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QuickTalk 7 - PRODUCT UPDATE

/A cornucopia of mods have arisen lately directed toward the Q2 (with some possibilities for the Quickie). The initial murmurs out in the field show that some of these options will be very popular. In fact, several builders have stopped construction progress awaiting public availability, to avoid possible rework later on. Since many of you have written asking for information, we decided to review the whole list. -RH/


T-TAIL (LEG-AIR AVIATION, Bldg. 105, Mojave Airport, Mojave, CA 93501; (805) 824-2041) - Maybe a short background sketch would be in order for our newer members. Garry LeGare built the third Quickie ever to fly (May 1979) and developed the Large Wheel kit, which has been marketed by QAC. Later, he designed and constructed the original Q2 prototype at his Canadian home base. Mr. LeGare is also the sales distributor for all Quickie/Q2 kits outside the U.S. under the company name LEG-AIR AVIATION. LeGare has moved his kit headquarters to Mojave and it is from there that he does most of his business. (One of these days QBA is going to pin him down long enough for a Pilot Profile.) Along with the plans for the T-Tail mod, Garry has written a five-page letter fully explaining the reason for the modification and has added several observations from his own flying experience. The letter makes a rather frank assessment of the Quickie and Q2 when flying in the rain as seen by a man with literally hundreds of hours with both aircraft. A copy of this letter would be well worth your effort (even if you are not interested in the kit). Although an entire reprint is not possible, the following excerpts may be of interest. First, concerning his Quickie:

"A nice bright Sunday morning about 9 a.m. The kind of idyllic mornings we get in Western Canada in the summertime...I flipped the Onan to life and taxied down to the end of the grass runway. While taxiing on the grass, I noticed a few blades of mown grass had blown up onto the canard by the prop blast. No problem, I thought, these should blow off on the takeoff run. Wrong again. I gave the mighty Onan its head and started rolling. Acceleration was normal up to about 40 mph, then seemed to slow and at 50 mph when the Quickie would normally lift off, the main gear was still rolling on the grass...At about 70 mph the Quickie finally eased off the ground just in time to clear the fence. The climb gradient was extremely poor, less than 100 ft/min...I leveled off at 500 AGL and let the speed build. It finally peaked at 90 mph with full throttle...At Abbotsford the landing was interesting to say the least...I just ran out of aft stick and the nose fell through and set up a series of bounces...On examining the canard, I found that there were grass blades still stuck to it, although not many. Surely not what you would consider enough to have such a marked effect on performance. With the grass removed, the flight home was uneventful and the aircraft behaved normally." /This behavior was denied in QAC Newsletter #6. -Ed./


And his Q2 (before the mod):

"I was prepared for the rain and had installed heavy trim springs which were also biased to the rear, so flying in a constant rain was not much of a problem. There was a loss of about 5 to 8 mph mainly because of the extra drag incurred by having to fly the elevator down a few degrees. But there are two other areas where the rain can be a problem. One is when flying in and out of rainsqualls one after another. A couple of hours of this and you are just about exhausted from the constant battle with the stick forces reversing and having to retrim almost constantly. The other problem is landings. Where the Quickie has a problem with lack of power to rapidly attain flying speed, the Q2 DOES have sufficient power to rapidly attain the extra flying speed needed to compensate for the rain induced drag...But when it comes to landings in the rain, the Quickie soon gets even. Because the Q2 has a higher wing loading, it needs a higher approach speed when landing in the rain."


LEG-AIR claims that the T-Tail lowers stall speed (4-6 mph on the prototype), provides a better pitch stability, less pitch change upon entering rain (which is easily trimmed out) and allows a totally separate pitch control system for redundancy.


The reason given why the T-Tail is a better trim system in rain goes something like this: On the standard Q2 upon entering rain, the elevator must be deflected down to compensate for the loss of lift. Upon slowing to land, the elevator must be deflected down even further to maintain approach speed. Together these two factors don't allow you sufficient elevator deflection for a proper flare at normal speeds. The only alternative would be to approach at a higher speed and fly the Q2 directly onto the runway, which uses up a lot of blacktop. By contrast, entering rain with the T-Tail allows you to keep the elevators neutral since the tail is unloading the canard. Since the tail has a large moment arm from the CG, the small trim tab can transfer the canard load onto itself. Now on final, again trim out the force and flare with full elevator authority.


A conversation with Mr. LeGare brings out his satisfaction with the results. Obviously many builders like the idea also since last count had over 100 kits sold. The plans sell for $30.00 (they are nicely done with scaled templates, photos, etc.) or you can receive the Q2 mod package (plans and hardware) for $80.00. The latter does not include the extra foam or glass you will need, however.


