On the eve of four announcements

It is Sunday evening; my wife and I have comfortably settled into our rental home in Lakeland Florida. Sun N Fun starts in two days. Tomorrow, we're sending out four news releases.

We're exhausted. Our staff and us have been working nearly around the clock for the last couple of weeks, trying to get everything ready and buttoned up for the show.

Most of my time has been spent on the development of a suite of avionics -- you'll be able to read about them soon enough. I've already concluded that once you fly with our new air speed indicator, you'll never use any other air speed indicator again. Ours is designed from the ground up for slow experimentals and ultralights. But it's just one of ten or so new avionics we're introducing, and it is by no means the coolest. Enough said on the avionics, or I'll spill the beans prematurely.

I asked for feedback on the Trike several weeks ago. You responded; and we completely redesigned it. Take a look at the pictures which have been posted on flickr
and you'll see that the Trike is now identical to our conventional taildragger model. And you can switch back and forth easily!

The Trike pictured is powered by a MZ202 engine with 45 horsepower. It uses carbon fiber wings, and tips the scales at about 250 pounds. Amazing.!

That's all for now.

See you at Sun N Fun in two days!

James

The weight of a Belite 254

If you were around our workshop on a daily basis, would see that we are constantly weighing things. We are passionate about reducing weight, staying legal, and increasing utility in the design of our Belite 254 Carbon Fiber ultralight aircraft.

I weighed the Belite 254 demonstrator aircraft on certified aircraft scales today. This particular aircraft is loaded with options. It came in at 255 pounds, without fuel tank. Because the limit is 254 pounds (actually, 253.99999 pounds) this would seem to be a failure. (I mistakenly first weighed it with the fuel tank and with fuel, and it was way over... ooops.... take out the fuel tank and reweigh...)

Our fuel tank weighs about 3 pounds dry, so today's final weight was 258 pounds. Consequently, we were 4 pounds overweight relative to FAR 103. I'll explain how we solved the problem in a few moments.

Here's what's on the airplane:

1) 4130 Steel airframe / elevator / rudder
2) Covering system with UV protectant
3) Bungee landing gear
4) Grove gear
5) Grove hydraulic brakes
6) Enlarged tail wheel
7) Rudder steering
8) 45HP engine, derated to accommodate part 103 cruise speed (with more work to be done)
9) 3 blade Powerfin prop
10) 5 gallon fuel tank
11) Electric Fuel gauge
12) Airspeed indicator
13) Altimeter
14) Tachometer / Hourmeter
15) EGT / CHT
16) Voltmeter
17) Turn & Bank
18) Instrument panel, made of wood
19) Transceiver and permanent antenna
20) Transponder and antenna
21) LIPO Battery System with current system
22) Engine Starter Relay (but no electric start with this current engine)
23) Voltage regulator for radio
24) Alternator (this airplane generates electricity to run avionics and charge the battery)
25) Gizmo Dock

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. It's loaded with goodies. The panel would be comfortable and pleasing to any VFR pilot.

My goal was to have a FAR 103 airplane with high technology construction (Carbon Fiber), amazing power, full panel, etc. So now I've crammed all this stuff into the demonstrator, and I'm 4 pounds overweight.

Here's the solution:

1) We quickly reconverted the gear from bungees to solid. This saves about 28 ounces. I then removed the turtledeck, as it is not necessary for flight. Another 22 ounces saved. Finally, I removed a chunk of aluminum which was simply not necessary. (We'd been using it as a base for fuel tank in the baggage compartment; no longer necessary.) It also weighed 22 ounces. Total savings: 72 ounces, exactly 4.5 pounds.

Final weight, as adjusted: 253.5 pounds. FAR 103 legal! Loaded with features, engine, and performance! It can be done. (If configured with a smaller engine, performance remains VERY SIMILAR and weight drops further -- the 28HP engine weighs 18 pounds less!!)

I've heard reports of guys breaking their bungees and consequently hitting the props/destroying the engines. I'm OK without bungees for awhile. We'll figure out something to add them back to the demonstrator sometime soon.

The demonstrator still has a little work to do in Wichita, but it will soon be ready to move to Oshkosh. For example, Friday morning, we're doing an air to air photo shoot.

Real Flight for Belite 254 - my pilot report

I have never in my life flown an airplane which I designed critical structures. Nor had I flown an airplane of my own manufacture. Nor had I flown a taildragger, that is, an airplane with a rear wheel.

