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Hello everyone,
I recently purchased a partially completed CH701 kit from a local EAA chapter that had inherited it from a member that had passed away. The fuselage, empanage, and wings are mostly finished. Anyway I was looking at the wings and the notes the previous builder had made and he made the wingspan roughly five feet longer than the plans called for. So the final wingspan is 32 feet instead of the 27 feet. this also includes an extra two connectors for the flapperons on each wing so there are six flapperon connectors on each wing instead of the four.
I wanted to reach out and ask if anyone had experience with extra long wings for the 701 and what kind of performance changes or build changes i should expect as I complete this project.
Anyway thanks in advance, I am sure I will have way more questions as this projects gets rolling.
-Brandyn
Comment
Hi Brandyn,
There is a rumor around that Chris Heintz had an approved wing extension or extended wing dimension for the 701. I believe it works out to 18" per wing- so a total increase of 3'. I looked into doing it on my build, there is a gentleman, Vance Simons, who has built one in Washington with the long wing along with some other mods. Look him up on Youtube and he will get back to you, he may be a member here as well, not sure. Anyway, he has the Chris Heintz "approved design" plans, i believe the same strut is used its just located another rib bay out.
- There are also 3 guys who built kits at the same time and all did the extended wing in Alaska, there was a youtube vlog they did as well, but you would have to dig for their info. I believe all 3 put the planes on floats.
Thanks for the concern Dennis, I did call the factory and I think I talked to Roger. They did not seem to have any issue with the extended wings.Anyway i'll see if i can run some calculations and see if there is a significant increase in the weight that the spar will need to hold.
Brandyn,
I would be highly concerned with the design safety factor built into the wing structure being significantly reduced by the addition of 5 feet of span. Not saying that it can't done, but if the builder just extended the wing span without appropriately strengthening the wing spar, flight safety is probably seriously impaired. Call the factory and talk to Roger or Sebastian to see what they think. It is not my goal to throw the proverbial "wet blanket" on your project, but I am very concerned for your safety if you continue with the project as it is without some structural design investigation.
Dennis
This website may help Brandyn , I myself am mulling over the whole 7 series range ch701,750,SD trying to decide and what engine. stolspeed, pricing them etc
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