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The Longster

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by donv, Feb 22, 2019.

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  1. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #1 donv, Feb 22, 2019
    A friend of mine who is kind of the historian for the Beaverton and Hillsboro Oregon area airports, posted an article on facebook that he found about one of the first homebuilt aircraft, the Longster. I had to take a second look at the byline, because it was our own Bob Parks!

    The illustration is beautiful as well... from American Modeler in 1969.


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  2. tazandjan

    tazandjan Three Time F1 World Champ
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    Terry H Phillips
    #2 tazandjan, Feb 22, 2019
    Bob certainly gets around. Model magazines often got scoops. For years, the best info on the U-2A was an article in Model Airplane News from the early 60s.
     
  3. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    #3 Bob Parks, Feb 22, 2019
    Don, I thought that the detailed inboard profile would be posted also, a very interesting building process used by Les Long. I believe that there is one of these Henderson powered Longsters somewhere in Oregon. BTW, that illustration was done by a magazine artist, I did the structural drawing that went with the article.
     
  4. donv

    donv Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 donv, Feb 22, 2019
  5. Bob Parks

    Bob Parks F1 Veteran
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    #5 Bob Parks, Feb 22, 2019
    Thanks, that's it. I always thought that this was an interesting example of American ingenuity, using an air cooled motor cycle engine of low horse power and made it work in a well designed airframe by a guy that wasn't an engineer. The joints in the fuselage frame tubing were brazed and then had sheet metal gussets pinned to the tubing joint with small 6 or 8 penny nails and then also brazed. There was never a failure reported.
     

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