Rotax 583 powered KR2

[Jean Crous]

Hulle se mos aanhouer wen
J

[Jean Crous]

Hulle se mos aanhouer wen
J

So van aanhouer gepraat Hennerik, wat maak jy .....??????........ons "watch" vir jou
J

[Henni]

Hi Jean,

Sometimes life itself just comes in the way. I'll make some progress again soon.

Cheers,

Henni

[Henni]

Wow!!!

This builder had EXACTLY the same idea as me. However, his is flying already. And he built it to that right from scratch!

Notice the seating position & height. I'm totally convinced this is a close copy of the KR2. AMAZING!!!

Cheers all,

Henni

[Jean Crous]

Hey Henni, wat is aant gebeure hier ??
J

[Henni]

Moderated by Henni...

[German]

Sterkte Hennie

[Jean Crous]

Hennie, ek het simpatie vir jou, .....het jy dalk op LinkedIn geregistreer ?
Groete
Jean.

[Henni]

Hi,

Today I've started to complete the engine installation. I had to make a new mount as I want to move the engine 6mm forward for a better cowling fit & I need more space to the rear for the silencer. I intend to finish the engine & cowling completely before I next start making the new lexan canopy.

Note that I did not remove the cover around the aircraft. I covered it nearly water tight for the transport to KZN & because I work in a carport only, I'll leave it covered till I need to work on the canopy.

Cheers,

Henni

[vernon11]

Well done Hennie. I am sure a pleasant surprise.
See You tomorrow.
Vern.

[Jean Crous]

Hennie , werk aan daai aerie sover jy kan , met dit wat jy tot jou beskikking het. Voor jy weet is hy heel klaar en reg vir toetsvlieg.
Jean.

[HennivR]

Hi again everyone,

Circumstances outside my control forced me to sell this project shortly after my last update. At long last our lives are stable once again and I am going to re-start this same project from scratch - my initial goals will still remain as is. As such, I'll once again post my progress over here. Because of the cost involved (I no longer have spare Rotaxes lying around), I am considering using a very basic Type IV VW engine without any electrics to keep the weight down. We are now residing at the South Coast and a standard normally aspirated type IV VW should provide ample power for flying two up over here.

I wrote down my goals as stands: (Ease of construction & cost help me create these)

1. Completely open plan cockpit with nothing above legs.
2. Wing fold mechanism.
3. No upholstery fuselage sides - only varnished wood.
4. Top like SX300
5. Rudder like SX300.
6. Fuselage much wider at shoulders - 43".
7. VGs on wings an must.
8. New KR 2 airfoil, 2/3 span plain flaps & 1/3 span ailerons on end. Use piano hinges only for flaps & ailerons.
9. Non tapered fuselage.
10. Built in wing tie-downs.
11. Cowl outlet on sides in front of wing & not at bottom.
12. Push pull controls inside fuselage.
13. Bungee elevator trim system.
14. Move seats forward - use fibre glass seats.
15. Vents in canopy manufactured in canopy perspex windows.
16. Plastic fuel tanks behind seats.
17. Taildragger with raised tailweel.
18. Back window an must!
19. Battery in tail if required.
20. VW type IV engine - no electrics.
21. Mount VW right against firewall like initial KR2 plans.
22. Wings join against fuselage like the new Panther - I build two wings instead of four.
23. Light go kart wheels only! This is not a bundu basher!
24. Piano hinge fasteners for cowling.
25. Hydraulic go-cart brakes.
26. Elevator & rudder use piano hinges only like the Zodiac.
27. Build each wing in a jig not attached to the fuselage - needs less space!

Please allow me a question or two before I start purchasing stuff:

1. Years ago, Anton Manneschyn (he built aircraft in a hangar at the old Vanderbylpark airport) told me that in South Africa saligna wood is accepted in the place of spruce or clear oregon for aircraft construction. Can anyone verify this please?
2. What type of wood glue is commonly used for aircraft construction in South Africa and if special, where can it be obtained from?
3. Would a PSRU on a VW engine have any benefits on a KR2?
4. Is a magneto available that will fit into the standard VW distributor socket?

Thank you so much for any & all replies. It feels so nice to have the prospect of flying on my brain again. Even when I'm only "tinkering", it's better than not involved at all in anything that has to do with flying. I am so much looking forward to building gain!

Kind regards,

Henni

[HennivR]

Hi again all,

Herewith the feedback I received from the KRnet:

1. With regards to the wings mounted at the fuselage:

I'll leave the Roy Marsh questions to Bruce, but it's a different airfoil than the plans call for and is also thinner in terms of percent chord. It also had a higher stall speed and landing speed than a stock KR. People are often impressed with the roughly 192 average mph speed that he scored in a race, but consider that his engine was turbocharged, and it may have been a one-way race like Airventure Cup, where a tailwind can make your speed look really good...

For the record, the Roy Marsh KR2S wings measure 7’3” from hinge bolt hole to tip, with almost full width aileron...9” shorter than the wing.
They are somewhat tapered, to my surprise. Tape shows 4’ wide at the hinge plane, and 35” at the tips, which are upturned slightly at the trailing edge. Can’t say much about the airfoil section but they are exactly 6” thick at thickest point at root.
Of course, it is possible that they are not as original, but I think they are.

2. With regards to the magneto:

Regarding your second question about a drop in magneto. Yes, there is a Vertex magneto that will drop in in place of the distributor on the VW. However, you have to make big hump in your forward cowl to accommodate it. If you search out some of the older pictures of KRs, especially in the newsletters onMark Langford's web site, I'm sure you run across some examples.

The hump Jeff is talking about is considerable, like 8" or more, if it's what I remember from the earliest Beetle racing days, and very heavy.
Advance may be an issue also...I think it is limited.

> Does this mean then that the said magneto is much larger than the standard distributor?
It's at least twice as tall as the stock distributor, closer to 10", and twice the diameter, unless there are others than the one I remember being the rage in the early VW racing days.

3. With regards to the PSRU:

Some folks have successfully used reduction drives on KRs. Randy Smith's (Less Palmer) super KR would be an example. However, in most instances you are better off to skip the reduction unit since you can't swing a long prop on most KRs due to ground clearance issues. With the shorter prop you would use with most KRs, the prop tip speed will still be low enough that you can turn the VW 3300 rpm or higher (some run up to 3700 rpm) without overspeeding the prop. It's best to go direct drive and save the weight.

To add to what Jeff said, I will throw this out...VW Type 1 engines are already stretched to near the limit of their valve cooling capability at
3200 rpm continuous operation, even when cooled in a fast moving KR.
Bolting on a reduction drive and turning up the wick to 4400 rpm would substantially reduce the time between valve jobs...and failures. That's another reason you don't see many PSRUs on VWs.

Currently I am busy with a project away from home. As soon as I'm back around mid June, I'll start purchasing tools, wood & glue and shortly thereafter will start uploading some fresh construction pics.

In the meantime, this was one of the last airframes I built from scratch. Wood used: Saligna. Glue used: As per the pic in the previous post.

That's all for now.

Cheers,

Henni

[HennivR]

I'm nearly done with all this small talk - In my opinion the most sexiest aircraft ever designed - even more so that the Pipestrel Panthera. It cruises at 245 knots on 300hp. Kits no longer available for this fantastic piece of machinery. I have downloaded many videos of this aircraft demonstrating the high cruising speed. Really awesome to see in flight.

Last pic is the closest I've seen the KR2 come to this look. I'm going to try my best to get mine even more similar, including elevator & rudder.

[Jean Crous]

Hey Henni, as jy n Rotax 582 soek , kyk onder aircraft parts hier op Mcrlighters.
Jean.