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Aviation History
1982
1982 - 0066.PDF
flight at maximum all-up weight produces considerable deformation of the wing rooch, which dumps excess load the "soap box" sense, rather than the conventional aircraft sense. Dual full seat harnesses are provided. There is no seat adjustment. The engine is a Fuji Robin twin- cylinder two-stroke of 432 c.c, rated at 40 b.h.p. at 5,900 r.p.m. The drive is via a toothed belt through a 2:1 reduction to a two-bladed mahogany propeller, the thrust line of which is low down behind the pilots. Con siderable thought has gone into re ducing vibration transmitted by the engine to the propeller. The driven pulley of the reduction gear freely rotates on its shaft, but is attached to the propeller hub by four studs mounted in specially formulated rubber bushes set into the cog wheel. This eliminates much of the wear on the tooth belt, and no failures have occurred to date. It is much more efficient than the V belt drive system currently used on the majority of microlights. Fuel is gravity-fed from twin lgal fuel tanks mounted behind the up rights to a single diaphragm pump that serves the twin carburettors. Each tank has a fuel cock. Fuel con sumption is quoted as 4 g.p.h. at maximum throttle and 2 75 g.p.h. at normal cruise. Range is therefore minimal, even for a training machine, but an auxiliary fuel tank may be fitted behind the seat, fuel being pumped up to the main tanks in flight. There is no provision for warm air supply to the carburettors, but carb icing has not been a problem to date. Twin exhausts are underslung beneath the engine and eliminate the major portion of the high-pitch noise, but further improvements could be made to reduce the decibels to a reasonably acceptable level for even 64 ultra-sensitive local residents. There is an optional electric starter and battery with its own generator in cluded in the kit. Behind the P.l pilot's left shoulder is a rather awkwardly mounted choke lever for cold starting. Instead of dual throttles with their attendant linkages, Chargus has been rather clever by fitting an extended twist grip the entire length of the control bar, and attaching it by pip pins to the uprights so that it sits behind the control bar itself. A single igni tion kill switch is fitted on the port side of the throttle bar. There are no other engine controls, gauges or instruments, unless they are ordered. Very considerable thought has gone into trimming out the control forces in order to simplify handling and enable a totally confused student to let the machine fly and land itself in an emergency. Four bungee shock cords extend from the corners of the control frame fore and aft either side of the bench seat. These side cords serve two purposes. They damp out rolling forces of the trike in turbu lent conditions, and limit the yawing movement both on the ground and in the air. From the nose plate of the glider to the nose plate of the trike is a trim wire incorporating a bungee section at the lower end. This is intended to stabilise the pitch angle at a pre-determined speed, ensuring an adequate margin over the stalling speed and enabling the aircraft to be flown hands-off in all weight and trim configurations. Conditions for the test flight were ideal. A one-piece flying suit, gloves, and helmet are essential for flying microlights, and having walked around to check that all nuts, bolts, and bat- FLIGHT International, 9 January 1982 tens were in place and that there were no tears in the sail, I climbed into the left-hand seat while Paul Webb of London Ultralight took the instruc tor's side on the right. Dual trike flying is a very friendly occupation, as it is necessary for the instructor and student to cross their arms in order to be able to exert an even fore and aft force on the control frame. When it goes wrong it is rather like doing the Gay Gordons. As I weigh 13 stone and Paul 11, we were near the present max weight with full fuel aboard. Taxiing the Titan is easy. The nose- wheel damping means that the steer ing is heavy, but it is compensated for by the lack of shimmy and ease of steering a straight course over rough ground, a skill that requires much practice on other types of trike. The turning circle is about 40ft, but with that big 39ft wingspan you need all the manoeuvrability you can get. The standard microlight pre-take-off mnemonic is CHIFTA, standing for: • Controls, full and free movement, correct sense. • Harness, Helmets and Hatches (locking pins in). • Instruments if any fitted. • Fuel sufficient, correct grade, and switched on. • Trim (if any) set. Centre of gravity within limits. • All clear. Lining up at the end of Boving- don's last remaining runway, we checked the thrust at full power, Dual nosewheel steering is provided. Bungee elastics stabilise the "A" frame, the pitch trim cord being clipped to an adjustment plate
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