Yesterday evening, while the nation was focused on July 4th celebrations, all of those things came together at one time for me. I flew Belite 254 around the traffic pattern at Jabara airport many times.

Absolutely amazing. A life moment. A dream come true. Many long hours of work, capped with a time of anxiety, thrill, joy, calm. All at once.

This evening, I flew Belite 254 again. More of the same. With no doors, my views were spectacular. At a cruise speed of about 52 mph, (remember, I'm currently testing with a 28HP engine) the wind feel was just right as it brushed against my arms. The cockpit area was calm.

With air that was very crisp and very clear, I circled Jabara for approximately 90 minutes. I continued to evaluate the flight characteristics of the airplane I have built. I practiced and evaluated takeoffs, landings (in a mild crosswind), climb, cruise, descent.

I found a little time to snap some photographs. I even shot a little HD video while flying.

Our weight continues to be under control, and this is looking and feeling like the world's best FAR 103 legal airplane. We are benefiting enormously from our proprietary carbon fiber spars, ribs, and structures. Our panel is nearly fully functional, and our electrical system is up and running.

I am amazed. OK, that's a self serving comment, but for those who know me, I'm not prone to publishing much words that are so positive. In other words, this is worth paying attention to, and my dream of FAR 103 flight is turning into a powerful reality.

Here's some of what we know:

1) We're currently testing with a 28HP engine. We have no cowl on the bird, so the airstream is seeing the firewall flat dead on. Even so, we're still cruising at 51 mph. Climb rate is slow, but will improve with a cowl and a little more HP. However, I still think this 28HP engine might be ideal for lighter weight pilots.

2) We have a complete electric system. We have electric start, and a high quality radio in the instrument panel. It's beautiful. We'll have a transponder, fuel gauge, temp gauges, altimeter, airspeed, tach time (digital), volts (digital), and gizmo dock.

3) I did a quick check on stall speed. I'm overweight relative to the FAA standard (weighing 200 pounds; FAA standards dictate a 170 lb pilot for the testing); the airplane has a flat firewall in the airstream with very dirty air over the wing roots, and I still saw a 30mph stall. So I'm more or less comfortable with the 28mph requirement.

4) Well, we certainly aren't cruising at 62mph. Yet.

5) We have 360 degree vision, because of the rear windows we engineered into the fuselage. You will love the view. Also, our turtle deck is transparent.

6) Cruise is nearly hands off, as built. Control pressures are light.

7) When you start a turn, the plane just keeps turning. Roll out opposite aileron and rudder to stop any turn.

We've got 3 weeks left until Oshkosh. In that time, I plan to accomplish the following:

a) upgrade to a 45hp engine. We also have a couple of state of the art engines to test with around 33HP.
b) cowl installation for final look over the engine.
c) transponder installation.
d) redesigned fuel tank is nearly done.
e) a couple of tweaks to weight.

and a couple of other surprises.

We will meet our goal of delivering a state of the art ultralight aircraft, with a great engine, a full VFR panel, and an electric system. Our airplane will be easily confused with a light sport, but legally, it's not a light sport. It's FAR 103, no license, no registration. FAR 103 is re-emerging as a viable legal aircraft type.

For those of you wondering about how I transitioned to a taildragger without a formal signoff, I offer the following comments. I received some excellent instruction from a friend who owns a taildragger; he let me taxi his plane at a private airport over and over. Then when I started testing in the Belite 254, I continued by doing low and then high speed taxi tests at Jabara. Finally, I took test hops straight down the runway which I have previously documented. An amazing thing happened though: It ALL came together. I had the feel of the 3 point landing flare at stall; I had the new skill of forcing the tailwheel onto the runway; I had the takeoff feel for the tail lift, and then pulling back to takeoff. I have a new respect for crosswind; I have new methods for taxiing. I do not recommend what I did; I would and must recommend formal training in a taildragger transition course. (But I didn't have to do a transition course, because I'm now flying part 103 -- enjoying the FAA's best last pilot freedom). For the rest of my taildragger transition, I thank God who allowed me to create a Belite 254. They are wonderfully forgiving.

Just about everything is done.

I appreciate all of the inquiries I've received. I'm mindful of all of them, but I have not responded to some of them, because of the crush of things to be done before Airventure. Your patience is appreciated! I remain very interested in dealer inquiries here in the US and distributor inquiries in foreign countries. I will be establishing a partner program which will be mutually beneficial. Please visit me or my crew at Oshkosh.

I love this little plane. It's not an excuse for anything. It's real; fun; and economical.