"I flew an old clipped wing Taylor Craft once, boy was that fun" Hello Mike, Your question is exactly what each designer asks themselves when they start to design a new aircraft. Wing span and horse power and how they relate to each other will determine how an aircraft will perform more than anything else. You probably enjoyed your clipped wing Taylor Craft because of its increase in speed and that is why the manufacture shortened the wing. However, the decrease in wing span to try and optimize an airframe for greater speed will generally result in a deterioration in slow speed handling. To be specific with KR's a little extra wing would be a good thing as most are being built a little heavier than stock. Of course this will result in a slightly lower top speed. In my particular project my liquid cooled engine will be heavier than the stock VW. I have increased the span of my stub wing to help with this additional weight and to increase my flap length again in an attempt to increase my slow speed handling. I will have a slower top speed at low altitude but since my engine will be turbocharged the extra wing and turbo should give me very good performance at altitude. Unfortunately, I can't give real numbers on this yet as I am just getting to the engine. My engine rebuild/inspection starts this weekend.
Stephen Teate Paradise, Texas
