"Single Wide" DE

[Fritz]

Hi All,

Anybody building/flying a "single wide" DE? John B. suggested it as an option and it sounds like what I'm after (single seat, 4 cyl VW).

[grdev]

I did, it is nice to have the stick in the center.  If you are tall the top longeron will hit you head unless you sit a little off center.

[Fritz]

I was thinking more like a 24" wide DE instead of sitting in the middle of a regular 40" one.  I'm trying to think of all the "gotchas" that might happen. So headroom under the top longeron needs looking at. The strut angle would change a little also. The strut attach fittings on the spars wouldn't be a straight line pull anymore.

I don't want to make life complicated but I've got an 1835 VW sitting in the shop, ready to go and I'm a full sized guy who lives at a high density altitude airport. Something like a "Heavy Duty" XL with a DE wing would be perfect.

[Sam Buchanan]

A few of us has privately tossed around the idea of a "XXL" which is a single-place, full VW-powered Eagle.

One option would be to build a narrow DE but that would include structure (weight) that isn't needed for a single-place aircraft.

Another option is a beefed up XL to carry the additional weight of the full VW. As long as gross weight is held under 575lbs the XL wing should be sufficient if flown conservatively. The tail could be steel to offset the weight of the engine and provide some margin for slightly higher cruise speed.

At one point we pondered if the standard XL fuse would be strong enough for the full VW with the addition of some gussets. Another idea was to clip the XL wings back to LE span to increase wing loading and reduce stress on them since the XXL would climb nicely with a shorter span.

Lots of interesting ideas, and the single place full VW plane would be a nice performer.

[grdev]

I didn't find the wider seat a problem when I converted my DE to a single place. Bear in mind I'm not a little guy so the additional space was welcome.  Because I never took a passenger up with me I don't know about the DE performance with the additional load. The main reason I wanted the XL was simply to escape all the red tape the 103 rules allow.  I got a great deal on a Wagabond project so that will be my two place airplane.

[Fritz]

Thanks for the info guys, exactly what I was looking for.

I ordered the DE plans yesterday, I'd better order the XL plans tomorrow;)