The RTFM-aero Razorback F1 was designed to meet a specific need. Well, five needs, to be precise.
- It had to be QUICK to build. Decide in Spring, and fly before the end of Summer. I wanted a plane which could be built in two or three months – so it had to be both easy to build for normal handiman-types, and it needed as low a parts count as possible.
- It had to be affordable. And by affordable, I mean the sort of money a normal 9-5 working guy with a couple of kids could afford. I decided it should cost no more than a 5-year old used family car. And most people can afford that.
- It had to be impressive to fly. I wasn’t much interested in a low-and-slow plane. I wanted to climb like a homesick angel, and fly fast enough to get nods of approval from my mates at the airfield.
- It had to look like a million dollars. So no rag-and-tube monstrosities, no ugly ducklings with nice personalities. It had to look like it just stepped out of a makeover contest.
- Finally, it had to be able to be stored in a single garage. Not everyone can afford a hangar.
So… Quick build, cheap, fast, sexy and stowable. A pretty tall order. This is how I met these challenges…
First, the Razorback had to be as small as possible.
Small aircraft fly faster than big ones for a given engine. Because smaller is lighter, and smaller means less drag. And smaller also means cheaper to build. And quicker to build.
Second, the Razorback was going to be a single-seater.
Why? Size. A single is just smaller than a two-seater. Sure, there are times when it is nice to fly with someone else, but I’ve watched literally hundreds of two-seater planes take off with only the pilot on board. So – the Razorback is going to be designated the Razorback F1 (“Fits 1″).
Third, the Razorback was going to be generously powered.
Other similarly sized planes tried to make to with one of the 22hp industrial engines. I figured that why bother with marginal performance, when 80hp aero engines are readily available at very reasonable prices. And on 80hp, the Razorback would have extremely exciting performance.
Fourth, the Razorback has as few “pieces” as possible.
The fuselage as a single composite piece (including integral seat), design the wing as a single piece, and bolt on as much ready-made aircraft stuff as possible (ie landing gear, controls, etc). This would reduce the complexity significantly. And off the shelf items from Aircraft Spruce are cheap, too. The builder would only need to build the wing and elevator, bolt on the undercarriage, canopy, engine mount (and engine), and fit instruments. Quick. Low cost.
