Anyone knows what a Basic 4000 microlight is?
What does it look like, and what the spec's?
Basic 4000
Specks not many bru. 
Basic 4000
Hi,
I've had 2 Quicksilver MX2's amongst others (Koala, MXI, 2xMAC CDL's & XCR) with many, many hours on the type. Of everything I've owned, I like the MXII most. The Basic 4000 is nearly an exact copy and flies exactly the same.
They are NOT!!! unstable in any way or form. If you consider cruising at 55Mph slow, yes, then they are slow. But then again, with one aboard you land at 25-30Mph.
My current MXII has a high thrust conversion which adds another Vbelt to the reduction drive with a bigger pulley on top and obviously with a bigger prop. Makes a huge difference in climb performance with two aboard. The Basic 4000 comes as standard with this conversion!
They are lovely aircraft to fly - the MXII is once again the top rated microlight for training in the USA! Search the web, you'll see.
Go ahead, if 3-axis flying is your thing, get it before it is gone.
Henni
I've had 2 Quicksilver MX2's amongst others (Koala, MXI, 2xMAC CDL's & XCR) with many, many hours on the type. Of everything I've owned, I like the MXII most. The Basic 4000 is nearly an exact copy and flies exactly the same.
They are NOT!!! unstable in any way or form. If you consider cruising at 55Mph slow, yes, then they are slow. But then again, with one aboard you land at 25-30Mph.
My current MXII has a high thrust conversion which adds another Vbelt to the reduction drive with a bigger pulley on top and obviously with a bigger prop. Makes a huge difference in climb performance with two aboard. The Basic 4000 comes as standard with this conversion!
They are lovely aircraft to fly - the MXII is once again the top rated microlight for training in the USA! Search the web, you'll see.
Go ahead, if 3-axis flying is your thing, get it before it is gone.
Henni
I want to echo Henni's post. The Basic/Quicksilver is the most stable microlight around. The two aircraft are exactly the same, just the Basic is a SA version. I own both and have been flying them since 1990. They are strong aircraft with an impecable safety record.
In 1999 I converted my single surface Basic to 3-axis, lowered the dihederal which gave it a very good cross-wind capability on landing.
In 1999 I converted my single surface Basic to 3-axis, lowered the dihederal which gave it a very good cross-wind capability on landing.
I had a Skyfox which is very similar to these designs as well. It had the double surface wing and was full 3-axis. In those days I was a new pilot and I had a bad experience with turbulance which killed it for me. In hindsight it was really not the plane's fault.
Anyway it flew great. I did not have decent trim so when I flew 2-up I had to fly contantly with up elevator which was tiring. The other irritation was the motor being directly above your head is very noisy. It also did not have a steerable nosewheel which made taxiing a pain. I had 25 liters in a tank above my head and two 10 liter tanks behind the seats. Managing fuel in-flight between the 3 tanks was a real pain, especially trying to get to the fuel taps for the seat tanks. Freezing to fly on cold winter mornings. Final gripe, no packing space. But I did buy it for R35K and sold it for the same, I flew some long cross countries in her and had lots of fun cabbage patch flying.
Anyway it flew great. I did not have decent trim so when I flew 2-up I had to fly contantly with up elevator which was tiring. The other irritation was the motor being directly above your head is very noisy. It also did not have a steerable nosewheel which made taxiing a pain. I had 25 liters in a tank above my head and two 10 liter tanks behind the seats. Managing fuel in-flight between the 3 tanks was a real pain, especially trying to get to the fuel taps for the seat tanks. Freezing to fly on cold winter mornings. Final gripe, no packing space. But I did buy it for R35K and sold it for the same, I flew some long cross countries in her and had lots of fun cabbage patch flying.
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Greg Perkins
Hi,
Now THAT's what I would like to fly. Nearly bought one in Parys the other day, but the wife would not bite for another purchase in such a short time and I'm afraid if I first sell mine that by that time the Skyfox might not be available anymore.
Just out of interest, how much faster is it? What did you cruise at?
For me, microlighting is just about being up there. Going anywhere fast is not all that important - if I want do do that I should build something like a KRII which is a completely different animal - and besides, I love the low complexity of microlight flying.
When I was much younger I had far more engine outs and belt failures than anyone else I knew, and all of them without so much as a bent tube - you cannot say that for the fast, going places type of aeries.
Regards,
Henni
Now THAT's what I would like to fly. Nearly bought one in Parys the other day, but the wife would not bite for another purchase in such a short time and I'm afraid if I first sell mine that by that time the Skyfox might not be available anymore.
Just out of interest, how much faster is it? What did you cruise at?
For me, microlighting is just about being up there. Going anywhere fast is not all that important - if I want do do that I should build something like a KRII which is a completely different animal - and besides, I love the low complexity of microlight flying.
When I was much younger I had far more engine outs and belt failures than anyone else I knew, and all of them without so much as a bent tube - you cannot say that for the fast, going places type of aeries.
Regards,
Henni
Morph,
I cannot agree with you on the windless days! I've flown MXII's in winds that guys would not fly their blik aeries, and that's without ailerons!
In Ngodwana the hanglider guys told me: When you guys put away your microlights because of the wind, we fly our hangliders.
Well, one strong wind day, I took off (backwards) from Sappis air strip. When I reached Kaapse hoop, many hangliders were lying on the ground with their bars folded in and big rocks on each corner to keep them flat on the ground.
