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My RONCZ wings

flightlogic

flightlogic

Well Known Member
Patron
My RV9A wing was designed by John Roncz. I enjoyed reading about his history and design projects with Rutan among others. Has anyone got a clue how to pronounce his last name? Just curious....
 
Thanks! Now I know how to say it when someone asks how that wing goes so fast.... as we pass a Cessna 172.
 
There is a nice article in the Sport Aviation web archives that EAA members can access from July 1985 on John Roncz, "The Aristotle of Airfoils". I read that article when it came out, and years later when Van's introduced the RV-9A with a Roncz designed airfoil, I was very intrigued. Now that I have been flying the RV-9A, I must say he nailed it!
 
"Ronts"

John was a staple at the forum tents in the 80s and 90s. Incredibly talented, and funny guy. I've seen his name misspelled and mispronounced for years. The spelling is Roncz. It is pronounced "Ronts" as in rhymes with fonts.
 
You probably already know from reading his history , but he also designed or redesigned the canard on the Rutan LongEZ. The original canard on the VariEZ had some nose down trim in moisture as well as some LongEZs. The fix was a Roncz canard a bit wider in chord from the original with a different airfoil shape. Seem to do the job. I flew behind both of them.
 
The article in the '85 Sport Aviation is fascinating .... many thanks to Bruce for calling it out. :)
 
Roncz

John designed the airfoil for the Zivco Edge aerobatic airplanes. Perfectly flat surface from main spar aft. These airplanes with speed mods are used in the Red Bull Races. He also did almost everything for Rutan/Scaled. Incredibly talented guy.
 
flightlogic said:
My RV9A wing was designed by John Roncz. I enjoyed reading about his history and design projects with Rutan among others. Has anyone got a clue how to pronounce his last name? Just curious....
Click to expand...

The RV-9A wing is a true marvel, and his story is indeed super-interesting.

I'm thinking about putting his photo somewhere on my panel. :)
 
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