Hello I hope this is a good place to post my questions regarding scratch building an experimental PA-18.
I will say that I have absolutely no experience building a plane, at this point this is all hypothetical, just trying to get a good idea of what will be required when I start this process. Please excuse how inexperienced I am, I have A LOT to learn.
I have done a considerable amount of research (via the internet) about scratchbuilding an airplane, and again and again I keep coming back to the Piper SuperCub.
I like the way Wag-Aero's Sport Trainer wings are built, they apear to be within my ability to build fairly easily, because of this I am considering using their plans.
However I am wondering how different the Sport Trainer's fuselage is from the original PA-18. I see that in order to fit a 150hp engine to the sport trainer you must build the "Super Sport Trainer" version of their plans, where there are two extra pieces of tubing that obstruct front view, I have not seen this in person but I do not like the idea of it.
I’m wondering if it would be possible to build a LSA PA-18 "clone"using the Wag-Aero plans and the Northland CD with the original PA-18 plans; using the original fuselage and the Wag-Aero wings.
Or would I be better off sticking to one or the other? I am also interested in having flaps, which the Wag-Aero plans do not provide.
I am not worried about welding or fabricating the fuselage, I have a friend who has built roll cages with Nascar spec. tubing, so notching and fitting the tubes does not worry me, also my brother is a welder by trade, so the fuse will be all TIG welded.
The parts that concern me are keeping it light for LSA and the power plant choice. I want to have extended gear with tundra tires for off airport landings, STOL capabilities are important to me. I would also like to eventually get the plane on floats so I realize that extra HP does not hurt for this type of flying.
Hope I haven’t rambled too much and some of you guys have some insight to the questions I have.
I will say that I have absolutely no experience building a plane, at this point this is all hypothetical, just trying to get a good idea of what will be required when I start this process. Please excuse how inexperienced I am, I have A LOT to learn.
I have done a considerable amount of research (via the internet) about scratchbuilding an airplane, and again and again I keep coming back to the Piper SuperCub.
I like the way Wag-Aero's Sport Trainer wings are built, they apear to be within my ability to build fairly easily, because of this I am considering using their plans.
However I am wondering how different the Sport Trainer's fuselage is from the original PA-18. I see that in order to fit a 150hp engine to the sport trainer you must build the "Super Sport Trainer" version of their plans, where there are two extra pieces of tubing that obstruct front view, I have not seen this in person but I do not like the idea of it.
I’m wondering if it would be possible to build a LSA PA-18 "clone"using the Wag-Aero plans and the Northland CD with the original PA-18 plans; using the original fuselage and the Wag-Aero wings.
Or would I be better off sticking to one or the other? I am also interested in having flaps, which the Wag-Aero plans do not provide.
I am not worried about welding or fabricating the fuselage, I have a friend who has built roll cages with Nascar spec. tubing, so notching and fitting the tubes does not worry me, also my brother is a welder by trade, so the fuse will be all TIG welded.
The parts that concern me are keeping it light for LSA and the power plant choice. I want to have extended gear with tundra tires for off airport landings, STOL capabilities are important to me. I would also like to eventually get the plane on floats so I realize that extra HP does not hurt for this type of flying.
Hope I haven’t rambled too much and some of you guys have some insight to the questions I have.
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