hiperlight

galpin, I'm not positive...I think the canard in the video is a Rutan VariViggen. The prices of Wankel aircraft conversions seemed high to me while I was 'surfing the web'. I started with a Google search of 'aircraft wankel'. Have a look at www.ultralightnews.com/sunfun99/wankel.html...the prices there are 1999 vintage. Bruce

Hello migrace If you prefer two or four rotors, try www.rotaryengines.ca/ .They are not cheap, but they are available. Phantom has no intention of installing dual ignition, full stop! Bruce

A relatively new engine, suitable for we peasants in the 95-10 category, is the Phantom XR-40 Rotary (Wankel) Engine from www.phantomaeronautics.com located in Michigan US of A. The engine is a detuned version of the AIXRO XR-50 gocart engine from Germany. It (the XR-40) makes about 40hp at 7600rpm (compared with 50 at 10000from the XR-50) and when combined with a 3.4:1 belt redrive has a total mass around 30kg. You can hear the appropriate sounds and see it flying in a Phantom ultralight (part 103 approved) on the website. Any comments? Bruce

'Pistons are General Motors aftermarket made in Australia and are re-machined to include a piston pin circlip groove. They are fitted with 3 rings, the top rings being cast iron to complement the chrome molybdenum cylinder bores. Valves are 7mm (stem dia) which are purpose manufactured for the Jabiru engine in England.' Bruce

'Under a direct supply arrangement with Honda, various components of the engines are sourced. These items include camshaft followers, and the bendix gear in the starter motor. The ignition coils are also sourced from Honda, but are modified by Jabiru for their own particular application.' Conrods are machined from 4130 alloy steel but the pistons could be Honda, but I'm not sure. Bruce

In the context of a callsign the correct phonetics would be 'fife zero double zero' As an altitude, distance etc, it would be expressed as 'fife tousand' Bruce

Hello migrace, I'm with you...ultralight flying should be for economical fun only. My Hiperlight, with a Rotax 277 motor,was originally FAR part 103 compliant.Inits present configuration though, witha Rotax 377, it weighs 131kg (288lbs) empty. 95.10 doesn't prevent you from building an aircraft to FAR 103 standards. I'll be watching to see what you produce with genuine interest. Bruce

Hello Steven, I'm not sure if the following are 'words of wisdom'...probably not - just the ramblings of an old bloke. THE LONGER ONE LIVES - THE OLDER (and more chicken?)ONE GETS Regards Bruce hiperlight

For engine buffs, here are a couple of interesting engines...Napier Deltic (developed from the Napier Culverin) and the Commer Double Knocker (TS2 and TS3). Do a google search and view the 'wikipedia' animation of the Deltic. I haven't heard the exhaust note of the delta engine, but the Commer TS2 trucks of the 1950's had a unique, very identifiable sound. If you want to find some interesting engineering developments in engine design, start your search from about 1880! Bruce

Ethanol has an 'octane' rating (or more correctly, 'a performance number') of about 113. Unlike petrol. ethanol has an affinity to water which is quite readily absorbed. It is a solvent which cleans fuel tanks and lines and blocks filters. Some flexible fuel lines are badly affected by ethanol. Ethanol contains less energy per volume than petrol and requires a richer mixture to avoid detonation due to localised overheating, which can burn neat little holes in pistons. As a rough rule-of-thumb doubling of jet sizes in a carburettor would be a good starting point if you were running pure ethanol. I suspect vapor-locks could be a real problem in aircraft. Ethanol is an OK fuel in a motor and sustems designed to use it. In summary, any amount of ethanol in aircraft fuel could spell trouble. Why risk it? Bruce

Did you see the photo of a good example of a JAP J99 fitted in a 'Dart Kitten 11' at http://www.stevelevien.com/dhch.htm .....I like it! Bruce

Contact Tom about VW aero engines (see ad on page 23, November 2005 issue of RAAus mag. Thomas Philippa has an ad for a Taylor Mono (which I think he built in a previous life) in the December 2005 issue of 'Pacific Flyer'. In the November 2005 issue the same gent had an ad for a VW1800 aircraft engine. With the assistance of the above-mentioned Tom I am in the long process of building a half VW...but forget about 50hp...more like low 30's! Bruce

BE VERY CAREFUL!!!! Aircraft diesel engines are designed to run on very low sulphur content avtur (like jet-A1)' but I'm not sure how it is done. Sulphur is a natural lubricant and although auto diesels produced in the last decade or so are designed to run on LOWER sulphur diesel I think jet-A1 might be a bit extreme and cause excessive pump and injector wear. Adding a lubricant like polybutene to the jet-A1 MIGHT overcome the problem. I have read articles about "heroes" running diesel road vehicles on jet-A1 with 5 litres of oil added to 200 litres of fuel with reported success. BUT NOT IN MY DIESEL 4X4 THANKYOU (except in an extreme emergency!) Bruce

Zoche in Germany have developed several aero-diesels. An inverted V2 aircooled diesel of 70hp weighing 55kg looks interesting. There are several other companies making diesels for GA aircraft. Bruce

Tony, The swageing tool I used on sailboat rigging is like a double action bolt cutter with the appropriate swageing jaws. Is that similar to the nicopress tool you mentioned? The problem I have using that type of swageing tool is that several bites are necessary for fixing fork ends etc. OK for fitting thimbles but it is impossible to get a really professional looking swage on a long sleeve. Probably strong enough but psychologically worrying. But then you have the practical experience with aircraft rigging. Bruce

Gregg, 'fork ends', 'eye ends' and turnbuckles are swaged onto the straight end of a cable. e.g. flying and landing wires. Done properly the cable will fail before the swage lets go. You must have 'faith'. I used to hand swage the 'fork ends' on the standing rigging on sailboats. I must admit that my 'faith' in hand swageing doesn't extend to flying (or even landing) wires on an aircraft. Proper hydraulic swageing is the way to go! Bruce

I'd love to see your aircraft in the flesh sometime. I live in Sydney but I'd drive up to Williamtown one day in the future to see your project if you don't mind. Let me know one way or t'other. Bruce

Definitely a beautiful little dart. However look at the wing loading...about 61kg/sq.metre: more than twice that allowed for 95.10. It would glide like the proverbial brick with an incredibly high stall speed. Nice machine, particularly with the turbines, but definitely doesn't fit 95.10 specifications...not even in spirit. Bruce

See the AUF/RA-Aus website...chapter on "Airmanship and safety tour":para. 7. "Accident Reports": sub-para. "AUF/RA-Aus Accident Investigation Reports" Hiperlight