| Airdale | |
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HW100 - 45000
UAW55 - 105000 RRW100 - 175000 PKRR - 7500 |
Airdale Sportplane and Supply (Airdale Flyer Company) Airdale Sportplane and Supply Company type - Privately held company Industry - Aerospace Predecessor - Avid Aircraft Founded - 1999 Defunct - 2017 Fate - Out of business Headquarters - Rhinelander, Wisconsin, United States Key people - Brett McKinney Products - Kit aircraft, aircraft parts Website - airdale.com Airdale Sportplane and Supply (also called the Airdale Flyer Company) was an American aircraft manufacturer, founded by Brett McKinney and based in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction, as well as replacement aircraft parts. The company was formed in 1999 after Avid Aircraft initially went out of business in 1998. Avid was restarted, but went out of business for the final time in November 2003. Airdale initially started making parts for Avid designs and later put the two-seat Avid Mk IV back into production. The Mk IV was further developed into the Airdale Backcountry by John Larsen, an aircraft initially called the Airdale Airdale. A conversion kit to modify Mk IVs to Backcountry standard is available. The company also produces an improved landing gear set for the Avid Mk IV design, called Bushgear. At one time the company also produced the Avid Magnum as a kit aircraft. As of mid 2017 the company was no longer trading. Aircraft Summary of aircraft built by Airdale Sportplane and Supply Model name - First flight - Number built - Type Avid Mk IV - - - Two seat kit aircraft Avid Magnum - - - Two seat kit aircraft Airdale Backcountry - - 4 (2011) - Two seat kit aircraft Avid Mk IV Airdale Backcountry (Airdale Airdale) Backcountry Role - Amateur-built aircraft National origin - United States Manufacturer - Airdale Flyer Company Designer - Brett McKinney Status - Production completed (2017) Developed from - Avid Mk IV The Airdale Backcountry is an American amateur-built aircraft that was designed by Brett McKinney and based upon John Larsen's Avid Mk IV design. It was produced by Airdale Flyer Company, of Rhinelander, Wisconsin, but the company went out of business in 2017 and production ended. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction. Design and development The Backcountry features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit with doors for access, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft fuselage is made from welded 4130 steel tubing, while the wing is of aluminum construction, with all surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. Its 30 ft (9.1 m) span wing has an area of 123 sq ft (11.4 m2) and flaperons. The Backcountry was designed to use the 100 hp (75 kW) Stratus EA 81 automotive conversion four-stroke powerplant. The improvements over the Avid design include redesigning the aircraft to comply with the European Joint Aviation Requirements at a gross weight of 1,400 lb (635 kg), including stretching the fuselage by 16 in (41 cm), changing the main landing gear legs to aluminum gear with a track of 74 in (1.9 m), increasing the angle of the windshield, simplifying the control system and designing a differential flaperon system, redesigning the structure in the cockpit area to improve baggage access, adding new seats, increasing cockpit headroom and legroom, introducing wider cockpit doors and more cockpit width, modifying the tailwheel spring for more strength and designing a new engine cowling to accommodate the Subaru engine and other engine designs. The company also offered a conversion kit for existing Mk IVs. Specifications (Backcountry) (Data from Bayerl and Kitplanes) General characteristics Crew: one Capacity: one passenger Length: 18 ft 10 in (5.74 m) Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m) Wing area: 122.7 sq ft (11.40 m2) Empty weight: 700 lb (318 kg) Gross weight: 1,400 lb (635 kg) Fuel capacity: 28 U.S. gallons (110 L; 23 imp gal) Powerplant: 1 × Subaru EA-81 four cylinder, air-cooled, four stroke automotive engine, 100 hp (75 kW) Performance Maximum speed: 120 mph (190 km/h, 100 kn) Cruise speed: 107 mph (173 km/h, 93 kn) Stall speed: 37 mph (59 km/h, 32 kn) Rate of climb: 1,200 ft/min (6 m/s) Wing loading: 11.4 lb/sq ft (55.6 kg/m2) Avid Flyer (Airdale Avid Plus) Flyer Role - Two seat homebuilt aircraft National origin - United States Manufacturer - Light Aero Designer - Dean Wilson First flight - 1983 Number built - 2,000+ (Avid Flyer + Avid Magnum) kits by 2001 Developed into - Avid Champion / Avid Catalina / Airdale Backcountry The