Chris Cosman responded to questions:
Well Russell,
I'm going to get in hot water for this but here goes. I'm 6'5" 270 lbs (down from the
307 I was at when we started the cockpit mockup. My whole family has Norsemen genes
from both sides of the family. My father strapped me to the roto-tiller when I was 8.
It's hard proving you're smart when you should be in pro-wrestling (did not play High
school football either, 4 years of drafting instead). So we're big.
Without divulging specifics;
A 6'7" person will have 2 inches of headroom with his headset on.
Interesting, but there's alot of combinations of inseam + sitting height that equal
6'7". If you're comfortable revealing cockpit height, please do so. If not, I'll wait
impatiently... :-)
Wide as a GMC Jimmy. 3 normal people side by side (in Cessna comfort mode)
Ha ha ha ha ha ("Cessna comfort" is an aviation oxymoron.)
Room for a jump seat in back for light people.
You racist! Oh, wait a minute, I see what you meant. :-)
Trike (prototype fixed)
Designed around rotaries (with traditional aircraft engines as optional)
won't have any problem getting all the radiators under our cowl.
Hmmm designed around rotaries means (to me):
room for radiators
high power-to-weight ratios possible
low prop thrust pulses
high fuel consumption (compared to traditional 4-stroke lycosaurs)
So that means it will have a big nose and bigger fuel tanks, n'est pas? :-)
Sexy, I mean really sexy.
I reveal too much.
We desparately wanted to be at OSH 2000, maybe even call it the
Millenium Falcon, but, starting a new non-aerospace company and
LucasFilm's lawyers would kill you. Besides, as all true engineers know, then next
millenium begins on Jan 1, 2001. You still have time. :-)
designing/building a prototype aircraft (along with father & husband duty)
Now you have the briefest taste of what the Mommy track feels like. :-)
has taken more time than we thought. Our (my father, brother and I) new goal is
CopperState and the rotary prize.
We have the tail mostly done, wing skins done/ and are currently working on the
fuselage plug. Bruce Turrentine is working on our 20B (the one he's filming) and Tracy
is working on the peripherals.
I visited Oxnard a few years ago and tried on the KIS Cruiser, it was nice, but not
enough. I even went to Monterey and flew the Stallion. Nice but pricey.
Yes, I've had the same opinion about the Stallion.
Next came the Lionheart. Even pricier.
I've looked at it, too. My father, who has loved Beech Staggerwings for as long as I can
remember, would probably kill me in a jealous rage if I got a Lionheart however. :-)
So we felt there was a market for the overweight/tall pilot. Only time will tell.
Are you comfortable in a Biarritz Russ?
Never had an opportunity to try one on.
Russell Kent