| The Lazair was a very unique plane in its day and maintains that even to
this day, its longevity is a testament to its design and workmanship .It
is powered by two Rotax 185 9.5 hp engines, one mounted on each wing, in
the tractor configuration like a conventional twin engine aircraft. The
wing is of a D-cell design that is very light and aerodynamically clean, a
rare sight on an ultralight of that era, and talk about light the empty
weight is only 210 lbs.
The tail is an inverted V which meant a reduction in drag over
conventional 3 appendage tail ,they also double as the rear landing gear
structure.
The Lazair was designed and built in Canada around 1979 there was 3
series that were manufactured as kits only, each series a modification of
minor improvement to the next.
The first of the series was equipped with the control stick mounted
above on the upper fuselage structure, through a control mixing assembly
the control stick inputted coordinated yaw inputs into the ruddervators
hence it had no rudder peddles
Due to customer demand Series ll included rudder peddles.
Series lll saw a change to landing gear they where widened for better
ground handling also the control stick was mounted on the floor in the
more conventional manner, jury struts where installed to increase the
negative g loading, and toe brakes were includes as standard equipment.
Other things to note The early series came with 5.5 hp McCullough
chainsaw engines, these were soon upgraded to the Rotax 185cc 9.5 hp
to accommodate better performance on floats the Rotax engines were adopted
from a portable high pressure water pump used in firefighting all parts
are still available for these engines from firefighting equipment
suppliers, (just don't say there for an airplane) that can scare some
companies and may refuse to sell to you for fear of law suits.
One of the most common questions I get asked about my Lazair is" Why
does it have double props" No it wasn't some new technology to increase
efficiency, not performance anyway ,it was purely a decision based on
economics.
They already had a good stock of carbon fiber props for the 5.5 hp and
instead of going thru a costly process of acquiring new propellers they
simply doubled up the smaller props to absorb the extra power that the
Rotax produced . I am also inclined to think that their choice of the
rotax 185 somewhat based on this abundant supply of small props, seeing
that the solo 210 engine was already in good supply, it was lighter,
produced more power and was aircraft proven already, but they would have
probably had to stick 3 or more props together, highly impractical. anyway
probably a shrewd decision at the time.
The Lazair is a absolute pleasure to fly, it is perfect for that low
and slow journey over the country side, it is versatile, it can be fitted
with skis or floats.
The aircraft is very well designed and constructed by Dale Kramer some of these ships
are approaching 20 years old and they are still in great shape with a
little TLC and as long as properly trained pilots fly them , they could
last well into the 21 century. They also enjoy an unprecedented safety
record, the few fatalities that I could find on the TSB and NTSB where
attributed solely on pilot error.
In regards to what's stated above, I would like to say that I have heard
of and witnessed the results of improperly prepared or trained pilots
attempting to teach themselves how to fly, Personally I find it sad, when
I see the wreckages of Lazairs that were flown by low time or no time self
taught pilots ,one example is of a pilot ( I use the term loosely) had
recently acquired a good working machine with no license and very low time
he attempted take off ,got to some height above the ground, stalled the
aircraft, crashed and destroyed it, well that's an embarrassing situation
not to mention dangerous and stupid.
This is only one of several accounts that I know of. The supply of
Lazairs is finite and they are priced too low to a point where they are
considered almost disposable to some. Remember please get professional
flight training before you attempt to fly, you will not only potentially
save your own life but reduce the chance of wiping another one of these
unique aircraft out of existence.
Story courtesy of
http://persweb.direct.ca/highland/lazair/
You might also want to drop into a group UltralightNews has started on
the Lazair at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Lazairflyers/ |
