Thorp T-18
Encyclopedia
Homebuilt aircraft
Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...
designed in 1963
1963 in aviation
This is a list of aviation-related events from 1963:- Events :* Violating a 1959 requirement that all aircraft operating from the aircraft carrier Minas Gerais - which never has operated aircraft - belong to the Brazilian Air Force, the Brazilian Navy establishes an air group of its own for the...
by John Thorp
John Thorp
John Willard Thorp was an aeronautical engineer who made significant contributions to aircraft design throughout his life....
.
The aircraft was originally designed as an open cockpit aircraft, powered by a military surplus Lycoming O-290G
Lycoming O-290
|-References:...
ground power unit engine, but evolved into a fully bubble canopied
Bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is a canopy made like a soap bubble, which attempts to provide 360° vision to the pilot.-History:Bubble canopies have been in use since World War II. The British had already developed the "Malcolm hood", which was a bulged canopy, but the British Miles M.20 was one of the first...
aircraft powered by engines of up to 200 hp.
Design
The T-18 was designed to be easily constructed from sheets of aluminum, and use the modified O-290G powerplant. It was originally designed with an open cockpit and with the cylinder headCylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
s protruding through the engine cowling
Cowling
A cowling is the covering of a vehicle's engine, most often found on automobiles and aircraft.A cowling may be used:* for drag reduction* for engine cooling by directing airflow* as an air intake for jet engines* for decorative purposes...
in the interests of simplicity. Even as originally designed, the cruising speed was quite high. The design showed great potential for higher performance and so modifications were created to install larger, cowled Lycoming engines
Lycoming Engines
Lycoming Engines is a U.S. aircraft engine company, known primarily for its general aviation engines. For most of its history Lycoming has been part of the AVCO group as AVCO Lycoming. In 1987 AVCO was purchased by Textron to become Textron Lycoming...
and a bubble canopy. These modifications allow a T-18 with 125 hp to cruise at 160 mph (257 km/h) and higher powered examples to cruise in excess of 200 mph (322 km/h). Some aircraft have been constructed with retractable landing gear.
These performance improvements made the T-18 one of the most popular homebuilt designs of the 1970s and early 1980s until the advent of the Van's Aircraft
Van's Aircraft
Van's Aircraft is an American kit aircraft manufacturer, founded by Richard "Van" VanGrunsven in 1973.Van's RV series of aircraft, from the single seat RV-3 to the latest RV-12, are all-aluminum, low-wing monoplanes of monocoque construction...
RV kitplane series came on the market.
Powerplants
The T-18 was designed to use the 125 hp Lycoming O-290G Ground Power Unit. At the time the T-18 was developed these engines were inexpensive and widely available as military surplus generator motors. When converted for aircraft use are virtually identical to O-290D or O-290D2 aircraft engines.Other Lycoming engines can be used, including the Lycoming O-320
Lycoming O-320
The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of 92 different normally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants are rated for 150 or 160 horsepower...
, Lycoming O-340
Lycoming O-340
|-See also:...
, Lycoming O-360 and the Lycoming IO-360.
Kits and plans
T-18 plans are currently available to builders from Eklund Engineering, which is also developing a laser-cut kit version and as of 2009 had aileronAileron
Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...
, flap
Flap (aircraft)
Flaps are normally hinged surfaces mounted on the trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed an aircraft can be safely flown at and to increase the angle of descent for landing without increasing air speed. They shorten takeoff and landing distances as well as...
and empennage
Empennage
The empennage , also known as the tail or tail assembly, of most aircraft gives stability to the aircraft, in a similar way to the feathers on an arrow...
kits. Classic Sport Aircraft supplies plans, parts, and kits for the S-18 and the S-18T tricycle gear version.
Operational history
One T-18, N455DT, was built by Donald TaylorDonald Taylor (aviator)
Donald P. Taylor is an American aviator, notable for being in the late summer and early fall of 1976 the first person in history to successfully fly a homebuilt aircraft around the world...
of California and flown around the world from Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,916 people, 24,082 households, and 13,654 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,662.2 people per square mile . There were 25,420 housing units at an average density of 1,075.6 per square mile...
in 1976. This was the first successful circumnavigation
Circumnavigation
Circumnavigation – literally, "navigation of a circumference" – refers to travelling all the way around an island, a continent, or the entire planet Earth.- Global circumnavigation :...
of the world by a homebuilt aircraft.
Clive Canning flew another T-18 from Australia to England earlier the same year.
Variants
T-18- Original model
T-18W
- Modified T-18, with changes designed by Lou Sunderland to provide a 2" (5 cm) wider fuselage.
T-18C
- Modified T-18, with changes designed by Lou Sunderland to provide a "convertible" wing that rotates back against the fuselage for trailering or storage.
T-18CW
- T-18 with wider fuselage and folding wing.
S-18
- Similar to T-18CW, with modified airfoil and other minor changes. The Sunderland changes were made in collaboration with Thorp.
S-18T
- Tricycle landing gearTricycle gearTricycle gear describes an aircraft undercarriage, or landing gear, arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one wheel in the front, called the nose wheel, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity...
version
Specifications (S-18 with Lycoming O-360)
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