A Design Study of a Proposed Four-Seat, Amateur-Built Airplane

An airplane configuration suitable for construction by an amateur builder without the need for complex factory fixtures and tooling has been developed. The proposed high-wing configuration is intended to carry a 600 LB payload of up to 4 passengers arranged in 2 rows of side-by-side accommodations at a design cruise speed of 145 kts. It has been shown that the cantilevered wing components of the low-wing, 2-seat Mustang II kit airplane are ideally suited for the proposed airplane when properly matched with strut braced inboard wing panels. The structural implications of optimally sized ailerons on the baseline Mustang II wing structure is presented. Wing, fuselage, and strut reaction loads have been determined for the proposed flight envelope. A steel tube cabin structure has been proposed and limited structural optimization accomplished using a finite-element model. Detail analysis of the wing/fuselage, wing/strut and strut/fuselage attachment fittings has been accomplished.