Wings Forum

The Corvair Personal Cruiser aircraft uses a concept called "FoldaPlane" where parts are shipped as flat composite panels and bonded together.



This should alow for much lower shipping cost for aircraft kits due to the reduced physical size. I'm still trying to find out more about this but it sure looks like a good idea. I found the info on this at http://corvaircruiser.com/Cruiser/FAP.htm

I am building one of the beta versions of the Corvair Cruiser. The prototype is getting close to flying except it is located in Datona Beach, Florida and the hurricanes have made a mess of the schedule but not the plane. My project is just at the point of finishing the tail and within a week I will be working on the control rods and then on to landing gear. It should be the second one to fly but that is at least a year off, maybe more. At this point I am delighted with the design and construction techniques. The foldaplane technique unloads a lot of the exterior finishing work since the majority of the fuselage external surfaces are already made by vacuum baggin and thus are light and smooth. It takes a little planning and sorting out to do the final folding of the fuselage but I got it sorted out in a few hours. The airfoil surfaces will need the normal hand smoothing but at least a lot of work is avoided. The prototype is coming in very light and I hope I can say the same but it is my first plane and I don't know enough to compare.

You can see a somewhat old photo of me in the builder section of the cruiser web site.