New Life for Bushbaby

[Chris Liebenberg]

My project gone missing with the change to the new Projects topic.

So I am going to star again.

I bought Bushbaby ZU-BTB from Shean Murphy at Lanseria.
The plane was without engine when I bought it.

[Chris Liebenberg]

Herewith a photo of the Bushbaby as I found it at Lanseria

[Chris Liebenberg]

I decided to install a Jabiru 85 HP engine.

Concerns were raised about the ability of the Jabi to propel the Bushbaby, because of small prop. Jabiru has got a direct drive, no gearbox to allow for bigger prop.

I had the opportunity to fly with a Apollo Fox, powered by a Jabiru 85, and since it has the same air frame as the Bushbaby, and it performed well, thought I would give it a go.

A neat little engine!!!

[Dirk van Dort]

Baie mooi Chris,

nou hoop ons om ,n foto van die voltooide vliegtuig te sien,
fly safe
Dirk

[Boet]

Welkom terug Chris, praat maar as ek dalk tot hulp kan wees!

[Chris Liebenberg]

The next step was to install the engine and connect all hoses and electrics.

[Chris Liebenberg]

Since the Jabiru is lighter than the original Rotax 912, the engine had to be moved forward by 50 mm to maintain C of G.

The cowling had to be extended 150 mm to fit over the engine.

I also converted undercariage from tail dragger to trike.

[Chris Liebenberg]

The biggest problem with Jabiru engines, apart from the prop size limitation that the direct drive poses, is cooling.

Here are pictures of the baffle plates that I made to ensure proper cooling.

[Tailspin]

Welcome Back Chris.

The BB is looking great, hope to see her in the Air soon.

[Chris Liebenberg]

Dr Johan vd Berg invited me to have the Bushbaby tested and approved by Jan Loedolff, an instructor and AP of fame, at their field.

Here are some pictures of the transportation process:

Over the Steenkampsberg Pass 7648 ft MSL

Wished I could have flown instead of trailering!!

[Chris Liebenberg]

Arriving at Groblersdal FAGL

What a friendly bunch of people!!

Neat setup and well kept hanger area.

[vliegvark]

Die baffling lyk great sal good werk

[Chris Liebenberg]

Note the 32" Brent Thompson prop on the previous foto.

This was recommended to me by Andrew pappas who did a lot of experiments with different props on his Apollo Fox's, and found this prop gave best performance.
This is part of my solution to the short prop problem of the Jabiru engine.


Finally it is time to spread the wings!!!

What a beauty!

[Chris Liebenberg]

I am now waiting for CAA to issue a temporary authority to fly, so that we can test fly the baby.

I found an article in SA flyer of March 2000 regarding this same Bushbaby.

Herewith a collection of photos to show the evolution process of ZU-BTB.

[John Boucher]