Mike,
You write and I comment:
> I am getting the last little details taken
> care of in order to put the top of the canoe on. I keep going through the
> emails about things to do and reread the manual and I am still finding little
> things.
I only wish I was as far along on my build!..and I'm sure the care and
attention to detail you're doing at this point will serve you well.
> As for power plant, right now I am looking towards the 912S. I am not one to
> reinvent the wheel and take a pioneering risk of a new design unless I am
> getting a significant break on power, range, or cost.
Well...I don't consider myself as a wheel-reinventor...though I taught
myself to fly 30 years ago in one of the very early foot-launched biplane
ultralights, my mantra at the time was to cautiously "manage the degree of
novelty" as I transitioned from pure hang gliding; that fit my definition of
"pioneering". In the case at hand, Alex and Neil have been the pioneers, but
even so, they've worked w/ an engine which has been around a while and the
basic Honda VTEC is sound. As I see it, w/ the CAM 125, I'm anticipating a
modest increase in power, some improvement in reliability, maintenance, and
tweaking which some (NOT ALL!) Rotaxes seem to need, and though costs have
yet to be determined precisely, I don't expect any savings.
> My wife even talked me into a conventional gear so she would not be afraid of
> my landings in a mono.
I share some of your wife's concerns; I'm giving some thought to going
conventional myself as I think of the satisfying feeling of nailing the
upwind wheel on the runway in a stiff crosswind (sigh)!
Happy landings!
Fred
A194
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