Help Design an Airplane!

[Fly More]

I'm a professional aerospace design engineer by trade and a GA pilot for fun. I spent the last 4 years building a Glasair SII. It was a heck of a project and I'm glad to have it finished & flying.

Over the course of building this airplane, I learned a lot. It got me thinking - maybe I could design and build an airplane too?

After visiting Oshkosh for the first time this year I realized that if I did start my own project - I wouldn't be alone. I was amazed at the help and support out there for every aviation project imaginable.

The project starts with you- the experimental aviation community. I'd like you to have the opportunity to weigh in on what's important to you in an airplane.

You can do this by completing this very simple, 30 second, 10 question survey:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCRNW59

I plan to publish the results assuming I get a statistically significant response. So - if you are interested in what the survey says - please fill it out!

Thanks,

Fly More

[frfly172]

Took your survey,some good questions.

[gbrasch]

Took it, good luck.

[Bulldog XX701]

Completed the survey. I'd like to see a much cooler looking version of a Onex, with more HP, retractable gear, higher speeds, and constant speed prop. I'd still like it all metal, fairly easy to build, and fairly user-friendly to land. ...that's my dream! ;)

Nick

[Frank Giger]

There needs to be a comment section, as "better" means different things to different people. For example, I listed "speed" as very important in a design, as I prefer slower aircraft. Anything faster than 70 MPH and it's missing the point of flying over field and hill and enjoying the sights, which is why I'm up in the air to begin with.

I think if there was a "mission" question asking what the aircraft would be used for - transportation or leisure - it might help put context to the answers.

But I think it's a neat idea and want to thank you for engaging in a project like this.

[Louis]

Good survey. I just took it. All that I want is a 4-6 seat amphibian that lands at 30kts. cruises at 250kts has a 1200 mile range, burns around 4gph and can be built with little or no skills for under 20,000:D I was just a little confused about the question about ground transportation. It seems most would answer "yes" since it's usually handy to have transportation when arriving at an airport. I'm guessing it's about airplane design...like a roadable aircraft/flying car or at least one with enough room to carry a bicycle.

[Fly More]

66 responses now!

I'd like to get to at least 100. If you haven't taken it already, please take this very simple airplane design survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LCRNW59

Some interesting results so far.

- Not a whole lot of people want aerobatic capability
- Not a whole lot of people want water landing capability
- Purchase price is #1 most important item.
- Looks are more important than speed & range

Keep 'em coming folks.

Fly More

[Floatsflyer]

66 responses now!



Some interesting results so far.


- Not a whole lot of people want water landing capability




Fly More

That's because they don't want to have maximum fun when they fly. :D

[Fly More]

THE RESULTS

Thank you to the 100 people that responded. Here is a summary of the results

% Pilots 91%
% Have/want an airplane 96%

Approximate geographical location
US Northwest 17%
US Southwest 18%
US Central 24%
US Northeast 14%
US Southeast 18%
Other location 9%

Average Age 47.5

Ranking of most important Airplane Features
1 Purchase Price
2 Fuel Economy
3 Payload
4 Speed
5 Take off/landing distance
6 Simple to build
7 Range
8 Looks
9 Baggage Capacity
10 Aerobatic capability
11 Water landing
(some of these were very close)

Please indicate how often you do or would carry the following number of passengers:

% Often/always
One 61%
Two 20%
Three 8%
Three+ 2%

- A large majority of pilots do not need an LSA

- About half of pilots do not require folding wings

- The vast majority of pilots would like some form of ground transport


------------------------------------------------------



So what's next?

I'm going to feed these results back into my design requirements. Fortunately they align pretty well with what I want to design, and this has been a great validation exercise.

Watch this space.

Fly More

[Richard Warner]

Very good survey. It needs some clarification on the ground transportation question.

[b2p]

A desirable characteristic might also be "stable, forgiving, easy to fly".
You might also like to consider electric as it is the trend and would fulfill many of the ranked wants (except price).