REFLECTOR: Deltahawk engine

Dave Black dvblack at comcast.net
Thu Oct 6 00:29:01 CDT 2005


Grigore,

> I must confess that I'm spending a lot of time into investigating avionics and that, at some moment, I was even about to buy an MX20 ... Shame on me!  

It's no shame at all. Nearly everyone wants to jump ahead to the 'fun stuff'
of the avionics and engine. But developments are coming quickly in those
areas, so your studies today will be completely outdated by the time you need
a panel or powerplant. Anyway, you have at least 18 months (and probably
several years) work ahead of you before you're forced to buy those high ticket
items. The other thing people fixate on is the paint scheme. Once again, that
can wait until you actually have something to paint. 

One thing I've noticed time and again over the years: Early adopters pay
through the nose for new technology, and get Version 1.0. Believe me, I've
been there and done that. Much better to let others test out the new toys,
then buy the perfected version in a couple years at half the price...

Thinking here of the DeltaHawk engine. It SOUNDS like an absolutely perfect
solution for many, many reasons. And I'd really love to have one under my
cowl. But do I really want to be the first kid on my block to own one?
Probably not. I'll wait until they've been flying for several years before
signing up. 

> In the light of your experience, it would probably be a good idea to have
> some flowchart explaining the steps that one should follow in the
> construction of a Velocity in order to delay the decision on a particular
> engine or avionics system as much as possible ...  Or maybe there already
> exists one?

There probably is. But for the purposes of this discussion, just keep your
eyes on the first goal: building the airframe. It doesn't hurt to daydream
about panel, paint, and engine -- but don't spend any money until you
absolutely have to. 

I wish someone had explained that to me 10 years ago...


Dave Black
Shortwing RG


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