Sun N Fun

MElstien said:

I am building. -10 but during my walking tour of Sun n Fun on Friday I came across a new plane from overseas. It was a twin ducted fan fighter jet looking plane powered by 1 combustion engine. It was all glass and they said they had 25 hours on it and that it would fly on Saturday.

I found it really cool. Does anyone have the web site for it? Did it fly on Saturday?

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It's called the PJ-II "Dreamer", designed by a couple guys in Russia. It uses a GM LS6 engine, commonly used in the Corvette! I saw it make a few flybys on Sunday. Sounds very different from any airplane I've ever heard - more of a whine than your typical engine sound.

This is apparently a video of the first flight, and I found another cool video of it here.

I just watched the two videos.

I want one I want one.

donaziza said:

I just watched the two videos.

I want one I want one.

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You already own a faster airplane (your RV-8), at half the power. And listen to the first three seconds of the first video. That rattling/hammering is typical of resonant torsional oscillation, the killer of drive systems.

Interesting

I am glad to hear Sun-n-Fun has gotten better. I wasn't sure I would ever go given the comments I've heard the past few years.

Regarding that ducted fan jet, it looks like a giant version of electric R/C model jets.

Maybe it's just me but the pilot seems to be dressed casually (t-shirt and baseball cap) for what appears to be early test flights.

Thanks for the video links.

From what I saw at SNF, it has the one engine with two drive shafts coming aft at angles to drive each fan.

Cool looking and innovative anyway. The twin from the Ukraine with wing mounted engines was neat as well.

We got back yesterday from SNF with winds gusting near 30 knots but right down the runway, so no biggie. The 10.2 hours round trip on the Hobbs included a stopover in Cedar Key. What a neat place! Winds were gusty both there and back, but we got a tailwind each way. When does that happen??

A highlight for my trip included seeing the radial RV-8 up close. What a beautiful machine! Congrats on your award!

Ted, thanks for posting that gaggle video. That's an amazing view. We saw it from the ground and it looked like y'all had your hands full in that wind, especially that little T-tail.

Ben and I sat in the RV-14. We'll have this pair of singles done fairly soon (90% done, you know how it is) but we keep thinking about an IFR 2-place RV. I don't know, during the ride down in the Jabiru with him flying I kept thinking about having my own airplane! but then I can't nap.

Anyway... it was a great show. I'm glad for SNF that it turned out as well as it did. The weather was a little breezy but otherwise awesome. With the dismal attendance since the tornado, we were starting to wonder how long it would last, but hopefully this will help boost everyone's opinion of it and get people to come back. It sure was encouraging the first couple of days to see all those airplanes on the arrival. I had the handheld radio tuned to North Tower and it was quite entertaining!

Spinner Picture of Sun N Fun

I found myself hiding from the hot Tuesday sun under the spinner of my RV-7A in the home built camping area. Came up with this amazing picture.

Only got in a half day on Saturday (all week in Ditsy World with grand daughters), but had a good time.

Sam Hodges, who won't even ask for his plane to be judged at flyins, took home the auto engine homebuilt award. The line guy parking him basically forced him to let it be judged, and it was likely an easy winner. Beautiful a/c; not just the FWF.

RV-7A with Mazda Renesis power & James rotary cowl (same as the Powersport cowls). Should be an article in Contact Mag sometime soon.

Congrats, Sam!

Charlie

edit:
I knew there must be some reason to spend all that time polishing a spinner, and now I know why. Great pic!

DanH said:

You already own a faster airplane (your RV-8), at half the power. And listen to the first three seconds of the first video. That rattling/hammering is typical of resonant torsional oscillation, the killer of drive systems.

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Yeah, Thanks Dan. I had wondered about that rattle clunk rattle clunk at the beginning of the video. Didn't sound good at all. Its just that the plane kinda looks like an F 15 or I think the Mig 29. Pure sex machines.

rv7charlie said:

Sam Hodges, who won't even ask for his plane to be judged at flyins, took home the auto engine homebuilt award. The line guy parking him basically forced him to let it be judged, and it was likely an easy winner. Beautiful a/c; not just the FWF.

RV-7A with Mazda Renesis power & James rotary cowl (same as the Powersport cowls). Should be an article in Contact Mag sometime soon

Congrats, Sam!

Charlie

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That airplane was parked a couple of spots down from mine. Beautiful airplane and impressive rotary installation. I have a soft spot in my heart for rotaries, as I used to have access to Jim Downing's Mazda race shop in Atlanta...