Unconventional

[Tantalum]

I guess I wish there more cool designs out there for GA. With the trijets gone and the reliability and cost savings of 2 engines vs 4 I've come to terms with the fact that every airplane at an airport looks more or less like a 737, just in S, M, L, and XL sizes

But... GA still has some with the Cobalt, Panthera, Icon, even the variability in various legacy high and low wing, V tails, Mooneys, etc. gives some character to our airfields (plus the multitude of LSA and home builts out there)... but even those stick to a relatively conventional design

Came across something called the "Facetmobile" and based on its write up it looks like it has some good performance figures and is surprisingly docile: http://www.facetmobile.com/

How sick would it be to see these at airports? Not a fan of the prop location, but it's a cool bird you must admit... and if this were sized up that would be an absolutely huge cabin

 

[Zeldman]

I could see putting a string of multi colored flashing lights just under the outer edges, then flying at night over rural Mississippi and Georgia.....

 

[flyingron]

Barnaby Wainfan. The Facetmobile just about killed him when the 2-stroke he was using it conked out.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I could see putting a string of multi colored flashing lights just under the outer edges, then flying at night over rural Mississippi and Georgia.....

I'd imagine the same sort of reaction flying it anywhere withe the flashing lights as you describe. I remember the MetLife blimp was flying one Halloween evening and the radio and newspapers reported the local police fielded a lot of calls about UFOs.

 

[paflyer]

I could see putting a string of multi colored flashing lights just under the outer edges, then flying at night over rural Mississippi and Georgia.....

Just make sure you're out of "range".

 

[Tantalum]

If I had one I would definitely give it a sharp mat black paint scheme and paint the N numbers in a mat off white... I mean, you would kind of have to; no?

 

[denverpilot]

Tri-jets are gone? Shhhh. Don't tell Falcon.

 

[GRG55]

Saw this at OSH in the early '90s. Both Barnaby and his wife Lynne are accomplished aeronautical engineers. He at Northrop Grumman and she at Boeing Satellite Systems.

Lynne was wearing one of the best large lapel buttons I've seen: "As a matter of fact I am a rocket scientist".

 

[Tantalum]

Tri-jets are gone? Shhhh. Don't tell Falcon.

Falcons are sweet birds. Flying just did an article on the new 8X. If I had that kind of money I'd be buying a Falcon over a Gulfstream. But I meant in commercial aviation. 727, L1011, MD11, etc. Outside of the retiring fleet of MD-88, MD-90 everything is one size or another of 737

 

[GRG55]

Tri-jets are gone? Shhhh. Don't tell Falcon.

That's just the French. Vive la différence.

 

[skier]

Lots of variety out there if you want to search:
Dyke Delta
Anderson Greenwood AG-14
Davis DA-2
Edgely Optica
Rutan Boomerang
Mignet Flying Flea (and derivatives)
Mini Imp
Verhees Delta
Acrolite 1T
Long EZ
Quickie
Emigh Trojan
Champion 402

I started the thread below on the homebuilt airplanes forum to show off a lot of cool/unusual designs.

http://www.homebuiltairplanes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14183

 

[Tantalum]

I started the thread below on the homebuilt airplanes forum to show off a lot of cool/unusual designs.

Cool page! I had an old coffee table book about the world's most unusual aircraft... most of the designs were pre 1950s though

The hard thing with an unconventional design is to keep it attractive looking.. our minds expect a certain design and the departure from that usually means most people won't like the way it looks, but when you can pull it off the results are usually very appealing

 

[ktup-flyer]

Pretty much any Rutan design

 

[Spotter626]

I too saw this at Oshkosh, Barnaby is a great designer and a pretty good writer too. He used to write for Kitplanes, maybe he still does. And yes the inside was huge, looked like the office in C-130 Herc.

 

[Tantalum]

Might be a fun design to tool around with and modify at the RC scale... You could build a comfortable 6 place with that layout. Pressurization would be a challenge since it isn't round, but plenty of 6 place planes are not pressurized

Would definitely turn heads on the ramp!