Since the beginning of time man has dreamed of flying, and in fact his
early concept of flying was that of Pegasus a winged stallion. In the
early 1900s man invented the automobile, followed shortly by the Wright
brothers and their successful first flight at Kitty Hawk. Now in 2008
man's quest to combine both avenues of travel to come up with a new
Pegasus is taking major steps forward.
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| Caravellair - wings folded driving on the road |
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| Caravellair - ready for take off. |
Joe Caravella of Caravella Aerospace was at Airventure 2008 with a
mockup of the Caravellair, Joe's concept of an affordable roadable
aircraft. For those unfamiliar with the term roadable aircraft, it means
a vehicle that is capable of legally driving on US highways, but has the
ability to unfold its wings and take off from a local airport or flying
field.
The Caravellair is planned to be an all metal kit built experimental
aircraft, that can be street legally operated as a motorcycle. The idea
is to be able to drive down the road with the three wing panels folded
up against the fuselage, and the tail section retracted in behind the
wings.
To keep the costs down the craft will use a manual re-track system,
for both the wings and tail. To fold or unfold the aircraft is planned
to take one person approximately 15 minutes.
The Caravellair uses a reverse tricycle gear configuration with two
wheels at the front, with power being supplied by the rear wheel on the
ground, and a pusher propeller in-flight. The design utilizes a high
wing with twin booms running to the tail with dual rudders.
The flight control systems will be operated via a single yoke control
for elevator, ailerons, and rudder pedals, with a separate throttle. On
the ground the craft will be operated via a steering wheel, clutch,
brake pedal, and gearshift. Very similar to a car with a manual
transmission.
Power on the ground and in the air is supplied by use of a motorcycle
transmission and drive train. On the ground the rear wheel of the
motorcycle pushers the vehicle, while in the air a belt drive system
with a reduction drive turns the propeller. The plan is to for a full
throttle engine engine RPM of 7000, with the prop speed reduced to 3200
RPM.
The Caravellair will meet the new experimental light sport aircraft
category specifications and thus will be able to be operated with a
sport pilot license. Joe is in the very early stages of development but
hopes to have the roadable version of the aircraft working by Airventure
2010. |
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