Industrial Espionage continues at Belite Aircraft

Please note: James' blog has moved to a Wordpress site. To access it, please visit http://jameswiebe.wordpress.com/. All posts have been transferred to the new site, and all new posts will only be accessible via Wordpress. Thank you for your interest!


TOP SECRET -- EYES ONLY FOR UNDERSIGNED

To:  C.S.R.
From:  Ace Industrial Spy Service, Bob Phillips, PI, acting SPECIAL AGENT
Re:   Belite's Product Improvements ----- TOP SECRET MEMO #17

Mr. C.S.R.:

I was able to once again gain access to Belite's facility late this afternoon.  There were no employees in the facility, and I fear that I will be discovered.

As they are almost ready to load two planes into trucks to head to AirVenture (OshKosh), it is now quite clear what they are intending to show.

1)  First and foremost, they are introducing an "UltraCub", which is easily the best looking single seat cub look-alike ever seen.  The pictures posted earlier are the 'proof in the pudding', and the rumor is that their yellow aircraft was sold a couple of days after I leaked those photos.

2)  They are also preparing to formerly offer a vinyl covering option for their aircraft which is easy to apply over stretched dacron, and is offered in around 80 different colors, including metallics!!!.  The aircraft I saw being prepped will be shown at Osh with an absolutely gorgeous metallic burgundy / black / white offset marking paint scheme.  It is my understanding that they have discovered a 'blend' of three different covering systems that make this a winner -- Stewart Systems and two other products that produce a truly amazing look.

3)  I clearly saw a 1/2VW engine mounted on the front of the one of their aircraft.  It had dual ignition, including a magneto, and developed 45HP.  It uses far less fuel than 2 stroke engines, and is very reliable, as it has been sold for many years.  It's also proven -- 1/2VW engines have been used on Kitfox Lite aircraft in the past (the KFL was the architectural predecessor of the Belite.)  Even more fascinating, they've managed to reduce weight so that a full featured, ultralight legal, UltraCub can be built with the 4 stroke engine.  This was a stunner, and I have one photo of that engine which I will share below.

4)  It is clear that they have improved their wing design to use high quality low cost baltic birch ribs with aluminum spars.  This, combined with some other tricks, allows them to offer the 4 stroke option on a legal part 103 airplane, without the expense of carbon fiber.  Even so, carbon fiber pricing will be reduced and offers even more capabilities.

I'm just skimming the surface of what I've seen.  I'm hoping they announce price, show specials, and more details next week.

Four Stroke Engine on front of Belite Ultralight Aircraft.  1200CC; 45HP.