Although not much has happened over the busy summer fly-in season, I have made some progress.

A photo taken fairly early in the construction process Figure 11 below shows the wings from my Schreder HP-18 sailplane plugged into the sides of a barely started fuselage. The usual practice in single-seat power airplanes is to put the pilot on top of the spar. In the RV-11 I wanted to keep the fuselage as shallow as I could to reduce drag, so I located the pilot’s seat just forward of the wing spar. This is common in sailplanes, with no engine up front. For Center of Gravity reasons, this may have been a mistake...time will tell.



                       Click on any image for a larger version.

In a somewhat later photo, Figure 12 below the tailcone is temporarily attached to the forward fuselage and a canopy is very roughly trimmed and set in place. I knew that, by building with aluminum, I could keep the structure very light and avoid the extra work of molds and tooling that fiberglass would require. However, the constraints imposed by aluminum include forcing shapes into straight lines and single curves. Within those constraints, I’ve tried to achieve an aerodynamic and aesthetically pleasing shape for the fuselage. 

In the latest photo, the forward fuselage sits on a pair of sawhorses. Figure 13 below. The canopy is in place — and I think it came out very well, considering it is a "step-child." It started life as an RV-4 canopy, but the front section was damaged. I rescued it from the back room, cut the damaged portion away, and turned it so the rear, pointy, end is now forward. It is mounted to a simple frame with sandwich fiberglass skirts and swings over to one side on a piano hinge.



                     Click on any image for a larger version.

The cowl, unfortunately, I couldn’t adapt from any existing part and had to mold it right on the airplane.

I’m trying a number of novel or unconventional things which are not absolutely necessary in a Proof of Concept prototype...like a lot of tinkerers, I just can’t seem to control myself sometimes. I’m not ready to divulge all these ideas just yet. In fact, if they don’t work, I may not divulge them at all!

In the last article I asked for comments from readers and was pleased to receive almost 50 responses — a very good sampling. Most were encouraging —"keep working, I’m interested." Others thought we were wasting our time on a very narrow market, and would accomplish more by pursuing the RV-10 or maybe a Light Sport Aircraft design. I agree that the RV-11 is not our highest priority, which is why I’m working on it at home on my own time. A few liked the motor-glider idea, but wanted some vastly different configuration.

Maybe next time.