Building the new Bushbaby SAFARI

[Oupa-G]

Thanks Rudi,

The test flying has been as interesting as the building. The test flying makes one acutely observing , on a finished aircraft you just except the way it flies. Having flown a lot of different aircraft and in different weight categories also helps and then do not forget the lovely flex-wing which also makes one an observing pilot. I still believe every pilot should start off on a microlight. When I was taught to fly it was a J3-Cub and now it would be classified as a LSA which after all is just a microlight on steroids.


Cheers Oupa-G

[Johannvanniekerk]

Hallo Oupa-G
Hoe wyd is die BMW engin van kop tot kop?
Groete
Johann

[Oupa-G]

Sal gaan meet

Cheers Oupa-G

[Oupa-G]

Johannes the measurement across the heads is 750 mm.

Today did some serious flying it was a beautiful morning. Removed the 25 kg ballast that I carried to move the CoG further back till I had flown all the parameters. She is flying like a dream without the ballast and like a well behaved tail-dragger the stick must be fully back on landing and I can do some serious braking without the tail becoming to light. This afternoon I wanted to do the final climb tests just North of our field where the airspace goes up to 4500ft I took a quick nap after the Sunday meal and that was the end of all flying this evening I'll work on the " Operating Manual". The paper work should be a formality because the aeroplane has nothing funny about her and I think she falls into the same docile handling as all the other BushBaby's .



Cheers Oupa-G

[Boet]

Ag en taggentag hagaga. Gee nie om om voor die middag boggerol te doen nie, solank hy net namiddae kan rus. Soms haal mens se somers jou in, ne Oupa?

[cap232]

Just for the Lycoming boffins watch this space when the Bosvark is finished the Lycoming is going to be the next engine on the block that will receive the full Eboxi mods with proper fuel injection and redundancy. A friend of mine had a recent Lycoming engine out in Gauteng he did a beautiful force landing out of the books but with a dual Eboxi system he would have flicked a switch and flown to a nearest suitable airfield. Just some thoughts for the new year.

Cheers Oupa-G

Hallo Oupa-G en almal betrokke by die ongelooflike projek. Het julle enigsins alweer gekyk na b.g expriment? Wat gaan n lycosorus doen met die CoG van n safari?

Andre

[Morph]

The new Lycoming IO-233-LSA should be a very good choice for this aircraft

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lycoming_IO-233

[AndreSteyn]

Oupa and Team

Do you realise that you have now taken BMW full circle?
BMW started life as a aircraft engine manufacturer and now their engines are used as such again!

Very worth while project this, and a must read for anyone with similar aspirations

[Oupa-G]

Thanks Andre we are playing and as Morph was mentioning the little new Lycoming. I think that it will be a very nice engine . There is a lot to be said for a bigger capacity turning slower. A good example was the Lycoming Mooney versus the Porsche Mooney, in the end the Lycoming won hands down. I have a lot hope for our EboxI systems because it is simple with a tremendous amount of redundancy. From a test flying point of view I flew the bigger elevator on the Bosvark and I like it very much and I want to talk to Kitplanes for Africa for a bigger rudder. The bigger elevator has a big advantage when the aircraft is at its forward CoG. on the landing as the lift of the wing decays there is enough elevator control to keep the tail down. It was more limited with the smaller elevator. It has not changed the sensitivity of the controls. The rudder has enough authority for normal flying but in a deep spin it will not have enough authority , because I run out of authority in a side-slip. I'm loving this test flying. The flying qualities are otherwise superb and balanced and this aircraft full-fills the role as a LSA. I have 8 hrs left for my 40 hrs and this coming weekend I'll put a soft pillow on the seat fill the tanks and I'm going to fly and fly. My permit runs out 5 th of May and I'm going to do the Namib trip again in May. Only the climb test remains to be done.




Cheers Oupa-G

[KFA]

Hi Oupa, I am glad to hear that the elevator did the trick. I will be putting a Jabi 6 in my Safari one of these days for testing and comparison purposes. Not much can beat the 80kg for 120hp. Enjoy the last bit of testing. Safety first.
Stefan

[Oupa-G]

Stefan that will be nice. The Jab is a nice engine. The Whisper in Knysna has a Jab 120 in it and the other day a Rotax powered Whisper was visiting the field from PE and the BMW has just started its test flying. So far it looks as if the BMW is winning the race at least on take-off run. But it is still early days and the wisdom of time will tell. How about a bigger rudder?


Cheers Oupa-G

[KFA]

Hi Oupa, me and Rick will smoke some pipe on the rudder thingie

[t-bird]

Have a look at the Kitfox speedster tail kit
http://www.kitfoxaircraft.com/speedstertail.htm

[Oupa-G]

T-Bird thanks for the link. I will leave it to Kitplanes to come up with the answer.

Meanwhile I have quickly dismantled the exhaust of the Bosvark. Two reasons first I wanted to inspect the exhaust after 30 hrs operation for any cracks etc. I can report back she is as good as the first day. The flexible joints absorb any vibration and it seems like a reasonable design something that can be duplicated at this stage without any modifications. I also finished the exhaust for Bosvark II and that exhaust was still made freehand on the aeroplane. With the exhaust and the skeleton of the engine I ruined, I now have the ideal ingredients for making an exhaust jig. I have included the photo's of the newly made jig. So I will be able to make an exhaust in the jig.

The first exhaust that will be made in the jig will be for Explorer that is taking shape in Loeriesfontein. My exhaust will go back on the aeroplane tomorrow ready for the weekend. I have to do some training on the PC12 this weekend because I have the skills test next week to keep my instrument rating and ATP current. It seems I'm always a few days short. Despite trying to manage my time well and efficiently. But it beats being bored.



Cheers Oupa-G

[Boet]

Lyk of die RH ene bietjie warm gekry het??