- Joined
- Oct 30, 2003
- Messages
- 18,363
- Location
- Santa Maria, California
- Aircraft
- Givens Predator
- Total Flight Time
- 2600+ in rotorcraft
This is the beginning of the build thread and a way to answer the question why.
She is called Mariah Gale because Mike and Golf are the two single syllable letters in the aviation phonetic alphabet. This makes it very easy to say on the radio. The Predator is 142 Mike Golf. I reserved 26MG for an N number for the aircraft I want to build. The streamliner I crashed was called Mariah after a song about a wind that blew my love to me. It seemed appropriate for an aircraft that is going to carry my love and me across the country. I asked Ed to come up with a G name for her that had to do with the wind and she picked Gale.
The engine and propeller change on the Predator went so well I imagine I am a brilliant gyroplane designer. I would like to build a faster, longer range, off airport version of the Predator.
I would also like to mitigate the things I don’t like about the Predator. They are minor things but I feel they can be better.
I feel that Mark did a great job designing the Predator and I am going to use a lot of his ideas. The layout is going to be very similar because each time I try something very different I see why Mark did it that way and realize that is a very good way to do it. There is also less engineering risk in replicating a proven design. I can’t afford to go through multiple iterations to get it to work well.
In short this is basically a copy of Mark Givans’ design. It is a two place tandem with a fairing, no top and a cowl over the engine.
The primary goal is to reduce the coefficient of drag times the frontal area by 30%. This will be done with both a small reduction in size and improving the way she goes through the air. The dune buggy tanks account for almost two square feet of frontal area and the suspension another two square feet. It is an easy area to improve.
The way the windshield ends on the Predator is not the best for low drag. I feel it is better if you let go of the air with the shape converging. I would like for Ed to have her own windshield.
I feel that an engine cowl would reduce drag and improve cooling.
A secondary consideration is to reduce weight. I hope to remove some weight from the body and a little from the chassis. This will be more than balanced with additional fuel for a longer range and a heaver empennage.
I feel that a longer range is important to have a carefree wandering across the United States.
I am going to use the same IO-320 B1A engine and three blade Catto propeller as the Predator. There may be a certain amount of re-pitching the propeller for the hoped for higher top speed and higher cruising speed.
At this point in time the frame is similar to the Predator only made from 4130 instead of mild steel. The Pratt Truss will be very similar except the rotor tower will be rubber mounted. The two 25 gallon fuel tanks will be inside the body. The legs, tail boom and rotor tower will all be faired and all exposed tubing will be either airfoil shaped or faired.
Instead of a tube and fabric empennage I am going to bolt on a complete Mooney empennage. The vertical stabilizer will not be braced at the top and the horizontal stabilizer will be shortened to 6 feet. The elevators will be used for pitch trim in flight.
I expect to have 12 inches of main suspension travel with very little tire scrub. The front which is rigid on the predator should have about 6 inches of travel and a 5 inch nose wheel instead of the Predator's 4 inches. This is to improve the aircrafts ability to handle an inelegant landing and takeoff from off airport. I will still use differential braking for steering.
I also want to go with a hydraulic pre-rotator so I can hear the radio when I am pre-rotating. I want to drive the pump from the Lycoming accessory case and use a bypass for engagement.
I would like a radio with the ability to monitor two frequencies at once and a transponder.
I am hoping to manage the rotor control linkage in a way that minimizes stick shake.
I would like a place to carry at least two cubic feet of luggage.
When I was on this last trip I purchased an engine mount for the IO-320 B1A that will define the main chassis and a Mooney empennage.
I purchased a “register an experimental aircraft kit” from the EAA.
I also purchased a 3 1/8” JPI EDM 4 C with fuel flow, oil temperature, oil pressure, volts, four channel cylinder head temperature and four channel exhaust temperature.
She is going to have steam gages for engine rpm, rotor rpm, vertical speed, altimeter, airspeed indicator and a vertical card compass.
I expect to use an AvMap portable GPS with terrain once she flies.
I expect this build process to take more than a year and I will have the Predator down as little as possible during the build. I would like to find a core IO-320 B1A so that I don’t have to remove the engine from the Predator until Mariah Gale is ready to fly.
I hope to pay a friend of mine who makes motorcycle seats to make the body from Kevlar and carbon fiber. He made the body for my Streamliner out of Kevlar.
I hope to have her painted Ford Grabber Orange, black and some loud yellow.
I hope to pay a friend who owns an avionics shop to wire Mariah Gale.
I expect that most of the metal parts will be powder coated machinery grey.
I am starting a little early because I had to change fabricators to manage my time line.
A host of friends will help me with this large undertaking so I can get her flying before I am too old to fly and because they will add a lot to the adventure and quality of the aircraft.
Please feel free to ask questions and offer advice along the way. My friends on the Rotary Forum were a great help as we changed the engine on the Predator.
I will add to this thread as things move along. We are going to refine the Bill of Materials next Tuesday, May 11.
Thank you, Vance
She is called Mariah Gale because Mike and Golf are the two single syllable letters in the aviation phonetic alphabet. This makes it very easy to say on the radio. The Predator is 142 Mike Golf. I reserved 26MG for an N number for the aircraft I want to build. The streamliner I crashed was called Mariah after a song about a wind that blew my love to me. It seemed appropriate for an aircraft that is going to carry my love and me across the country. I asked Ed to come up with a G name for her that had to do with the wind and she picked Gale.
The engine and propeller change on the Predator went so well I imagine I am a brilliant gyroplane designer. I would like to build a faster, longer range, off airport version of the Predator.
I would also like to mitigate the things I don’t like about the Predator. They are minor things but I feel they can be better.
I feel that Mark did a great job designing the Predator and I am going to use a lot of his ideas. The layout is going to be very similar because each time I try something very different I see why Mark did it that way and realize that is a very good way to do it. There is also less engineering risk in replicating a proven design. I can’t afford to go through multiple iterations to get it to work well.
In short this is basically a copy of Mark Givans’ design. It is a two place tandem with a fairing, no top and a cowl over the engine.
The primary goal is to reduce the coefficient of drag times the frontal area by 30%. This will be done with both a small reduction in size and improving the way she goes through the air. The dune buggy tanks account for almost two square feet of frontal area and the suspension another two square feet. It is an easy area to improve.
The way the windshield ends on the Predator is not the best for low drag. I feel it is better if you let go of the air with the shape converging. I would like for Ed to have her own windshield.
I feel that an engine cowl would reduce drag and improve cooling.
A secondary consideration is to reduce weight. I hope to remove some weight from the body and a little from the chassis. This will be more than balanced with additional fuel for a longer range and a heaver empennage.
I feel that a longer range is important to have a carefree wandering across the United States.
I am going to use the same IO-320 B1A engine and three blade Catto propeller as the Predator. There may be a certain amount of re-pitching the propeller for the hoped for higher top speed and higher cruising speed.
At this point in time the frame is similar to the Predator only made from 4130 instead of mild steel. The Pratt Truss will be very similar except the rotor tower will be rubber mounted. The two 25 gallon fuel tanks will be inside the body. The legs, tail boom and rotor tower will all be faired and all exposed tubing will be either airfoil shaped or faired.
Instead of a tube and fabric empennage I am going to bolt on a complete Mooney empennage. The vertical stabilizer will not be braced at the top and the horizontal stabilizer will be shortened to 6 feet. The elevators will be used for pitch trim in flight.
I expect to have 12 inches of main suspension travel with very little tire scrub. The front which is rigid on the predator should have about 6 inches of travel and a 5 inch nose wheel instead of the Predator's 4 inches. This is to improve the aircrafts ability to handle an inelegant landing and takeoff from off airport. I will still use differential braking for steering.
I also want to go with a hydraulic pre-rotator so I can hear the radio when I am pre-rotating. I want to drive the pump from the Lycoming accessory case and use a bypass for engagement.
I would like a radio with the ability to monitor two frequencies at once and a transponder.
I am hoping to manage the rotor control linkage in a way that minimizes stick shake.
I would like a place to carry at least two cubic feet of luggage.
When I was on this last trip I purchased an engine mount for the IO-320 B1A that will define the main chassis and a Mooney empennage.
I purchased a “register an experimental aircraft kit” from the EAA.
I also purchased a 3 1/8” JPI EDM 4 C with fuel flow, oil temperature, oil pressure, volts, four channel cylinder head temperature and four channel exhaust temperature.
She is going to have steam gages for engine rpm, rotor rpm, vertical speed, altimeter, airspeed indicator and a vertical card compass.
I expect to use an AvMap portable GPS with terrain once she flies.
I expect this build process to take more than a year and I will have the Predator down as little as possible during the build. I would like to find a core IO-320 B1A so that I don’t have to remove the engine from the Predator until Mariah Gale is ready to fly.
I hope to pay a friend of mine who makes motorcycle seats to make the body from Kevlar and carbon fiber. He made the body for my Streamliner out of Kevlar.
I hope to have her painted Ford Grabber Orange, black and some loud yellow.
I hope to pay a friend who owns an avionics shop to wire Mariah Gale.
I expect that most of the metal parts will be powder coated machinery grey.
I am starting a little early because I had to change fabricators to manage my time line.
A host of friends will help me with this large undertaking so I can get her flying before I am too old to fly and because they will add a lot to the adventure and quality of the aircraft.
Please feel free to ask questions and offer advice along the way. My friends on the Rotary Forum were a great help as we changed the engine on the Predator.
I will add to this thread as things move along. We are going to refine the Bill of Materials next Tuesday, May 11.
Thank you, Vance
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