red750

Turboplanner's reply has been transferred to Aero engines vs Auto engines

This is a continuation of the discussion started in the topic Light aircraft crash at Heck Field 27/01/26

The discussion started with the second last post on page 3. We are now on page 6. I don't know how to split off and transfer so much of a topic. I have opened a new topic in the Engines and Props forum. All further posts on this subject are to be switched to that forum/topic.

Changzhou Zhonglian Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. has produced a two seat light helicopter with twin piston engines that is sold in kit form. There is no information available on it other than their own website, which naturally is a promotional type rather than a history and development discussion as found in Wikipedia. There are, however, a lot of very short Youtube and TikTok videos showing it thrown around like the cattle wranglers in the NT fly their R22's. They claim the twin engines provide a safety backup in the event of an engine failure. The website quotes a price of $160,000 down from $180,000. I assume that's US$, so the reduced price equates to A$231.000. They compare themselves to Robinson helicopters in the support area, saying factory spare parts are readily available and can be supplied quickly, whereas you may need to buy secondhand parts, or parts recovered from damaged Robinsons, which could result in long delays. Their claims, not mine. The aircraft is a Zhonglian F27. The title on this video quotes a price of US$230,000. Websites https://www.zhonglianaviation.com/product/experimental-helicopter-kits-for-sale/the-zhonglian-f27-helicopter-is-a-home-built-aircraft-ultimate-faq-guide-–-kits-certification/

Sorry, when it popped up I didn't check the date. Facebook have been doing that a lot lately, possibly longer. Posting things that happened months ago as if they just happened.

Renowned aerobatic pilot Rob Holland tragically lost his life on Thursday, April 24, 2025, when his experimental aircraft crashed at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton, Virginia. The accident involved an MX Aircraft MXS, a high-performance, single-seat plane built by an Australian company specializing in aerobatic and racing aircraft. https://dailytopis.com/legendary-aerobatic-pilot-rob-holland-dies-in-crash-at-langley-air-force-base/

Ignored Warnings, Fatal Decisions, and Years of Silence — The Ricky Nelson Mystery Is Finally Solved and It Isn’t Good MS2.XYNO.ONLINE In a shocking conclusion that overturns decades of speculation, the mystery surrounding the tragic death of rock and roll legend Ricky...

https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/other/ntsb-reveals-causes-of-mid-air-plane-crash-that-killed-67-in-dc/ar-AA1V72Wn?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=6979f51399ff4212ba6522dab418ada1&ei=42

Here is video of the aircraft taking off from Oshkosh, and after it crashed on landing, but not the crash itself. Spirit Engineering SE-1 crash.mp4

Midday news report. Both male occupants confirmed deceased. Fire spreading fast in dry conditions with a strong wind. Most stupid report: They haven't located a black box.

A light aircraft with two persons on board crashed at Heck Field around 6:30 am today. Details are scarce, with authorities unsure if it was arriving or departing. Fears are that both occupants may be deceased.

air moments crosswind.mp4

air moments.mp4

Tell them it's a hayshed

The Hanriot H.110 was an unusual pusher configuration, twin boom, single seat fighter aircraft built in France in the early 1930s. It proved to be slower and less manoeuvrable than its contemporaries and failed to reach production, even as the Hanriot H.115 after receiving a more powerful engine and cannon armament. From 1916 until 1933, the only Hanriot fighter aircraft had been tractor biplanes. The Hanriot H.110, a twin boom pusher cantilever monoplane was therefore a considerable departure from the past. It was designed to compete in the STAé (Service Technique de l'Aéronautique or Technical Section of Aeronautics) 1930/31 C1 (single seat Chasseur of fighter) programme. The all-metal H.110 had an open cockpit and engine in a short central nacelle. It was powered by a 485 kW (650 hp) Hispano-Suiza 12Xbrs supercharged upright water-cooled V-12 engine behind the pilot, driving a three-blade pusher propeller. The pilot's headrest was smoothly faired into the engine cowling. There was a circular Chausson radiator in the short nose ahead of the open cockpit, with a variable position central cone to control the airflow. The wings were built around two spars. The central 25% of their span, between the booms, had constant chord. Immediately outboard they had a wider chord and beyond were double straight tapered to rounded tips. They carried almost full-span, narrow-chord Frise ailerons. Forward, the slim, square section and untapered tail booms blended into the wings at about mid-chord, the aft ends carrying a constant-chord tailplane slightly above them. This had rounded tips and a central elevator with a trim tab. A central, single, tall, round-tipped, wire-braced vertical tail was mounted on in it. The H.110 had a fixed, split, conventional undercarriage with each spatted mainwheel on a faired, near vertical shock absorber and a rearward leaning strut together forming a V, laterally braced with an inverted V-strut attached near the under-fuselage centre line. There was a central tailwheel on a long leg under the fin. The H.110 began flight testing in April 1933. Tested against its smaller and lighter competitors, it proved slower and less manoeuvrable and was returned to Hanriot for modification. It flew in April 1934 as the H.115, with its HS 12Xbrs engine uprated to 515 kW (691 hp), a new four-blade propeller with variable-pitch and a revised nacelle, shortened forward of the cockpit by 360 mm (14.2 in). A 33 mm (1.30 in) APX cannon was now housed in a fairing below the nacelle as an alternative to the earlier pair of Chatellerault 7.5 mm (0.295 in) machine guns. With its new engine and propeller the H.115 was quicker than the earlier version, with a top speed of 390 km/h (242 mph). After more modifications over the winter of 1934-5 it returned to Villacoublay in June 1935 and was officially flight tested until mid August, but failed to attract a contract.

