. As the first few projects (or lead aircraft if one builder tears ahead of the rest) take shape Nigel will check the odd thing here and there, and may ask for a little work to rectify any weaknesses. However, he anticipates any such rectification to be small.
I've been ringing around to source materials and have found the 12'X4' sheets of 6061-T6 may be awkward to obtain. They can be sourced, but have to be bought over from the US. their size would mean they have to be palletised, so collaboration between builders would significantly reduce the freight charges. Having looked at the drawings and confirmed it with Dave Thatcher, the 12' sheets could be cut to 8' if that helps with freight costs ... So if anybody knows of a good source of 6061 T6, please let me know.
All the best, Ivan
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R1150R