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Thread: Why no homebuilt baby Cessnas?

  1. #11
    MickYoumans's Avatar
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    Last edited by MickYoumans; 11-12-2014 at 09:31 PM.

  2. #12
    cluttonfred's Avatar
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    Something along the lines of the BD-4 but brought down to LSA weight and power would be pretty close to what I have in mind.
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  3. #13
    Murphy Rebel is probably the best all around airplanes in the high wing catagory that is all metal...well, mostly all metal as the flapperons are fabric. Someone already mentioned the Maverick which is a great option but very few were ever sold/build since the Rebel can be configured with anything from the Rotax 912 up to a Lyc. 160 HP. There are even some flying with 180 HP. The Murphy line of aircraft are very popular in Canada.

    I disagree with the earlier comment that everyone likes the low wing better, not me! I much prefer a highwing because I like being able to view the terrain below.

  4. #14

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    Check out the ICP Vimana!!!
    http://www.icpaviazione.it/?page_id=252&lang=en
    rki

  5. #15
    crusty old aviator's Avatar
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    The Vimana looks like an Italian version of the the Zenair 701...
    Yes, I agree that the smaller Murphy designs are what you're describing, Fred! At Oshkosh '77 0r '78, there was an all metal, two place high wing, conventional gear, with an O-235, that debuted as "a working man's airplane." I don't recall her name, though she was very similar to the later Murphy Maverick and Rebel. The two goomers who designed and built her were from Michigan and were seeing what the market would be for offering a kit and plans. They had a little questionaire to that effect. Alas, there wasn't enough interest, because I never sawf them again, and I recall looking up the registration of the bird several years ago, as a photo of her is in Sport Aviation, and she wasn't there...so who knows where that aerofootnote went?

    Pilots tend to prefer the type they learned to fly in. Those who learned in a high wing find the low wings too bright, too hot, and lacking in downward visibility. The low wing crowd find high wing aircraft claustrophobic and too twitchy on the ground in high winds. It's the same case with the tail wheel vs. training wheel preference that pilots also possess.

  6. #16

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    Does the Cruiser fit what your looking for?
    http://www.zenithair.net/introduction-cruzer/

  7. #17

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    The new Merlin PSA is sorta like a single seat baby Cessna:
    http://generalaviationnews.com/2015/...akes-us-debut/

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by cluttonfred View Post
    The late Harris L. Woods lost his life in 1975 in the prototype Aerosport Condor, a simple, VW-powered, all-metal, strut-braced, high-wing two-place design inspired by his earlier cantilever-wing, single-seat Quail. The NTSB accident report indicates that one of the ailerons tore off in flight, suggesting destructive flutter. Development of the Condor ended with his death, which is too bad, as there doesn't seem to have been anything fundamentally wrong with the design that couldn't have been sorted out.



    Regardless, given the fact that so many of us learned to fly in and often still do fly Cessna "spam cans," the configuration and construction are known quantities, so I am pretty surprised that no one is offering a simple, easy-to-build, all-metal high wing design. Not a bushplane or a racer, just a nice little general purpose design like the Condor suitable for the 80-100 hp range that includes the big VW conversions, Rotax 912 models, Jabiru, D-Motor, ULPower, etc. Basically, it would be a high-wing Sonex equivalent, but perhaps with a little more wing area to facilitate operation from smaller fields.

    Are there designs out there that I am missing? Thoughts on whether or not such a type would be well-received?


    It does exist...

    an experimantal version of a Cessna 180 kit plane

    http://www3.sympatico.ca/st-justaviation/

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