Building a trike from scratch
Had some trouble with the blog and it vanished completely. I am a bit old school and have not done blogging before so I guess that it is a combination of bit of finger trouble and misunderstanding how all this work. Hopefully thirt time lucky and it will work this time.
I have stated to build a trike from scratch. The ideas are a mix and a match from existing trikes, especially Vliegvark's concept, with a couple of ideas of my own.
1) Use as much commonly available material and components
2) Frame will be stainless steel while most of the suspension and fuel tank will be aluminium
3) Wing will be bought - topless from Yenya
4) Engine a BMW 1200 - I will try to put a belt drive on rather than the gearbox which will be about R25000 cheaper.
5) MAW 450kg
6) -1 to +4g
7) > 80 l fuel tank
8 ) adjustable front seat
9) brakes - must still decide
10) trailing link front suspension
11) back suspension traditional trike design with shock absorbsion
12) cruise speed I aim for 105 km/h
13) optional front aileron tube
The plans will be available for free (with no guarantees, if you build it, it is your responsibility).
The frame will be welded. The weight is always difficult to estimate and I think that you will always underestimate. I aim for less than 200kg. To give a bit of perspective on how much weight you are going to add using stainless steel:the frame will be made from 80x40x1.5 mm rectangular tubing which weigh 3.86kg/m. you need about 4 m for the pylon and frame which gives you about 15kg. You still have to add all the other stainless steel brackets and stuff which might be another 10kg. The total weight of all the stainless steel parts will therefore be about 25kg. The rest will be the same as a normal trike, so the final weigh will depend a lot on what you add anyway.
Here is a drawing of the frame without the wing and engine.
The front fork detail is shown below. It uses a trailing link suspension using normal off the shelve Gabriel gaslifts available at most spares shops. I have allowed for some alternative as well, you can either use 2 19mm ones with a 200 or 250mm stroke or a single 22mm 209mm. The 19mm ones allow a longer stroke (250mm) because the 22mm is not available in 250mm.
There is no reason why you can not use any other fork. The easiest might be to use a fork, wheel and brake from a old trike.
The 2 drawings show the 19mm x 250mm gaslifts at both extremes. This should give enough travel for the roughest terrain .
Tags: build, microlight, trike, ultrlalight
Add a Comment
-
Comment by Christopher Van Zyl on March 26, 2010 at 7:59pm - Here is some interesting info about Prof Grotepass and his BMW developments that appeared ib the popular Mechanics someOupa Grotepass.pdf time ago
-
Comment by Mark Becker on March 17, 2010 at 9:06am
- Any progress yet Otto!
-
Comment by Christopher Van Zyl on March 7, 2010 at 4:06pm
- The 3D pics are great. Please do post the drawings as you go along . Technical drawings are one of my passions that I never got around to making a profession of!
-
- Awesome stuff Otto!
-
Comment by Ystervark on February 28, 2010 at 10:32pm -
Well I tried to post some news last week but It somehow got lost. I thought that the complete blog was lost but it appears to still be here. (As you can figure out from this, I am not very tech savvy with all the new computer stuff)
The news on the building of the trike is that I got most of my stainless steel last week. I have started cutting the fork this weekend and I hope to drill all the holes this week. There are a surprising number of holes to be drilled in the fork and since it is stainless steel it is quite tough to drill. Before I start I must first get some drill bits for the stainless. I prefer the cobalt drill bits and I still need to get a 10 and a 12mm.
I have also made some progress on the drawing. Basically updated the fork a bit (everything does not always work out the way you planned so I have added these changes to the drawing.)
If any body is interested in the technical drawings at this point I will post the fork drawings as well.
I have also added an engine to see what it looks like. The engine is not very accurate but the proportions are correct. The wing is next on my list.
-
Comment by Christopher Van Zyl on February 18, 2010 at 3:39pm
-
Thanks Ystervark
Good luck with the computer "woes", I am quite surprised that you could run these graphics programs on "old technology"
We look forward to your progress with your project from which we all should benefit in the long run.
Nothing nicer than to see your own creation taking shape, espescially in Stainless Steel, and how lovely everything looks when freshly powdercoated and the bits and pieces are ready to be assembled.
Lekker speel ou maat ( Dis nou met die aerie, en nie met die PC nie!)
Groetnis
-
Comment by Ystervark on February 18, 2010 at 3:29pm
-
Thanks for all the positive comments guys. I am a bit quite because I am busy installing a new computer at home and it is taking up a lot of time! The new computer was mainly bought to try and do some analysis on the pylon. My old computer was a bit long in the tooth - still running Windows 2000 with 368M RAM. I will post a 3D model in Adobe Acrobat format as soon as I get everything up and running again.
I did order the Stainless steel at least with which I can not do anything. I hope to get it next week. This weekend the weather looks good and I hope to do some flying!
I will fix the font colors above - my mistake not checking it.
I will put in a BMW 1220GS yes. My only 'inovasion' part is that I will use a belt drive, or try let me say I will try it at least. The gearboxes are every expensive (about R40000) and if we want to do make microlights more affordable we will have to reduce the price significantly. I hope that a belt drive can be build for about R15000.
The wing will be a Topless from Jenya (Aerossa), already have it in fact.
-
Comment by Christopher Van Zyl on February 12, 2010 at 10:58am
-
Sorry Varkie
I see you have answered all my questions on the blog above the photos, but the font is so light that it is hard to read. Maybe you can adjust the font for easier reading.
Good Luck
CVZ
-
Comment by Christopher Van Zyl on February 12, 2010 at 10:52am
-
Hi Varkie
I am impressed! Good luck with your project. The graphic art is awesome. I am presently rebuilding my Air Creation Clipper 582 - 15 yr old and I realize that it should be a great experience designing and building your own trike. The newly powder coated parts really makes me want to build my own!
There are so many great trikes around, but none will ever be as perfect as you like them to be. Being able to take the best ideas and concepts of the best available trikes, and combining these to build your dream trike is a grand idea. I assume you have seen the newest American marvel "Revo" made by Evolution, but the price is absolutely rediculous at 50 000 american dollars. A beauty however!
The DTA concept must probably be the best one to work from.
Are you doing the BMW 1200 engine on your project - that certainly seems to be the way to go.
Have you decided yet which wing to use, or are you designing and building this as well?
Good luck and please keep us informed on your project with lots of pictures!
-
Comment by Free to Adventure on February 12, 2010 at 9:05am - Hey Otto, looks like its going to be an awesome trike, going to follow this with much envious interest and use this platform to share as much as possible!
About
© 2010 Created by Mark Becker
Powered by 
.
You need to be a member of Free to Adventure Microlight Videos | Ultralight Video | Photos to add comments!
Join Free to Adventure Microlight Videos | Ultralight Video | Photos