Unfortunately, there are some drawbacks with the given system for the Quickie. Because of construction differences, LEG-AIR is not satisfied that the Quickie tail is strong enough for the loads that would be imposed on it. For this reason, T-Tail kits are not being sold to anyone who wishes to install them on Quickies. LeGare informs us that the problems are not insurmountable, but will require considerably more rework. Such an investigation will probably be undertaken, but it may be some time before testing is completed.


NEW CANARD - It appears that this option for the Q2 will be available in rather short order. QAC has hired Peter Lert (from AIR PROGRESS) to help do flight-testing and all indications appear positive. The new canard was originally designed to provide better flight characteristics particularly with precipitation and/or bugs. Testing with a roughened version of the canard to simulate these conditions has shown that this appears to have been accomplished. However, it should be understood that a final verdict of the canard's effectiveness should not be given until actual rain conditions have been encountered.


There are a couple of extra advantages that the new canard has apparently shown on the prototype. One of these is a 7 mph decrease in stall speed at CURRENT gross weight. The emphasis of current gross weight is due to the extra lift the canard provides. It is possible that the Q2 gross weight could be increased by 100 lbs. or more with the new canard. Naturally, you would lose some of that stall speed decrease at the higher weight. QBA has been told that the modified surface is more tolerant of CG changes and a new weight and balance envelope will probably be published.


Most new innovations provide a thorn or two and this one is no different. The cross section of the revamped canard is significantly thinner than the original. Using the plans construction methods, the strength and stiffness would be inadequate. QAC has been left with the choice of beefing up the structure either with a sizeable increase in glass to be added (heavy) or the use of carbon in the spar cap section (expensive). QAC is working with a composite specialty company to determine the eventual cost for the latter. If carbon turns out to be too prohibitive with regard to price, you can probably expect delays due to a redesign. Gene Sheehan has informed us that a final decision will be made before the next QAC Newsletter and will be announced at that time.


Again, the Quickie is not an immediate benefactor of the new goodies. The lower Reynolds number of the Quickie version may prevent as big an advantage in stall speed as the Q2. (If you need to ask what a Reynolds number is, you probably don't really want to know.) In any event, it may be two to three months before the Q2 package is available before the details for the Quickie could be worked out.


TOOLING FOR 0-200 ENGINE - Supposedly a significant amount of test time has been put into this project. The final stages should be finishing up as you read this. The tooling for the cowling and the hardware drawings were still to be completed. The prototype was also expected to be flutter tested up to 260 mph. Builders will probably wish to note that there will be mods to the exhaust system and airframe (primarily mag box and header tank) although none are expected to be major. Prices should be finalized fairly quickly and will probably be announced in the upcoming QAC Newsletter. Most of the development for the 0-200 will apply to the C-85 engine. The cowling will be the same although there will be slightly different engine mounts. One side note, which may or may not appear: QAC considers the new canard project to go hand-in-hand with the 0-200 conversion and may make it mandatory. Apparently the wider CG envelope of the new canard will better accommodate the weight penalty of the larger engine.


- This option is still several months down the road. QAC is spending its time with the 0-200 project and does not expect to give the Turbo its full attention until the Continental mod is well along. It should also be remembered that the Revmaster will require considerably more development time as compared to a certified engine whose characteristics are well known. Will try to keep you updated.


CITROEN ENGINE FOR QUICKIE - This Revmaster product is going into production no matter what. Apparently the company has other buyers for the engine and feels the total requests are sufficient for tooling. There will be some changes from the stock engine including new front bearings due to gyroscopic loads. Dynamometer results show just a hair over 27 HP with the same RPM range as the Onan. Engineering additions include an overhead cam and electrical starter. Gossip calls for a reduction in vibration compared with the Onan (thank goodness), 30% better fuel economy and a price range probably in the $1400-$1500 ballpark. It is not clear at this time what kind of marketing package will be put forth. Revmaster may wish to sell the engine directly with Quickie Aircraft offering the support hardware separately. The availability date is a little hard to guess right now, but the mod seems to be getting a surprisingly high priority at QAC.


PREFAB WINGS FOR Q2 FROM Q-AIRCRAFT OF CALIF. (P.O. Box 2367, Mission Viejo, CA 92690 (714) 831-1368) QBA member Howard Meissner has met with Fred Jiran of Composite Development Corp. (who make the Q2 fuselage shells) concerning having the Q2 wing and new cnard prefabricated. If enough interest is shown, smooth, vacuum-bagged surfaces could be made with hollow cores and shear web spars. Admittedly, it won't be cheap, but the costs would come down dramatically with several orders. Howard was not available when this report was written, so exact numbers are still unclear. However, for the builder who wished to complete his project in the minimum of time, this would be the way to go. QBA was told that the only catch would be the builder having to go to Mojave for a day to comply with the FAA's 51% building rule. We can't confirm this, but it appears logical. Mr. Meissner is taking $400 deposits to be placed in escrow. If Composite Development could not produce the parts at a reasonable price, the deposit would be refunded in full.



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