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Aviation History
1985
1985 - 0170.PDF
PRIVATE FLIGHT Morrisey moves to Nevada LAS VEGAS Morrisey Aircraft has com pleted its move from Cali fornia to Nevada. William Morrisey has set up shop not far from the Strip in Las Vegas, writes Howard Levy. He is producing a little aircraft which the home- builder can turn out as a single-, two- or four-seat machine, known as the Bravo. Both aircraft and designer have backgrounds spanning more than 40 years. As Douglas chief test pilot, Morrisey test flew all of the company's airliners and fighters from 1936 to 1939. He joined the Civil Aeronautics Agency as a flight-engineering inspector, returned to Douglas in 1942, and retired from there in 1955. Morrisey's first aircraft was the Nifty, a 65-90 h.p. fabric- covered tubular-steel and wood machine. This 1948 $2,695 tandem two-seater was intended to be certificated for flight-school training. The poor economic situation meant that it did not go ahead. In the early 1950s Morrisey began the Model 2000, which can be considered the Bravo's predecessor. It had a fabric- covered welded steel-tube fuselage, all-metal wings and tail, and a 90 h.p. Continental. This aircraft was certifi cated in December 1955, but it was the Model 2150, powered by a 150 h.p. Lycoming, which went into production, being approved in 1957. It had a metal wing and tail, a fabric- covered tubular-steel forward fuselage, and a metal tail cone. Morrise^ built ten 2150s before selling licensing rights to Shinn Engineering; de sign and production rights followed. Shinn did some redesigning and built about 40 Model 2150As. Production was then taken up by Varga Aircraft, which has built some 200 units as the 150 h.p. Lycoming O-320-engined Kachina, the name by which the design is best known. His new Bravo is an all- metal aircraft except for a glassfibre wing leading edge and fabric-covered aft fuse lage and tail fin (which can be metalised, if desired). The William Morrisey flies his prototype OM-1-2 Bravo II over Nevada prototype Bravo was started four years ago and flew on June 30,1981. It was built in a Primary configuration—that is, in a single-seat open- cockpit, no-frills layout. The design represented a funda mental aircraft which could be turned out at the lowest cost in the shortest time. After exploratory test flights, the Bravo was given de luxe treatment: a sliding canopy was fitted, along with streamlined wheel fairings, to make it an Advanced design. More than 40hr of flight- testing were performed to conform with requirements for a FAA Type Certificate. Morrisey says that the flights were most satisfactory, but that he will not pursue certifi cation until the kit pro gramme is "off and running". In June 1982 Morrisey started on the second part of the programme—Bravo II. This meant taking the design (now called Bravo I, or Model OM-1) and converting it into tandem two-seat Bravo II (the Model OM-1-2). No alteration to the basic structure was required, except for the addition of tracks and supports for the additional front seat. The instrument panel and windshield were moved forward and the canopy extended by adding a splice in the glass-fibre top. The aircraft is flown solo from the front seat, pilot and passenger sitting in a 30in- wide cockpit. Even 6ft 4in pilots have a 4-6in clearance between knees and panel. A long tailwheel leg raises the tail 17in above the ground to a level taxiing attitude. Morrisey is making parts for 15 aircraft at a time, and was assembling a single-seat Bravo I from first kit parts when Flight visited him late last year. He hopes to fly this prototype by mid-1985. Two two-seaters will follow. A start will be made on the first OM-4 four-seater in March. This aircraft starts with the basic airframe, which is plugged to increase length and width compared with earlier types. It is lengthened by 24in—6in forward and 18in aft of the wing, respectively. The cockpit is 12in wider at the broadest point, extending forward to the nose. At each wing root some 32in is added to increase the span to 31 • 2ft. New tailcone fairings in crease the width of the rear fuselage. The 9ft-span tail- plane is retained on the OM-4, as are the wing, flaps, and ailerons of the Bravo I and II. Landing-gear track is in creased from 7-3ft to 8-3ft. Compared with the pro totype Bravo, the kit aircraft has been designed to be built more simply and at lower cost. Wing leading edges are pre formed glassfibre, rather than metal, as are all curved parts. The Bravo appears to have compound curves in the struc ture, but this is not so. The wing, which currently sports ten solid ribs, will probably have five of the forward ribs replaced by stretch-formed strip ribs. Morrisey claims that these are as strong, but lighter. Three solid trailing-edge ribs will be replaced by strip ribs. The first three aircraft will be fitted with modified Cessna spring-steel main gear: pro duction units will have w FLIGHT International, 19 January 1985
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