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Five Years With Melmoth 2

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Melmoth 2, a homebuilt aircraft, has undergone continuous modification and improvement for five years since its first flight, consistently refining its design and performance.
  • Significant enhancements include the addition of nosewheel doors, which reduced overall drag by nearly 10%, and adjustments to wingtips to improve roll-yaw coupling.
  • The author has addressed various engineering challenges, such as engine cooling issues (through baffles, component relocation, and cowl flap experimentation), and is currently focused on designing a complex hydraulic synchronization system for the Fowler flaps.
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Last Halloween my homebuilt, Melmoth 2, celebrated its fifth birthday-if age be counted not from conception (in which case it would not be five but 26) but from first flight, and if being an inanimate object parked in a hangar be called celebrating.

_Melmoth_2 was not really finished in 2002, but what original-design homebuilt ever is? It was ready to fly. I have continued to work on it since then at a rate of 10 hours or so a week. I’ve made many changes, added a lot of weight-185 pounds and counting-and somewhat improved its performance. But there’s still plenty to do.

Peter Garrison

Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.

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