I thought my pilot friends (and a few others) who do not participate in rec.aviation.homebuilt (RAH) might find this amusing. I must have too much time on my hands. Posted June 21, 1999 on RAH:

The Flight of the Terminator

Well, it's nearly ready for its first flight. The Chilcoat "Terminator". See pix below. This is the eyeball design I've been working on in my backyard for nearly thirty days now (eat your heart out, Cringely), spread over the past seventeen years. And you yahoos thought I was just a dreamer. No sir, not this guy. I'm a DOER. You'll see. Wait till I strafe the line @ PJY with my GE "Tuber" Gatling potato cannon, pod mounted on the right hard point. Eat starch, you RAHnians!

Note the fine lines, vaguely reminiscent of a WW-2 fighter (most notably, the Polish "Slusarczyk"). Note the delightfully phugoid shape. Note the "scimitar" Q-tip prop, designed to reduce tip vortices and to serve as a virtual duct at high cruise speeds. Note the "Wichita Sod" brakes, similar to Clevelands but with organically-grown fibrous pads. Note the Beryl O'Shannon one-piece windscreen, and the Lopresti-inspired low-drag canopy. Surely this is a design destined for greatness. A legend about to be born.

Specs:

Wing Span: 18-25 ft, give or take
Wing Loading 50 lb/ft^2 (total, live and dead loads)
Spar: 2-2x6 Wolmanized SYP, laminated with hot zinc galvanized 10d nails (AN)
Dihedral: Dihedral?
Ultimate load: 1.0g (demonstrated)
Engine: Intercooled, turbo compound Briggs & Stratton IC Gold, 15-75.23165 hp (est.).
Main Gear Stuts: Gabriel "Maverick" heavy duty truck, 5 year, parts & labor (pro rata).
Nose Gear Strut: Monroe-matic gas, from a '67 Buick
CG Range: Out there
Rate of Climb: 4,000 fpm (est.)
Rate of Decent: Much faster
Empty Weight: What it weighs when it's empty
Gross Weight: Me
Useful Load: Big
Dropped Load: Bigger (TBD)
Fuel Capacity: Enough to be dangerous (autogas)
Useful Range: How long is that runway again?
Stall Speed: <25 rpm
Service Ceiling: Armstrong acoustic tile (suspended)
Max Speed: 2,000 knots (est.)
75% Cruise: 75% of terminal velocity with wings folded
Economy Cruise: 55 mph during the 70's
Flutter Margin: $2 - Be still, my beating heart

Taxi tests start next week, if I can get the engine started, and some air to stay in the tires. I will offer plans ($1,200, complete - yeah) for this wonderful design just as soon as I can find enough money for an ad in US Aviator, assuming I can find US Aviator...

Bob (I do it for the love of aviation) Chilcoat

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