The Weedhopper ultralight is a single seat ultralight aircraft originally developed by John Chotia during the height of the 1970's ultralight boom. It came as a kit and, according to the manufacturer, could be easily assemble in less than a week. Many of the early ultralights used a "weight shift" method of control, requiring the pilot to push a control bar to shift the center of gravity of aircraft. The Weedhopper differed from most other ultralights in that had a control stick which moved the rudder and elevator, giving it two axis control (pitch and yaw). The steep dihedral of the wings caused it to bank into the turn, and resulted in a very stable, easy-to-fly aircraft. Dihedral is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailpane of a Fixed-wing aircraft or the wing of a Bird. The Weedhopper differed from many of the other early ultralights in that it had a strut-braced wing. Most ultralights have wire-braced wings.
Thousands of Weedhoppers were sold throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It was popular because it offered people an inexpensive way to fly for pleasure. The aircraft could be easily disassembled and put on a trailer for home storage. [1] It was not necessary to rent an expensive hangar. It could also be flown from just about any field because of its short takeoff and landing requirements (about 100 feet with no obstacles). The kits originally sold for $2,000, and are still available today, but today's Weedhopper model 40 sells for $8,495.
Specifications (Weedhopper Model 40)
Source: WeedhopperUSA.com General characteristics
- Crew: one, pilot
- Length: 18 ft 6 in (5. 64 meters)
- Wingspan: 28 ft 0 in (8. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 53 meters)
- Height: 6 ft 9 in (2. 06 meters)
- Wing area: 168 ft² (15. 61 m²)
- Empty weight: 250 lb (113 kg)
- Loaded weight: 550 lb (250 kg)
- Powerplant: 1× Rotax 447 Wood prop, 40 hp (30 kW)
Performance
- Never exceed speed: 65 mph (105 kph)
- Cruise speed: 55 mph (90 km/h)
- Stall speed: 20 mph (32 km/h)
- Rate of climb: 1000 ft/min (5 m/s)
Comparable aircraft
- AmEagle American Eaglet
- Birdman TL-1
- Pterodactyl Ascender
- Mitchell U-2 Superwing
- Ultraflight Lazair
- Eipper Quicksilver
References
BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, commonly known simply as Rotax, is an Austrian engine manufacturer In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such For other uses see Stall. In Aerodynamics, a stall is a sudden reduction in the lift forces generated by an Airfoil In Aerodynamics, the rate of climb RoC is the speed at which an Aircraft increases its Altitude. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Mitchell U-2 Superwing features a Mitchell wing design The first variation of this popular ultralight aircraft flew in 1977. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Quicksilver is a line of Ultralight aircraft that evolved from weight shift Hang gliders including Bob Lovejoy's High TailerDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic