Can The Onex (1X) From Sonex Save General Aviation In America?

(click pic to enlarge)  
My rendering of a patriotic version of the yet-to-fly single seat Onex from Sonex

(6 pix + 1 video)

 I understand it might be a bit of a stretch for many people to consider that a small single seat VW powered homebuilt airplane might play any part at all in saving General Aviation in America, but at the moment, I can't think of anything more likely. I feel this way for several reasons, starting with the fact that this little sport-pilot compliant airplane, which hasn't even had its first flight yet, is the closest thing I've seen to what I call a 'Grand Slam' homebuilt. If you haven't seen my post from a while back on the Grand Slam homebuilt, here are the 4 parts that make it up:

 1) affordable

 2) great performance but not excessively demanding to fly

 3) relatively and realistically easy to build

 4) electrifying looks

 The one specific point I brought up previously when I mentioned the Onex as a contender for the four-run-homer was whether its looks could be classified as 'electrifying'.  Well, now that I've seen it in person, both at the Open House at their facility at Oshkosh on the day before OSH10 started, and at their booth during Oshkosh, I can say that the Onex definitely looks potentially low-voltage electrfying. True, I wouldn't call it full on electrifying like the 1970's BD-5, but the Onex appears to be so far down the road to fulfilling the other three elements of the grand slam that I gotta think this little cutie is gonna be the closest we've ever been to hitting it out of the park with the bases loaded.

Onex reveal at the Sonex open house on Sunday July 25, 2010

 The basic design philosophy of the Onex is to take all the great simplification ideas that John Monnett and crew have engineered into the Sonex family of airplanes, and apply them to a single seater intended to be as affordable as possible. The best news from my perspective is that the guys didn't make it as absolutely tiny as they could, and they aren't trying to get it to fly on the smallest engine available. You could insert some thoughts on the Moni here if you want to. However, by making the Onex a size that is both roomy and comfortable, and by putting an engine on the nose that they've proven can fly two people around quite nicely in a Sonex or Waiex, they are on the brink of offering an airplane that fits real people and will have some very sharp performance. It was obvious when looking in the cockpit that this little airplane has a lot of room inside.

 The more you study the lines on the airplane, the more you see how everything falls into just the right spot. If you want both simple-to-build and visually pleasing (a real rare combo in homebuilt airplanes), then I think you'll be pleased with the way this airplane looks. And, for those who've struggled a bit with the lines of the Sonex and Waiex airplanes, I think you'll find that the Onex is able to sidestep any weirdness and go straight to the head of the class. First, by being a much narrower fuselage, you don't get that sharp break in the slab sides as they work their way past the cockpit. And second, the cowling has a softer shape in the area where the Sonex cowl can be a little, shall we say, 'different'... plus having the heads of the cylinder banks push out thru the cowling sides not only narrows the cowling a bit, but it's one of the coolest nods to the classic cowl of the J-3 Cub ever!

 After you get past the simple fact that this is a great looking airplane that obviously wouldn't be complex to build, you can move on to some other really cool aspects of the Onex. The folding wings specifically. The idea was to create a folded size that would allow for easy trailering and easy storage in a normal sized garage. With the wings folded, it's just a tad over 8' wide, and it's just under 7' tall. all while still giving the airplane 78 sq ft of wing area total, which is enuf to keep the slow end of the speed range from being too hot. Even cooler than all that is the fact that it literally takes about 5 seconds to fold a wing panel. They've very cleverly designed the mechanism to not require any kind of disconnecting of the control linkages to be able to accomplish the fold. You unlock the wing. You fold the wing up!

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CoolPix - Misc: The Majestic Goodyear Blimp at OSH10

(click pic for hi-res)

 The over 150 pix I've recently posted as part of AirPigz Oshkosh 2010 coverage has brought a lot of new people into the 'pig pen' - welcome aboard! If you're new here, you don't know about an ongoing feature I do called 'CoolPix'. With CoolPix, I take one of my own pictures or an interesting historical picture and present them as a 1600 pixel wide hi-res image so you can get up close and really experience the event. Like this picture I got of the Goodyear Blimp at Oshkosh, if you click it, it'll fill your screen. It's not quite like being there, but it sure beats an itsy bitsy pic. There's a fairy large number of CoolPix entries now for you to check out... and part of the idea is that they make a pretty dandy desktop pic too.

 I was really fortunate to get to ride the Goodyear Blimp when I was a kid living outside the L.A. area in the late 60's. This reminds me that I really need to go digging in the basement, cuz somewhere down there is an old 8mm color movie that my dad and I made when we got that ride. Wow, that would sure be cool to see again! Anyway, I've been mesmerized by the blimp from as far back as I can remember, and having it in the sky over Oshkosh pretty much puts me in total avgeek heaven. So, click the pic above to get up close with that big beautiful bag of helium, and if you have the time, check out the wide range of other CoolPix that I've posted in the last year - I think you're gonna like 'em : )

Swanky Music Video Of The 400 MPH Kestrel

 I was gonna include this swanky video (shot from a helo a with stabilized camera) in the post about the slick 400 mph Kestrel yesterday, but I put more info in the story than I had planned, so I saved it for today. It's very cool. Especially since they decided to draw the interest of grass roots guys like me and actually take off from that fab grass runway instead of using the hard surface. Nice detail.

 This was actually a promo vid for the airplane from late last year when it was still the Farnborough Kestrel. Read that previous post for more info if you don't already know what that means. And, while this is a really beautiful airplane and a very sharply produced video, I still think it falls well short of the most amazing, Luscious Beech Starship video : )

Alan Klapmeier, The Kestrel, And Epic Confusion

The 6 to 8 place 400mph turboprop Kestrel at Oshkosh 2010

 One of the hazards I face covering nearly every aspect of aviation is that there's a lot going on out there to keep up with! Plus, there's a relatively recent span of years where I wasn't keeping entirely up to speed on every project in development. So, when I saw Kestrel pictured here at Oshkosh, I was a bit confused. I read a little about it in the official daily newspaper of Oshkosh, so I knew it was destined for certification rather than the homebuilt market. I also read that former Cirrus Aircraft co-founder Alan Klapmeier was stepping in to head the project, but it obviously looked like an Epic LT, so I assumed that somehow the two were directly related.

 My confusion was complicated by the fact that at Oshkosh, the Kestrel Aircraft Company (KAC) display booth was right next door to the Epic Aircraft booth. In the picture above, the airplane in the background is an Epic LT, that's how close together they were. This actually made is easy to compare the two, and while I could see some small differences, it was clear that they were essentially the same airplane. And, even after talking a bit with booth people, I was still confused.

 Well, after some research, it appears that the two airplanes are kinda like cousins that used to live on the same street as kids, but these days they're living far apart and don't talk anymore. The Kestrel has been in development in the U.K. by Farnborough Aircraft as a certified airplane intended for air taxi work. The aerodynamic work they did for the Kestrel was also used to develop the Epic LT. For a period of time between 2003 and 2005, Farnborough and Epic were in some form of a joint venture. Both airplanes use the same basic wing, and while the fuselage is almost the exact same shape, the Kestrel's is a little longer and has increased interior volume. A comparison also reveals that the airstar door on the Kestrel is located quite a bit farther aft from the wing trailing edge.

 To complicate even further the path these airplanes have been on is the fact that Epic went thru bankruptcy issues in late 2009 and into 2010. They were also in the process of trying to get the LT certified with the FAA under the name Epic Dynasty, but that project never reached the goal. Epic has recently been re-formed by a combination of LT aircraft builders, and if the wikipedia entry is correct, a Chinese company that plans to market the Epic aircraft around the world. Apparently the U.S. marketing and support for Epic is to be provided by the LT Builders Group operating out of the original Bend, Oregon location.

The Kestrel crew on Sunday setting up the booth for Oshkosh 2010

 But back to the Kestrel. Farnborough Aircraft has somehow morphed into Kestrel Aircraft Company, with Alan Klapmeier as CEO, and is actually planning to built the aircraft here in the U.S. A recent deal has been struck to set up shop on what used to be the Brunswick Naval Air Station in Brunswick, Maine. It also appears that some changes are coming to the design of the Kestrel as it moves further into the certification process, including a wing re-design that will remove the curved leading edge that can be seen in the picture above. One of the goals of KAC is to also downsize the engine from the 1,200 hp Pratt & Whitney PT6 currently installed to a slightly smaller version that will help reduce costs. With additional aerodynamic tweaks, they may be able to get essentially the same performance on a smaller engine.

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Sikorsky X2 Pushes Its Way Into The Rotorcraft Record Book

 The Sikorsky X2 set an unofficial speed record of 259 mph on July 26, 2010

The coaxial counter-rotating rigid-rotors, and the pusher fan on the Sikorsky X2

 I've never really considered myself a ’rotorhead’ before, but after riding recently in a Huey and a Bell 47, and then also seeing what’s going on with Sikorsky via their display booth at Oshkosh, I’m warming up to the rotary wing concept. You’ve probably already seen some news about the fact that on July 26th, Sikorsky’s X2 coaxial rigid-rotor demonstrator set an unofficial speed record of 259 mph. That’s a pretty big deal.

 I’m going out on a limb here just a bit and calling it a ‘rotorcraft’ record rather than ’helicopter’ record. I need to do more research to know if I’m making much sense here, but the bottom line is that the X2 has the significant advantage of using the aft mounted 6-blade prop-fan to push it forward, and the old record of 249 mph was set back in 1986 by a Westland Lynx helicopter. The Lynx, like all ’traditional’ helicopters, uses the main rotor not only for lift, but for forward propulsion too. Ultimately, I don’t think the definition really matters here, what’s important is that the X2 can function like a helicopter in the vertical mode, and then is showing the potential to blow even the fastest helicopter away in the high speed cruise mode. Especially since usually helicopters run into a speed limit around 185 -200 mph. The hope is to push the X2 up to 250 knots (about 288 mph) as the test flying continues.

 The big issue for a single rotor helicopter is that when you move forward really fast, the side of the rotor with the blades moving toward the tail can stop producing life altogether because they are actually in a stalled condition due to the relative speed of the air. You can imagine that having only one side of the rotor producing lift simply won’t work. The dual, counter rotating rotor system like the X2 is using allows for opposing sides of the rotors to create a balance of lift. This configuration also means that the torque is cancelled out and a traditional anti-torque tail rotor is not needed. The use of composites in the rotor blades, along with computer controlled fly-by-wire has brought these concepts far enough forward to overcome the limitations of the past attempts.

 The Sikorsky X2 is only a conceptual demonstrator, so you’ll almost surely never see this aircraft produced. However, the lessons learned from it are rapidly beginning to suggest that the technologies it represents will indeed be incorporated into future designs… possibly fairly soon.  The rendering below shows what I believe to be a light attack rotorcraft concept based on the X2. It certainly looks completely feasible.

 It’s an exciting time in the world of rotorcraft, and also specifically at Sikorsky. I learned several interesting things at Oshkosh and will be doing a follow up post before long of some of the very interesting innovations that Sikorsky is on the leading edge of. Rotorcraft are about to leave the old world behind… fast!

 Attack rotorcraft concept rendering based on the X2

OSHKOSH Pic Stream #8 - Departures (Includes C-5 Galaxy - 22 pix)

 Some people drool over a Piper Malibu, Beech Bonanza, or a Cirrus SR22, but if I was able to have any airplane that could take a few friends along and get there kinda quick, I'd want this Mr Mulligan replica! I'm assuming this is the one from the Arkansas Air Museum as I'm not aware of any other replicas of this most amazing aircraft from the mid 1930's. 550 hp hangin' off the nose and room for four... I'm likes it!

 I got this pic while on the way to help my friend @adamcanfly get his camping stuff moved from Camp Scholler to the far south end of the airport so we could load it into the Cherokee he had flown in from Kansas. We had to stop and let Mr Mulligan taxi by in front of us, and it's hard to catch me at Oshkosh without my camera. Mr Mulligan looked to be all loaded up and blasting off for home on this morning, the the last day of Oshkosh.

 Once we got down past the south end of 18-36 where the Cherokee was parked, which btw, Adam claims is actually far enuf south to be considered part of Fond du Lac and not Oshkosh(!), I realized that some of the departing aircraft were going right overhead. Another great time to grab the camera! This pic is a modern WACO with the nifty FlyWACO.com web address on the underside : )

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Video: Oshkosh 2010 Recap Music Video - Wow! (Hot Stuff)

 I've been looking for the Oshkosh 2010 recap video that I would have made if I could. This is it... Wow!

 A great job by youtuber slickhutto, and while the music background in the video works quite well, I'm really looking forward to the '10 minute series' coming before long that looks like it will run without the music background.

 If you haven't been to Oshkosh, or it's been a while, this video should show you why you need to be there next year! Oshkosh 2011: July 25-31... start making your plans now : )

Honoring WWII Patriots: CAF B-29 FIFI Flies Again! (With Video)

 The Commemorative Air Force B-29 'FIFI' is back in the air!   photo: Mark Russell via CAF

 I put up a detailed FIFI post back at the end of June when we thought that the CAF’s Boeing B-29 Superfortress was going to make her first flight since 2004. As it turned out, there were delays getting the FAA to certify the airplane ready for flight, but that’s all in the past now... Yesterday, August 5, 2010, a little before 9 am, FIFI and her new engines left earth for the wild blue yonder!

 The 39 minute test hop of the world’s only flyable B-29 went on without a hitch. The modified and updated Wright R-3350 engines performed as hoped, and should make keeping this historic aircraft in the air much easier than in the past when the original versions of the engines were used.

 And, while it’s great to see an amazing piece of work like the B-29 back in the air, the real value comes from what this airplane can do to bring honor to the patriots of WWII that fought and gave their lives for the United States.

 A big thank you goes out to Jim Cavanaugh for the significant financial support, and to the dedicated CAF members who have supported and worked on this important project. Welcome back FIFI, you are a beautiful sight to see!

Video: Wrapping Your Head Around The PD-1 Roadable Aircraft

 While I have thoughts that cars don't belong in the air and airplanes don't belong on the road, I will say that the Plane Driven PD-1 is a very interesting concept. This video really helps you to understand how they intend for it to work.

Oshkosh 2010 Pic Stream #7 - The End Is Nearing (21 pix)

 By Friday, Oshkosh 2010 was getting closer to reaching the end, and I was really beginning to wear down from covering the grounds 12+ hours a day, but that doesn't mean there wasn't still a bazillion things to see! As usual, there were cool things to look at right up until I left the grounds on Sunday. These pix however are from Friday. This is the Plane Driven PD-1, a highly modified Glasair Sportsman configured to actually be able to drive down the road with the wings folded.

 This big black pod under the cabin is hiding an 80 hp engine that is used to drive the main-gear wheels for road driving. Tho none of the pictures here show it, the pod actually gets moved way aft along those rails creating a really long wheelbase when in the driving mode. It's moved forward, as shown, for the flight mode to keep the weight of the engine and associated components on the airplane's CG.

 It all makes a very unique solution to the decades long quest to make an airplane that also can roll down the road. But honestly, I still struggle with the idea of putting a lightweight airframe thru the potentially punishing experience of potholes and rough roads. And then there's all those crazy drivers on the road too! Overall tho, the PD-1 seems well executed, and only time will tell if this is an idea the world is really ready for.

 I thought it was pretty cool to see three Pitts Model 12 aircraft with a KC-135, a C-5, and the Erickson Air Crane all in the background. As usual, loads of aviation diversity at Oshkosh.

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