Well, I proceeded over the cliffs edge and to my amazement, experienced 45 minites of engine out ridge soaring in a single surface microlight!
Every time I passed over them I shouted: "Common you chickens!" on which some brave soul would pick up his glider with a helper at each corner holding on for dear life. They would then proceed to the ramp, make one or two attemps to jump, only to fold in the bars and put it back on the ground again.
They never made rude comments to microlights after that again.
Ive flown in winds that I had to hold my position on the ground with power, as the brakes would just cause the locked wheels to slide backwards.
I've chased dust devils purposely and flew in them just to gain the tremendous updrafts - all of this with an aileron-less MXII!
I will fly in ANY wind a trike will fly in and will prove it gladly to anyone. The only reason I have stopped doing that is that with the high fuel prices, if my flying is not fun, it's not worth the cost to me - and flying in strong wind is not fun at ll! Good experience for the brave yes, but definitely not fun.
Henni
I cannot agree with you on the windless days! I've flown MXII's in winds that guys would not fly their blik aeries, and that's without ailerons!
In Ngodwana the hanglider guys told me: When you guys put away your microlights because of the wind, we fly our hangliders.
Well, one strong wind day, I took off (backwards) from Sappis air strip. When I reached Kaapse hoop, many hangliders were lying on the ground with their bars folded in and big rocks on each corner to keep them flat on the ground.
Well, I proceeded over the cliffs edge and to my amazement, experienced 45 minites of engine out ridge soaring in a single surface microlight!
Every time I passed over them I shouted: "Common you chickens!" on which some brave soul would pick up his glider with a helper at each corner holding on for dear life. They would then proceed to the ramp, make one or two attemps to jump, only to fold in the bars and put it back on the ground again.
They never made rude comments to microlights after that again.
Ive flown in winds that I had to hold my position on the ground with power, as the brakes would just cause the locked wheels to slide backwards.
I've chased dust devils purposely and flew in them just to gain the tremendous updrafts - all of this with an aileron-less MXII!
I will fly in ANY wind a trike will fly in and will prove it gladly to anyone. The only reason I have stopped doing that is that with the high fuel prices, if my flying is not fun, it's not worth the cost to me - and flying in strong wind is not fun at ll! Good experience for the brave yes, but definitely not fun.
Henni
Sure, but we have particularly bad rotor turbulance around our airfields caused by the strong South Easter and lots of trees. You really have to be very awake negotiating the landings. In these cases it is safer to stay on the ground.
If I had a big open field like Saldanha I can and have flown in practically any wind. But then it all comes down to your experience.
Have fun
If I had a big open field like Saldanha I can and have flown in practically any wind. But then it all comes down to your experience.
Have fun
Greg Perkins
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See there are 2 for sale in Junk mail. One R30K and another <R10K 
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P166S, Jodel, hangar and other odds and sods
Radial - http://tiny.cc/eppqp
Still @ The Coves (Harties) but dream has died
P166S, Jodel, hangar and other odds and sods
Radial - http://tiny.cc/eppqp
Still @ The Coves (Harties) but dream has died
Morph, I'm not sure that you know what you are talking about! I fly in the Western Cape with a single surface Basic 3-axis and when the trikes take off, I fly with them in the same weather without a problem, which is almost every week-end.
I have flown straight over Sir Lowry's Pass with the Basic which very few people can talk about, especially trike pilots!!
By the way, if you had a pain in managing your fuel system, it is not the plane, it is the pilot - fix it up!
I have flown straight over Sir Lowry's Pass with the Basic which very few people can talk about, especially trike pilots!!
By the way, if you had a pain in managing your fuel system, it is not the plane, it is the pilot - fix it up!
Henni
I enjoyd reading about your airy's wind handling ability - Must say I was misinformed too.
Judging by the conditions you fly in we MUST introduce you to Dieselfan - The two of you will become great fly chums
He is also the kind of oke that will go looking for dustdevills at 1pm on a hot summersday
D
I enjoyd reading about your airy's wind handling ability - Must say I was misinformed too.
Judging by the conditions you fly in we MUST introduce you to Dieselfan - The two of you will become great fly chums
He is also the kind of oke that will go looking for dustdevills at 1pm on a hot summersday
D
Big D
net soos ek, ek dalk net 'n bietjie banger as hy. 
Isn't this the same plane that was depicted in the "what happens when u run out of fuel" clip?
Looks like a real light flyer. Whats the weight? Are the wings also out of dacron? Whats fuel burn like? Trikes supposedly have much more drag so would be cool to compare as many trikes do 55mph.
At Vics recently I was quite surprised to see the trikes flying whole day whereas the 3 axis only flew till 11h30 due to "thermal action" as the pilot put it. It was a Fulcrum 912 - I'm sure it's got a more common name. Will post a pic once I get my raid back up...
Looks like a real light flyer. Whats the weight? Are the wings also out of dacron? Whats fuel burn like? Trikes supposedly have much more drag so would be cool to compare as many trikes do 55mph.
At Vics recently I was quite surprised to see the trikes flying whole day whereas the 3 axis only flew till 11h30 due to "thermal action" as the pilot put it. It was a Fulcrum 912 - I'm sure it's got a more common name. Will post a pic once I get my raid back up...
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