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Valley Engineering Hydraulic Pull-Tester Designed by Gene and Larry Smith ( Cost: approx $70 to build ) This tool will give you a good idea as to whether your Nieuport 11 will get off the ground. You can read the article about it in the November 07 issue of Kitplanes Magazine. Parts list All items are bought from Surplus Center at 1-800-488-3407. Or on the web at: http://www.surpluscenter.com/ Item # 1, 9-5582 cylinder @ $59.99
I don't know what it will do with Robert's planes
but if someone will build one and test it on a flying Airdrome Aeroplanes
plane and send me the figures, I'll be sure to put them on the web page.
As for the Nieuport... IN MY
OPINION and based on OUR RESULTS...
( The testing is a story all by itself ) 150 lbs
of pull will
get you off the ground after you use up about 1500' of runway and reward
you with a thrilling rate of climb of about 10 ( ten ) feet per minute.
In other words... You need a lot more than 150 lbs
of thrust to safely fly. This was with MY plane at 440 lbs empty, me: 220 lbs ALL
THE DAMN TIME
and 12 gallons of gas.
We are getting 230 lbs of yank outta our VWs with
the Culver 60 X 28 props. We were getting 200 lbs of thrust from our Sterba
props.
A screaming Hirth or Rotax will, of course, with
the reduction vastly out-perform the VW but a pull test before that first
flight sure as heck won't hurt.
And, also OF COURSE a Valley Engineering Redrive
with a VW like I've got on the Tub will probably just yank the firewall off
the plane.
Valley
Engineering is offering for sale a completed
tester at a very reasonable price if you don't want to mess around with
trying to find parts, assemble it, etc etc. www.culverprops.com.
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