With a new flying itch, I began searching the web and was impressed by were the class of aircraft known as ultralights had progressed to. My earliest memory of ultralights are the Australian Scout and to describe this as an aircraft was to say it had wings! The body was a pole with a tail, wings and a lawnmower engine with the cruise, stall and landing speed separated by a few knots. The guys who flew these were indeed in touch with the roots of aviation, and I personally have no love of anything related to gardening.
The flying training on the Jabiru was also proceeding at this time. A Jabiru has high elevator authority, adequate rudder and the ailerons are there to just to give your hand something to do. For those who have never flown a J160 the only way to roll is to apply rudder into the desired direction of roll and following with the ailerons to control the resulting roll. As a pilot, I feel I am cross controlling and not connected to the aircraft, but as an ex-Warrior pilot, it is proper training as in that class of aircraft the rudder is a convenient footrest.
But if I was to spend money on an aircraft it had to that the X factor as I own a Skyline from the 1980s and you know what is said about men with old red cars. The European market has some unique offerings mostly plastic with performance on a 100 hp that is unbelievable as were the prices and we all know manufacturers never exaggerate the cost. Searching the WWW lead to bumping into Flying Legend in Italy who were offering a replica Tucano. Personally, I always liked the Tucano when I first saw it in the 1980s, and unlike most styling from the '80s the Tucano has developed into a classic, and like all classics, it's still in production.
The flying training on the Jabiru was also proceeding at this time. A Jabiru has high elevator authority, adequate rudder and the ailerons are there to just to give your hand something to do. For those who have never flown a J160 the only way to roll is to apply rudder into the desired direction of roll and following with the ailerons to control the resulting roll. As a pilot, I feel I am cross controlling and not connected to the aircraft, but as an ex-Warrior pilot, it is proper training as in that class of aircraft the rudder is a convenient footrest.
But if I was to spend money on an aircraft it had to that the X factor as I own a Skyline from the 1980s and you know what is said about men with old red cars. The European market has some unique offerings mostly plastic with performance on a 100 hp that is unbelievable as were the prices and we all know manufacturers never exaggerate the cost. Searching the WWW lead to bumping into Flying Legend in Italy who were offering a replica Tucano. Personally, I always liked the Tucano when I first saw it in the 1980s, and unlike most styling from the '80s the Tucano has developed into a classic, and like all classics, it's still in production.
Finding a Flying Legend.
The investigation began, and the team at Flying Legend answered every question about the aircraft, and after reviewing the basic assembly manual, I was impressed. The plane ticked all the boxes - all metal alodined - retractable tricycle - constant speed - Rotax - pushrods for the ailerons and elevators - electric flaps - tandem - quick build kit and it was a Tucano...!
The alodine finish makes the aircraft primer ready that can have bond issues compared with the chemical bond that is created by alodine. The other item is the fitting of bladder fuel tanks as riveted tanks are notoriously difficult to seal and generally required the use of some really nasty and expensive sealers even upholstered seats are supplied.
The investigation began, and the team at Flying Legend answered every question about the aircraft, and after reviewing the basic assembly manual, I was impressed. The plane ticked all the boxes - all metal alodined - retractable tricycle - constant speed - Rotax - pushrods for the ailerons and elevators - electric flaps - tandem - quick build kit and it was a Tucano...!
The alodine finish makes the aircraft primer ready that can have bond issues compared with the chemical bond that is created by alodine. The other item is the fitting of bladder fuel tanks as riveted tanks are notoriously difficult to seal and generally required the use of some really nasty and expensive sealers even upholstered seats are supplied.
49% Approval
My initial approach for approval to build resulted in a rejection of the quick build kit by RAA. Stunned and unable to get a clear answer to why I began a process of analysis using ANO 21.29. This resulted in many hours of reading and several spreadsheets to calculate the work distribution to meet the magic 49% total but regardless how I worked the numbers I could barely meet the rule even with the whole tail assembly as a flat pack kit - I had to be doing something wrong...!
My initial approach for approval to build resulted in a rejection of the quick build kit by RAA. Stunned and unable to get a clear answer to why I began a process of analysis using ANO 21.29. This resulted in many hours of reading and several spreadsheets to calculate the work distribution to meet the magic 49% total but regardless how I worked the numbers I could barely meet the rule even with the whole tail assembly as a flat pack kit - I had to be doing something wrong...!
A chance contact with Martin Ongley of the SAAA quickly put the process back on the track. After reworking the spreadsheets, it was found that with a small amount of basic construction the quick build kit could indeed be used. I quickly contacted Martin who lived only a suburb away and had him review the numbers and received a yes, but I was advised it would pay to run it by CASA. This was done, and after a short period, no objections were raised - woohoo!
Commitment.
After examining what could be committed to a project of this size and cost it was determined that selling assets and a little bank money it would be possible to fund the project over 24 months. The factory is quoting 650 hours for the airframe assembly, and that looks achievable and fitted into the schedule.
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