Wow Plane

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It's time for Sun N Fun.

We had very little fun preparing for Sun N Fun -- it was Rain N Pain in Wichita for four days, and our field was flooded.  The gang was working nearly non stop, working on preparing 3 planes.  One was a customer delivery, and it had highest priority.  Another was a show plane, which we did not finish in time.  The third was a technology demonstrator, which we call the Wow Plane and it also would be going to Sun N Fun.  Mike had been working hard on the Wow Plane for several months, and the rest of our gang was working on finishing it up.

The rain ended Thursday night, and a walk of the flight field on Friday morning showed a diagonal path across the runway which avoided puddles and headed into the wind.  We had to fly the Wow plane!

So we rolled out the Wow Plane.  Around 4 in the afternoon, it took to the air for the first time.

Wow.

Wow!

Phenomonal crisp climb with only 28HP.  Flight controls as if they were on ball bearing rails.  Lots more.

And you'll find out lots more, soon, in a news release from Belite Aircraft.

The Wow ultralight airplane from Belite aircraft

You can see more pictures of this cool plane immediately on Belite's flickr account.

World Class Takeoff and Climb

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!


Our Belite ultralight aircraft is now demonstrating world class takeoff and climb performance.

This is our new aluminum airplane design.  The propeller / engine combination has been tweaked for optimum performance and smoothness.

We've got some great new video which proves it ---

You can see the video here.

(Thanks to friend Jim Loewen for providing the video.)

Make sure you are following James on twitter:  @jamespwiebe

-- James Wiebe, EAA 2011 August Raspet recipient

Gorgeous Skies; First Flight; Video

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!


Hey Everyone,

Please remember to follow me on Twitter.  @jamespwiebe  I'll be twittering from Sun N Fun and Oshkosh later this year.

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It was a gorgeous afternoon in Wichita, KS -- temperatures in the low 50's, calm winds, blue skies.

I was scheduled for a first flight in a new airplane.  I've done this a fair number of times, and it is always a process which is cautiously approached and ultimately thrilling.

This particular plane is equipped with a 45HP MZ-201 engine.  I ended up flying it with a couple different propellers (none of which was quite right) and I look forward to flying the plane the correct prop later this week.

But this flight was still pretty cool.  I attached a high definition portable camera to the wing, and took video of the flights.  You can see one of the videos here on Belite's YouTube channel.

Gene captured some great pics of the maiden flights -- and a couple of them are just spectacular.

The new owner is in California.  We look forward to shipping this plane in a few days.

You might enjoy reading the following details:

1)  The windshield still has the plastic film in place.  We pulled it away only on the left side of windshield, and held it in place with tape.  I couldn't see out the entire windshield.

2)  The fuselage frame is a welded version of our new aluminum framework.  The entire frame is constructed from aluminum.  The wings utilize carbon fiber spars (which you can't see in the picture.)

3)  The paint is just UV resistant primer from Stewart Systems.  We expect the customer to finish covering and painting the airplane, but it's up to him.

4)  The engine is a 45HP MZ-201 from Compact Radial Engines.

5)  First flight was just smooth and easy.

6)  You can see the camera (from GoPro) mounted under one of the wings. 

7)  This aircraft has the big 5x5 tires.  Note the white tire labels are still on.

Ultralight Aircraft from Belite, aluminum frame

Ultralight Airplane from Belite, aluminum frame

Ultralight Aircraft touching down

Ultralight Airplane from Belite pulls in

-- James Wiebe, EAA 2011 August Raspet recipient

Beautiful Cub Yellow Ultralight 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!

Belite Ultralight Aircraft, aluminum construction, 45HP motor

I flew this plane today.  Loved it!  Phenomenal performer.  The airplane is constructed from aluminum, and is available with a variety of motor options.  Shown is a 45HP motor from Compact Radial Engines.  This looks very similar to the Duct Tape Plane which was featured on Mythbusters - same color, same taildragger configuration, but with aluminum construction and a bigger engine.  This particular ultralight airplane is soon heading to a customer in Missouri.

Belite Ultralight Aircraft, aluminum construction

Belite Ultralight Aircraft, aluminum construction