petehdgs's blog

The garage construction was completed in March.  We got busy at work and I started working on the garage again off & on in September. I have buit a workbench and purchased a new table saw.  I have insulated and sealed the ceiling and am now working on the walls.  I want to keep the humidity at 50%.  I just got a used Shopsmith Mark5.  I am considering inviting my neighbors to help as a community boatbuilding project.  Maybe I'll get lucky and find one or two people who can help me occaisionally.

Saturday, October 16, 2010

Since the last log entry I have done a LOT of research into Aircraft Diesel engines that are or will soon be on the market.  The main move to the diesel was prompted by my observation at Kentmorr marina and Kent Narrows marina that diesel fuel was available at both, but 87 octane pump gas was the only gasoline available.  Also, at Bay Bridge Airport Jet A was selling for $3.30 per gallon while 100LL was $4.55, and highway diesel in our area is $2.90-3.30 depending on where you buy.  Unlike gasoline aviation engines, which cannot tolerate lower octane fuel easily, diesel engines designed & rated for Jet A can tolerate #2 diesel fuel with only slight modifications to the fuel supply system.  In fact running these engines on #2 diesel will provide slightly better power and fuel economy.  When you consider that diesel fuel or jet A are available nearly everywhere, it makes sense to go with diesel. 

Friday, September 03, 2010

Tail design:

Sunday, August 01, 2010

For several years now I have been tinkering on the drawing board for a new seaplane.  I have recently made some design decisions that are solidifying the project and I am looking for people near and far who might be interested in a project like this.  So here goes. 

My wife and I, our luggage, and our dog routinely fly 400 NM from EZF to HXD for visits with family.  We are right at 2150 lbs gross in our Cherokee 140 with 40 gal of fuel and make the trip in 3.8 hours with 1 hour reserve.  We also have the ability to take two couples, no luggage and a light load of fuel up for a joy ride.  Our airplane cruises at 110 Kts at 6500 ft while burning 8.0 GPH, and 100 kts at about 7.5 GPH.  We want to be able to replace this aircraft with our new flying boat.  We live in the Chesapeake Bay region, right near the fall line.  We would really use our airplane a lot more if it were a capable boat as well as an airplane.  We like to go Dolphin watching and we like the water.   

I am working on building a Camper for my service body pickup and a custom amphibious flying boat seaplane I now call the Long Coot Amphibian.  This vessel will be based on the Coot Amphibian, but will be about 28% longer, allowing more space and weight capacity for 4 people, while retaining the ability to fold the wings and trailer the vessel behind my truck camper.  The Long Coot has been called a Super-Coot by some.  This is my first log entry and we'll see how the project goes.  Pete 6/29/10.