Avid Flyer is a family of American single engine, high-wing, strut-braced, conventional landing gear-equipped, two seat light aircraft designed for kit construction in the 1980s. Its several variants sold in large numbers. In 1987 a Flyer became the first ultralight to land at the North Pole. Design and development The kitbuilt two seat lightplane was designed by Dean Wilson in 1983, the first prototype flying in 1983 and appearing at Oshkosh that year. Kits were produced by Light Aero with several names (Bandit, Lite, Magnum and Mk.IV) with many options including two wing designs, the choice of tricycle, tailwheel, ski or float undercarriages, rescue parachutes and a variety of engines. Lite Aero production continued until the company went bankrupt in 1998. Avid Aircraft reappeared in 2003, but by 2010 the kits, including new variants, and components were produced by Airdale Flyer. The Avid Flyer is a conventional layout, single engine, side by side two seat light aircraft, with a strut-braced high wing configuration. Aluminum tubes serve as leading edge/main spar and rear spar, each wing being supported by a pair of tubular lift struts. Sawn plywood wing ribs are bonded to the aluminum tube spars using a filled epoxy compound. The Avid Flyer features Junkers style one-piece flaperons supported by three offset hinge arms. The Junkers design moves the control surfaces well underneath the wing, where they remain in undisturbed smooth airflow at low speed and/or higher climb angles. The welded steel tube fuselage is flat sided, narrowing towards a braced cruciform tail group. The horizontal tailplane is carried on the fin just above the upper fuselage line. The aircraft's conventional rudder and elevator controls are cable operated. Wilson's original intent developing the Avid Flyer was to offer an economical home-built aircraft to bridge the gap between conventional aircraft of the "Piper Cub" / "Taylorcraft" / "Aeronca" category and the minimalist ultralight aircraft such as the "Quicksilver" that had not yet matured into acceptable levels of reliability and safety in the early 1980s. The ability to fly from short, unimproved, and back-country strips was also one of Wilson's design priorities. Due to its light weight, good power-to-weight ratio, and design features such as the Junkers flaperons, the Avid Flyer excels in this type of environment and STOL operations. Recent developments in small aircraft engine design and reliability have brought the Avid Flyer well into the realm of being seen as a highly capable and economically viable choice for light sport use. Operational history By about 2008, some 2,000 Flyer kits had been built over five continents. 346 Flyers and Magnums appear on the European (excluding Russian) civil registers. Perhaps the most remarkable flight was that made by Hubert de Chevigny in an Avid Lite 532 equipped with an additional 300 L (66 Imp gal, 79 US gal) fuel tank. Accompanied by Nicholas Hulot in an Aviasud Mistral, he left from Resolute, Canada on 2 April 1987, reaching the North Pole on 7 May in three stages. They were the first ultralights to do so. Variants Flyer Early versions with straight trailing edge rudder, foldable wings and either 45 hp (30 kW) Cayuna or 65 hp (49 kW) Rotax 532 engines. Mk IV Fuller, curved edge rudder and either a 64 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 or a Rotax 912 engines. Baggage compartment added. Introduced 1992. The Mark IV was further developed into the Airdale Backcountry. Bandit Economy version with 50 hp (37 kW) Rotax 503. Magnum Heavier, powered by a 160 hp (119 kW) Lycoming O-320 or an engine in the 125 hp (93 kW) to 180 hp (134 kW) range. Specifications (Mk IV STOL) (Data from Simpson 2001) General characteristics Crew: one Capacity: one passenger Length: 17 ft 11 in (5.46 m) Wingspan: 29 ft 10 in (9.09 m) Height: 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Empty weight: 511 lb (232 kg) Max takeoff weight: 1,151 lb (522 kg) Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 582 two cylinder two stroke, water cooled, 65 hp (48 kW) Propellers: 2 blade-bladed Performance Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn) Cruise speed: 92 mph (148 km/h, 80 kn) Stall speed: 32 mph (51 km/h, 28 kn) Range: 340 mi (550 km, 300 nmi) Endurance: 5 hours Service ceiling: 16,000 ft (4,900 m) g limits: +6/-3[citation needed] Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s) initial Maximum climb angle: 45° Related development Denney Kitfox Flying K Sky Raider Rocky Mountain Wings Ridge Runner Avid Flyer Mk.IV Avid Flyer Hi-Gross |