The Magic Carpet Ride...

On Labor Day, earlier this week, I tried to fly our first production Belite 254 airplane for the very first time. The weather was great, the airplane was ready for its maiden flight.

My friend Terry had flown his faithful Kitfox Lite over from his home base so he could help and see the maiden voyage.

I started with taxi tests, and if those went well, I would proceed to a flight test.

Unfortunately, the taxi tests did not go well that day. We had a problem with the brakes, and so we had to get them fixed before proceeding to the test flight. And then for the next 3 days, the weather was terrible. In one day, Wichita had 5 inches of rain. Not exactly weather for first flights in an airplane.

This afternoon, the rain stopped, the wind eased and the skies cleared enough for a test flight. Terry met me at Jabara so we could give my FAR part 103 legal airplane another try. (FAR Part 103 -- google it! It means you or I can fly it anytime without a pilot's license, without a registration, and without even the need for a medical in this class of aircraft).

The pictures tell the tale. The very light airplane looks fantastic, taxied like a dream, and took off without hesitation. In fact, I got a little higher than what I planned. (This was supposed to be an up and down test hop, straight down the runway.)


I weigh close to 200 pounds, so this particular bird will provide spectacular performance for anyone around 180 pounds or less. Empty weight is currently 239 pounds. The cowling will add another 3 pounds.



We've still got a little work to do before this plane is ready for customer delivery, but not much. For example, one problem is that the airspeed indicator seems to be off by a large amount -- it was indicating far too slow a number. We'll check it against another airspeed indicator very soon.

Another minor glitch is that the cowling is not yet installed on this airplane. It doesn't need it, but it's supposed to be there, we're still a few weeks away from receiving them from our vendor.

I enjoy the feeling of flying right over the runway at a low altitude. It feels like a magic carpet ride. I also enjoy the open frame look on the rear fuselage of this airplane. I wasn't sure, but looking at it now, it looks so sharp!

Do you like to fly? This airplane provides a spectacular experience.

In a few days, we'll have an Inventory tab added to our website, with a complete line item description of this particular airplane. We'll be offering this one Ready To Fly, FOB Wichita, $29,995. It includes a few options that aren't supposed to be in the base configuration, but hey, they are already installed. (For example -- electronic fuel gauge with capacitive sender -- works great -- far better than sight gauge.)

Enjoy, fly safe -- James Wiebe

Photos of our first production aircraft

I just posted photos of our first production FAR part 103 aircraft on flickr.

You can find them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beliteaircraft/

Have a look and tell me what you think!

The cowling is not yet installed on this airplane.

Thanks!

James

Sport Pilot Cover Story on Belite Aircraft; New Pricing

I am, in my heart, an entrepreneur. I like to take risks, innovate, market my ideas and see what happens.

At Airventure, I was privileged to introduce a new aircraft: the Belite 254 CF, which is a FAR part 103 legal airplane. This aircraft features a lot of carbon fiber, in a very delightful, small package.

This airplane caught the attention of a lot of people.

We had chosen to display it in the North exhibit area, far away from the rest of the ultralights. We chose to do this because we felt we had a fundamentally different idea about how an ultralight should be designed and marketed. We thought our potential customers might not be ‘ultralight’ enthusiasts. We were looking for people who appreciated innovative engineering, sprightly design, good looks, and a measure of taildragger conventionality, all while flying and owning an airplane that does not require an FAA registration, nor a pilot’s license, nor a medical. (Bad or declined medicals are welcome as well, thanks to the graces of Federal Aviation Regulations FAR part 103.)

Our friends at the Experimental Aircraft Association have chosen to publish an article about the Belite as their cover story this month (September cover) in Sport Pilot magazine. We are truly honored.

We have decided to streamline our product offering a bit. We created a new low cost version of our airplane, which we call the Belite 254. It looks exactly like its big brother, the Belite 254 CF, with the exception that the rear fuselage is not fabric covered. Have a look:

We were able to cut the price by using more aluminum and less carbon fiber, and by cutting out all of the options which add expense but provide no benefits to the patch flyer. As a result, it is available ready to fly for $25,000 less than the Carbon Fiber version!

Here's another pic (the windshield hasn't been installed yet, but will be later this week.)

We will be introducing a cost reduced *kit* as well, which will be available for substantially less. This is possible because we are paying careful attention to the options which people want, and we are also able to cut out some labor expense by tack welding the steel. Many of our potential customers want to do their own welding; we're happy to oblige. This revised kit pricing will be announced in September, and it will be big, welcome news for budget minded homebuilders! Stay tuned. (Send an email to us: info AT beliteaircraft.com, if you are interested in our kit pricing when it’s released.)

Here’s our new price list:

1) Belite 254, Ready To Fly, for $29,995. This plane incorporates a lot of goodies: Carbon fiber firewall; 28HP engine; full span flaperons; aircraft grade steel fuselage and cabin; 5 gallon detachable fuel tank; (for easy refueling); 5 inch wheels; brakes; electric start, full lexan windshield, fiberglass cowling, flight instrumentation, much more! Also includes a sharp looking paint job! We believe that this is the finest value in very light aircraft in the world. It looks like an airplane, it flies like an airplane, it’s economical, and the wings fold for easy storage and transport. It crushes FAR Part 103 weight requirements with a flying weight of about 235 pounds!!

2) Belite 254 CF; Ready To Fly, for $54,995. This version adds approximately 50 features, including carbon fiber spars and ribs; hydraulic brakes; wood instrument panel with lots of good stuff in it; ballistic parachute; the list goes on and on. You name it, the Belite 254 CF has got it as a feature.

3) Belite 254 KIT, price to be announced in September! Stay tuned.

Now the fine print bad news: Our delivery position availability is limited. A deposit of $2,500 holds a delivery position. First come, first serve. We reserve the right to raise prices at any time. Etc., Etc.

Specific details of each configuration are in the website, www.beliteaircraft.com

If you want to see it fly, look at http://www.youtube.com/user/BeliteAircraft#play/uploads/0/byy6qR8TB5w to see our demo video.

If you are looking for the very finest Part 103 legal aircraft, you have arrived. Enjoy!

Fly Safe and Have Fun,

James Wiebe, CEO

Belite Aircraft

P.S. We are looking for qualified dealers and international distributors for our aircraft. If interested, please understand that we require dealers to order a demo unit (to show) and one more aircraft. We have a similar program for international distributors. In return, we offer a generous discount and a territory.