Testing the first seat

Designing in 3D is fun, but having it realistic is a challenge. So we wanted to test the 3D's of Predrag Devic and his team for real. I used a solid 10 mm bar to construct a rough mock up. To prevent loss of material i just created the fuselage part to sit in and to place my feet.

The first mock up based on a very triangular fuselage design. The fork lift and large tube were used to hold it upright.

Placing some wooden plates gives me a quick seat.

When placing the feet on the intended feet rest, i notice very little leg room under the cross tube at my knees.

When placing the feet besides those frontal tubes, i create more leg room. A new tube could be placed there to hold my feet.

A attempt to create a slender middle part where it will be easy to install a feet rest and steerable front wheel.

Sadly ...this proposal had to be cancelled. The placement of the front wheel was not that easy to do. Besides it asked for the use of pedals and i still hope to avoid them. Making a classic landing gear would be easier to do. It would still make it possible to have wheelchair users as pilots.

Predrag Devic and his team noticed that the fuselage lost a lot of its rigidity in this configuration. 

And the more squared version was just ...ugly! 

Predrag also told me that the steerable front wheel would increase the weight a lot more than a classic tail wheel. So ... we altered our configuration into a more classic looking airplane. One that as a more classic fuselage with a rectangular cross section and a tail wheel. So ...go see the next mock up.