 Marc Oppelt's aircraft project:  (This is what I hope it eventually will look like) NOTE: This is my rambling bullshit page; if you don't want to read it, head directly to the construction pages: <<<<< Links are on the left sidebar
I've had an obsession with aircraft since I was a kid. My grandparents
lived near a small rural airfield, and their house was right under the traffic
pattern. I was always seeing low-flying aircraft fly overhead, and that's
where the fascination began. My grandmother would take me to the airfield
to watch the planes take off, and I always knew that someday I'd have one of my
own. Alas, life got in the way and I never got to it.  Yikes! How'd you like to sit between these? I decided that there must be a better way to get from here to there, independent of all the bullshit involved with commercial air travel. I started looking around, and I came to the conclusion that I'd like to have my own plane. And since planes are expensive, and I don't like most of them anyway, I decided to build my own and have it my way. Just like Burger King, or whatever that is. So I'm building a canard-winged plane, based on Burt Rutan's Long-EZ design. The fuselage is about 15% larger than plans in all dimensions. I'll use the wings from another popular Rutan derivative, the E-Racer...for their 300 mph speed rating. I'll power it with a Ford small-block V8 engine, directly driving a three-blade adjustable pitch propeller. This has been done on airboats for a long time; there is currently one Long-EZ flying a Ford V8. This plane is 27" longer than a plans-built Long-EZ; 10" longer between wing and canard and 17" longer in the nose. It is also 4" wider than plans, and 4" deeper below the main spar. The 4" width increase was to add interior space and to enable the engine to better tuck behind the firewall, and the extra depth is to add more room for a larger radiator and an electric fan to pull air thru it while the plane is on the ground. The engine will be a Ford production 5.0L roller cam block, with 4340 crank, 4340 H-beam rods, and flat-top forged pistons. I'll use Airflow Research 185cc cylinder heads, which are known to have very efficient combustion chambers and port shapes. The cam will be a Comp Cams XE-258HR, which uses their latest generation hydraulic roller cam lobe profiles. Induction will be via a Weiand Action-Plus manifold, w/ a Holley 500 2-bbl carb that incorporates a mixture adjustment block that allows fuel mixture changes on the fly. Ignition will be redundant MSD systems via a Mallory dual-pickup distributor & on-the-fly timing adjustment. Aluminum water pump, pulleys, balancer, small denso alternator, and a miniature hi-tork starter will also be used. This combo should yield about 190hp @ 2700 RPM, with the ability to turn up to 3500...and have an installed weight of about 400lbs. Oh, and by the way...no, I don't have a pilot's license yet. A minor detail... I'll get to it. Current State: 1. Here is the fuselage with the top foam all carved to shape. I think I like the shape; hopefully it won't look too guppy-like when its all together.2. Here is the project as it stands: The tub is finished, the nose is on and the outside is glassed, the internal nose structure and front landing gear is installed, the canopy frame is built and the canopy is glassed into the outer skin.     Engine is a 360 ci all-aluminum small block Ford, with a 2bbl carb, roller valve gear and MSD ignition. Engine weight is 337lbs. The prop is directly driven off the back of the crank, with a 9" prop extension. He cruises at around 2900rpm, with a 3500rpm max RPM redline. I'm thinking that this engine would just about run forever if it never sees more than 3500 RPM. Once I get the cooling sorted out, this combination should prove to be a damn reliable powerplant. I am building my plane with a longer fuselage, in order to balance the weight of a heavier engine. I'm going to start off with an iron short block, and build the plane to accommodate it. This will allow me, at some point in the future, to build an aluminum block and then mount a Stinger airboat gearbox to the back of the engine. That combo would be about 15 lb heavier, but it would give me another 100-150hp. 300mph...here I come! Below is a picture of a finished plane that is similar to what this thing will eventually look like. I may have retractable main gear, but most likely will have fixed gear like this plane has. The baggage pods on the wings (look like bombs) are removable and can each hold a duffel bag's worth of luggage. These things are awesome traveling machines. The designer's brother and best friend each built Long-EZ's, and they flew them around the world together. They have set numerous distance and altitude records - one guy flew his to 35000 feet. They hold 52 gallons of fuel, and will typically cruise at 175mph on about 6 gallons/hour...so the range is about a 1500 miles. Its a cool plane  Oh yeah - thanks to all the people that own the planes shown in the pictures on this site. Without your work...I'd wouldn't have much to show. | ||||