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Aviation History
1979
1979 - 3045.PDF
--k,....,.•--•- 524 FLIGHT International, 18 August 1979 ; nMi-~~ Vhere else could you see a formation like this in 1979? Sixteen T-6s and three Beech T-34s of the AA's Warbirds division in one of the show's noisiest piston flypasts weight shift for pitch control, but this las a more conventional looking tail- ilane, and moveable rudder for yaw/ •oil control. Power comes from a .0 h.p. Chrysler engine driving the jusher propeller via a clutched, belt drive with 3:1 reduction system. Over 800 powered Quicksilvers and Easy Risers are reckoned to be flying. There were even multi-engined ultralights at Oshkosh. One newcomer was the Lazair, which has two five- and-a-half h.p. engines installed either side of the pilot, and Mylar covering for the wing aft of an aluminium leading edge. You can make several types of ultralight into twins with the Gemini Twin Thrust power unit, which incorporates two 6-7 h.p. two- stroke engines at either end of a metal frame. The pilot is protected from the propellers via metal plates, and he has two miniature throttles. The Gemini system was seen at Osh kosh on a Sirocco flexible-wing hang- glider, as well as an Easy Riser. It can also power the Quicksilver, Fledgling and most other types. A more sophisticated newcomer was the Striplin FLAG (standing for Foot Launched Air Cycle). This is a rigid flying wing with a glassnfibre pod for the pilot. He has wheels, but to stay legal can lower his feet through two little clamshell doors. This is another "twin," with two Soarmaster two- stroke engines mounted side-by-side and driving a single propeller via a clutch, which allows single-engined running. Elevons on the wing trailing edges are operated from a sidestick. Thirty-five kits at $2,995 have been sold to date. Yet more sophisticated, and well established, is the Mitchell Wing de sign, essentially a foldable flying wing with elevons and fixed fins, available with tricycle wheels and a streamlined pod. Several were flying at Oshkosh. A new development is the Super Wing, with retractable wheels and a re positioned fuselage pod that turns the Mitchell configuration into a shoulder- wing layout. This is a well-respected design by Don Mitchell, who has more than 40 years' experience of aircraft design and building sailplanes. He reckons on a 10 h.p. Super Wing per formance of 60 m.p.h. cruise and a glide ratio of over 1: 20. Klaus Hill is fairly well-known in the hang-gliding world for his Fledg ling and Voyager designs. Two of his ultralights, the Hummer and the Hum bug, were on show. Both are essen tially "minimum" aeroplanes with moving V-tail surfaces for pitch and yaw/roll control operated by a con ventional stick. The Hummer stayed resolutely on the ground in the Osh kosh ultralight area, though, since the pilot sits so high off the ground, with a tailwheel undercarriage, that foot- launching is clearly impossible. The Hummer is thus more of an aeroplane than a powered hang-glider, and it leads us on to two other Osh kosh ultralights with conventional aerodynamic controls for pitch and yaw/roll: the Weedhopper and the Australian Skycraft Scout, both of which have been earlier featured in Flight. Both have tricycle undercar riages with the pilot seated under a parasol canvas-covered wing, a fairly conventional rudder and tailplane, and the same sort of layout as the French Demoiselle of pre-First World War fame. The Scout is seeing considerable popularity in Australia, where, as re ported in Private Flight, the authori- 58 s *?«!.; Above Lots of power, lots of torque, and you lose sight of the airfield on the approach: the Gee Bee Z replica. Below A commuter trimotor from yesteryear: the Stinson Model A. American Air lines once operated 15 •••-•,•„•;;--•• \ •••••.-•'• ; -at"".:
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