11–20 of 57 posts
I wonder who the fugitive billionaire is who has his private Airbus parked in Mumbai airport?
Vijay Mallya. http://indianexpress.com/photos/picture-gallery-others/vijay...
Just a quick look at the design reveals the rear wheels are nowhere near the center of gravtity. This is important if you want to rotate on take off at reasonable speeds and land smoothly. He should know such basic stuff if he really flies for a living. Also the engine lacks cooling obviously. Cant‘t take such stories serious, as in some way they discredit real Indian engineers who build stuff, including planes, that…
Not sure how you can tell the cofg just by looking at it. Looks to me like theyre in roughly the correct position. I wonder if the engine is watercooled.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Vijay Mallya. http://indianexpress.com/photos/picture-gallery-others/vijay...
Either this website registers a new history with every scroll down the page or it hijacks the back button so that pressing back scrolls you back up the page until you've reached the top. I've never seen this functionality before.
Just a quick look at the design reveals the rear wheels are nowhere near the center of gravtity. This is important if you want to rotate on take off at reasonable speeds and land smoothly. He should know such basic stuff if he really flies for a living. Also the engine lacks cooling obviously. Cant‘t take such stories serious, as in some way they discredit real Indian engineers who build stuff, including planes, that…
Not sure how you can tell the cofg just by looking at it. Looks to me like theyre in roughly the correct position. I wonder if the engine is watercooled.
Is the builder doing something different that would change this? I don't know. The nose of the plane looks a little 'long' if he's using a piston engine as the article suggests, and I don't see any pitots sticking out. It looks like a plane, but there are some weird details that just don't make sense.
The proof in the plane is in the flying, and according to the article, this plane never flew. I'd really like to see a flight test before giving this guy credit for building a plane.
> "In India, innovation by commoners like me is not taken seriously. [...]"
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure how you can tell the cofg just by looking at it. Looks to me like theyre in roughly the correct position. I wonder if the engine is watercooled.
Yeah, the parents post smells suspiciously of alternative, possibly prejudiced, motives. We have no idea about the density distribution of the plane to say where the center of gravity is.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure how you can tell the cofg just by looking at it. Looks to me like theyre in roughly the correct position. I wonder if the engine is watercooled.
He should publish his schematics online. They should allow him to test it. If he dies, so be it. That Virgin Galactic pilot died – testing aeronautical prototypes is dangerous. Just because it is dangerous doesn't mean you have to prevent every maverick from trying. Of course, he should fly it himself and not get someone else to test it. Also, he should just fly it surreptitiously, if he's that confident.
The Virgin Galactic crash was during an approved test flight from the FAA. That means that the FSDO (flight standards district office) was satisfied with their design process and believed that they had taken necessary precautions (like testing it in the desert). The VG plane was designed by a team of engineers, and this plane was designed by a pilot (contrary to popular belief, pilots are not all-knowing).
India has a similar requirement, and their regulators say this guy doesn't meet the standards. Is it because of corruption? Is it because of incompetency and being unwilling to waste their time to examine his plane? Or is it because they looked at it and know that his design is actually unsafe?
I don't know the real answer. The article claims they aren't giving him a fair shake. There are convincing arguments in this thread that the plane won't fly well.
> He has spent about $800,000 of his own, and his family's money, and has sold properties and pawned family jewellery to fund his dream. > "In India, innovation by commoners like me is not taken seriously. [...]"
"Mr Yadav is now back on the roof, working on a prototype for his next 19-seater plane", eeek!
"You know, I think I would make aviation history in India, if they allow me to take the plane up", but perhaps not the kind of history that he would want to make. Risking his own life is one thing, but others?
Just a quick look at the design reveals the rear wheels are nowhere near the center of gravtity. This is important if you want to rotate on take off at reasonable speeds and land smoothly. He should know such basic stuff if he really flies for a living. Also the engine lacks cooling obviously. Cant‘t take such stories serious, as in some way they discredit real Indian engineers who build stuff, including planes, that…
the western media loves publishing stories like this about india, china, russia, etc.
their motives are highly suspect, to say the least.
I don't understand the aviation minister's concern that "he'll crash". Is it fear of embarrassing the country or actual concern for protecting the guy's life? Or would the registration imply endorsement of safety and put others' lives at risk?
One of the biggest controls on recreational flying in the US for folks I know is the difficulty in getting life insurance coverage. It's a rather effective market restraint: if you're wealthy enough to afford the hobby, you're also likely keen on providing for your family.