Underwood Posted May 4 Posted May 4 Decided to fly in on the Friday Evening so as to avoid the Chaos of Saturday. Been in many times before and it gets a bit daft on Saturday when there are often up to 10 aircraft in the circuit and overhead with at least 3 often more on final at any one time. As it turned out quite a few had the same Idea and it was already busy friday evening. Met some friends and went down the Pub for some food and drinks so a nice evening. Weather was good which is fairly unusual for the Show its often horrible. Trade presence wasnt huge it hasnt been in recent years, mostly new very expensive 600kg imported stuff that to my mind doesnt really fit in the Microlight Ethos. On a more realistic side I did see someone has started selling the Hummel Ultracruiser as it now fits in the SSDR class over here, kit or full builds available, only the engine choice isnt great either a 1/2 VW which are rubbish from what I've seen of one fitted to a bloke I know's Hummelbird or an unspecified V Twin (probably a B&S derivative) Didnt get inspired to take many pics, but here's my Nynja and the Ultracruiser... 7
spacesailor Posted May 4 Posted May 4 There is/was a fair few motors for the Hummels . I liked the " McCoy four pot two stroke at 72 hp . No problems with " underpowered " a bit of the opposite! , .flying to fast . Had to have " wing fuel tanks " to carry enough fuel to go anywhere. RAA 29 April 2012 page 2 , 68 posts. We still think about what could have been . ( 16 builders gave it away ) . spacesailor
Underwood Posted May 4 Author Posted May 4 1 hour ago, spacesailor said: There is/was a fair few motors for the Hummels . I liked the " McCoy four pot two stroke at 72 hp . No problems with " underpowered " a bit of the opposite! , .flying to fast . Had to have " wing fuel tanks " to carry enough fuel to go anywhere. RAA 29 April 2012 page 2 , 68 posts. We still think about what could have been . ( 16 builders gave it away ) . spacesailor The SSDR class here in the UK allows the choice of engine entirely up to the builder. Someone actually got the smaller winged Hummelbird like yours I believe into the SSDR class, but I don't know how he managed to get the stall speed low enough. perhaps Vortex generators would get it down sufficiently? 1
Underwood Posted May 4 Author Posted May 4 UK SSDR spec is 35 knots/ 40mph or under stall The guy at the show with the Ultracruiser was stating 25mph, must be a substantial increase in wing area from the hummelbird to get such a difference in stall speed. perhaps there are also weight savings in the ultracruiser build.
BrendAn Posted May 4 Posted May 4 3 hours ago, spacesailor said: There is/was a fair few motors for the Hummels . I liked the " McCoy four pot two stroke at 72 hp . No problems with " underpowered " a bit of the opposite! , .flying to fast . Had to have " wing fuel tanks " to carry enough fuel to go anywhere. RAA 29 April 2012 page 2 , 68 posts. We still think about what could have been . ( 16 builders gave it away ) . spacesailor Would have thought a 447 Rotax would be ideal .
Underwood Posted May 4 Author Posted May 4 40 minutes ago, BrendAn said: Would have thought a 447 Rotax would be ideal . Unfortunately they stop making them a long time ago and 503s, even 582s are getting rare to find new stock. Second hand is always an option but I doubt there are many 447s left with much life left in their cranks 1
BrendAn Posted May 4 Posted May 4 1 hour ago, Underwood said: Unfortunately they stop making them a long time ago and 503s, even 582s are getting rare to find new stock. Second hand is always an option but I doubt there are many 447s left with much life left in their cranks I never said anything about new engines. Plenty of used around , admittedly more 503s than 447. I was just thinking those motors would work well. There are quite a few paramotors engines that might work too. 1/2 VW's are antiquated too.
spacesailor Posted Monday at 02:44 AM Posted Monday at 02:44 AM Mr Porche designed it well . The longest production run of any engine, to my recollection, in the world . Only needed " electronically controlled ignition " , to bring it to modern specifications. Cheap to run & maintain. Half a litre of oil per change , and six litres of fuel per hour to fly . " 10,000 miles is recommended oil change for cars " . but most change at 7,500 miles . If you object to VW-Porche look at Subaru . If you can carry that weight . 150 to 200 klgm 38.5 kgs " air-cooled VW " ( 2 cylinder ) 36 hp . spacesailor
Thruster88 Posted Monday at 07:45 AM Posted Monday at 07:45 AM 4 hours ago, spacesailor said: Mr Porche designed it well . The longest production run of any engine, to my recollection, in the world . spacesailor Lycoming O-235 has the record for longevity I believe for an engine produced in numbers. 1942 to 2025 with almost no change in design or materials. For the Hummel mine would have a 503, best power to weight no question. 1
spacesailor Posted Monday at 08:00 AM Posted Monday at 08:00 AM Hummel wih a 503 . Check out Dave King 's 19-1945 ( memory check needed ) . The fastest is. Four pot two stroke mcCalloch 72 hp. Also a Brian Gabriel built his with a 503 Rotax. spacesailor 1 1
Underwood Posted Monday at 08:16 AM Author Posted Monday at 08:16 AM Hirth made some decent 2 strokes in the 50-70hp range (still do), but they never got enough sales to challenge Rotax in that area. Perhaps now rotax has left that market they may get more of a look in. Seems their is still some interest in the 50-70hp range with SSDR types becoming available to buy like the Merlin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TechProAviation_Merlin_100 and a couple of open structure types that I forget their names right now
spacesailor Posted Monday at 08:35 AM Posted Monday at 08:35 AM Dave Kings plane . Rotax 503 , 19-1943 Hummel Bird . Highly polished . spacesailor 1
BrendAn Posted Monday at 08:45 AM Posted Monday at 08:45 AM (edited) 30 minutes ago, Underwood said: Hirth made some decent 2 strokes in the 50-70hp range (still do), but they never got enough sales to challenge Rotax in that area. Perhaps now rotax has left that market they may get more of a look in. Seems their is still some interest in the 50-70hp range with SSDR types becoming available to buy like the Merlin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TechProAviation_Merlin_100 and a couple of open structure types that I forget their names right now mz202 is a direct replacement for 582 and seem to have a good reputation. this is what aerochutes are fitted with now and they are the australian agents. knowing them they will make them too expensive Edited Monday at 08:47 AM by BrendAn 1
BrendAn Posted Monday at 08:47 AM Posted Monday at 08:47 AM 45 minutes ago, spacesailor said: Hummel wih a 503 . Check out Dave King 's 19-1945 ( memory check needed ) . The fastest is. Four pot two stroke mcCalloch 72 hp. Also a Brian Gabriel built his with a 503 Rotax. spacesailor they are a drone engine from the forties and fifties i think. a lot of benson gyros were fitted with them
spacesailor Posted Monday at 09:40 AM Posted Monday at 09:40 AM (edited) That's correct. Marilyn Monroe did a photo-shoot ( before becoming famous ) at the drone factory were she worked . Norma Jean at work . spacesailor Edited Monday at 09:42 AM by spacesailor 2 1
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