[python] Intro

Hi all,

I thought I would just drop a quick note to say who I was since this seems
like a pretty small list : )

INTRO:
My name is Paul Bell and I live on the outskirts of Canada Capital,
Ottawa. I just started using a bike to commute last year and find that I
really enjoy it. I even biked as much as I could through the winter.
I have been interested in HPVs since my early college days(late 80's) and
even wrote a few papers on aero and hydro dynamics. ( I love sailing). I
didn't bike much as I was busy playing all kinds of hockey(ice, roller,
ball, plus broomball) and lots of slo-pitch softball(pretty much a game a
day all year round). I have given that up more or less as I have started a
family and have a two and a half year old daughter( who loves my tools
YEAH!) and have just finished building my house over the last year. Now I
have time to ride and build!

PYTHON:
I am pretty good with wood and have a Cabinetmaking college degree and
some tools. This means I have an interest in making some parts out of wood
:)

I do not have a recumbent yet and have been looking at all kinds of trikes
and lowriders. With the price being what they are I figured I might make
one. When I saw the PYTHON design I thought, there is something
interesting to build.

My idea is to build a bike with hand crank assist since your hands are
free. I would also like to have a full or close to full fairing.

So here are a few questions :)

Do you think the bike would be drivable with hand cranks? and if so would
the cranks have to  be isolated from the front hinged portion of the bike
and attached to the rear frame driving a separate drive line to the rear
wheel?
I was thinking of making the fairing partly out of cedar strip's like a
canoe as I had all the tools and bits to do this and it seems like it
would produce a fairly light, but strong fairing. I think it would
possible be strong enough to actually be the main part of the frame. Any
comments on this type of construction?
I am pretty short at 5"4' and my in-seam is around 29 inches. This means
that using a 700c front wheel like I saw on the YPE web page is out. I
think I will have to go with a 20" wheel(sorry not familiar yet with all
the metric sizing for wheels)
I am also curious how pedaling affects the riding of the bike.
Can you make a long wheel base model and have the cranks behind the front
wheel? and what problems does anyone for see by making a longer wheelbase
model?
Keep in mid I would like to make a fairing and will need high speed
stability.

And lastly any have and articles/notes on how this bike rides at various
speeds, turning radius, etc.

I sometimes work with a CNC router at work so I might be able to make some
of my parts with the machine which would be nice : )

Cheers,

Paul Bell

P.S. I just started fooling around with HTML and put up a small web page
for a test. I hope to add more pictures as soon as time permits.
http://www3.sympatico.ca/jebelisle/



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