The Dyle et Bacalan DB-70 was a large three engine French airliner with a thick airfoil centre section which accommodated the passengers. Two fuselages, part of the centre section at the front but distinct further aft, carried the empennage. First flown in 1929, only one was built. In 1925 the large naval ship builders Société Anonyme de Travaux Dyle et Bacalan, established in 1879 and based in Bordeaux, developed an aircraft manufacturing interest. They built several all-metal prototypes incorporating very thick wings. The DB-70 was the largest of these and the last to carry the company name: Dyle et Bacalan ceased trading in July 1929, before the DB-70 had flown, though the company reformed as Société Aérienne Bordelaise (SAB) that same month. As a result, the aircraft is sometimes referred to as the SAB DB-70; the letter prefix DB was retained, though aircraft designed later by SAB used the AB- form . The DB-70 was a very large, all metal aircraft built, like all Dyle et Bacalan aircraft, largely of duralumin. As on the 1926 DB-10, the centre section of the wing of the DB-70 was extremely thick and twice the chord of the outer wings, with a chord/thickness ratio of about 25%. The layout of the two designs was different, though; the otherwise conventionally laid-out DB-10 had thick wings inboard of its two engines, whereas the DB-70 was built around its thick centre section with twin fuselages, developed from it rearwards, carrying the empennage. The centre section also mounted the three 450 kW (600 hp) Hispano-Suiza water-cooled inline engines and the pilots' cockpit and enclosed the passenger accommodation. The 9.25 m span wide (30 ft) centre section, the structural core of the DB-70, was based on four steel transverse spars, separated vertically by 2.30 m (7 ft 6 in), horizontally by 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) and cross-braced into six frames, forming five transverse bays. The two pairs of outer frames defined the forward fuselages and the outer wings, engines and undercarriage legs were attached to the outermost frames. The centre engine was mounted on the central frame, positioned well forward of both the leading edge and of the planes of the two outer propellers. The whole structure was duralumin skinned to form an aerofoil section with a chord of about 10 m (33 ft), the lower surface continuing to form the undersides of the fuselages. The outer wings were mounted high on the fuselage sides, carried 3° of dihedral and were of parallel chord with rounded tips. Each was supported from below by a pair of struts mounted on the lower fuselage longeron. The fuselages were simple rectangular cross section structures, built around four longerons and tapering rearwards. They carried the horizontal tail surfaces, both between them and extending outwards. The angle of incidence of this 'fixed' tail could be adjusted in flight for trimming. It carried three linked and balanced elevators. Two rectangular fins carried balanced rudders. The DB-70 had a fixed conventional undercarriage with double mainwheels on V-shaped shock absorbing legs mounted on the lower longerons, with bracing struts to the centre of the centre section. This arrangement produced a wide undercarriage track of 6.65 m (21 ft 10 in). Sprung tailskids were placed the extreme ends of each fuselage. The passenger accommodation was a rectangular area within the deepest part of the centre section, 5.35 m (17 ft 6 in) long, about 9.5 m (30 ft) wide and 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) high. The structural bays divided this space laterally into three: two outer, 10 seat cabins 1.80 m (6 ft) wide, each lit by 5 windows in the outer fuselage walls, and a central saloon with eight arm chairs grouped around two tables. For night flights, the seats in each of the cabins were replaced by 8 berths, reducing the overall accommodation to 24. Aft of this central area were toilets, a kitchen and baggage space plus corridor access to a floor trapdoor which was the principal passenger entryway. A 'promenade' ran the width of the centre section ahead of the seating areas, lit by glazed wing leading edges, with further passenger access doors at either end. Adjacent to it in the centre section leading edge was a corridor that allowed the third crew member, a mechanic, to enter the engine compartments for in-flight servicing. The two pilots sat in an open cockpit, fitted with dual controls, at the centre section leading edge. The first flight of the DB-70 was on 15 November 1929 from Merignac Aerodrome. Initial trial flights showed the aircraft could take off in about 120 m (400 ft) carrying a 5 tonne load. It flew around the airfield at Vincennes on both days of the National Aviation meeting held there in June 1930. Photographs show that modifications were made after the early flights, including the provision of external exhaust pipes and an increase in passenger window size, done by making the original oval windows into square ones. Only one DB-70 was built, though the military, four engine SAB AB-20 and SAB AB-21 used very similar airframes.

The Hiller XH-44 Hiller-Copter (Experimental Hiller, 1944) is an American experimental helicopter designed by Stanley Hiller. Stanley Hiller became interested in helicopters in the late 1930s, when he saw pictures of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61 and the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300. He bought every book on helicopter development that he could find, and in the early 1940s he began design work on the XH-44, at the age of 17. The XH-44 featured a pair of contra-rotating rotors which, in its original form, was powered by a 65 hp Franklin engine (de-rated from its original 90 hp). The engine was later swapped for a 125 hp Lycoming engine. It was the first successful coaxial rotor helicopter to be built in the United States, as well as the first helicopter to use all-metal rotor blades. The XH-44 tipped over on its first tethered test flight with Hiller at the controls, resulting in minor damage. On July 4, 1944, the XH-44 made its first untethered flight at the University of California's football stadium at Berkeley. The helicopter made an appearance during a public demonstration at San Francisco on August 30, 1944. The success of the XH-44 caught the attention of Henry J. Kaiser, who funded further development of Hiller's rotor system. Hiller donated the XH-44 to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in 1953.[4] The helicopter was restored in 1974, and in 1997 it was lent back to Hiller and displayed at the Hiller Aviation Museum. The original XH-44 was later moved to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, with the Hiller Aviation Museum displaying a replica in its place. Number built 1