One of the things about Brian Melborn of London Kentucky is that
he is consistent. Over the past number of years all of the planes
that he has been involved in building have one thing in common -
they have all come away from Sun N Fun award winners.
|
Empty Weight: |
250 lbs. |
| Gross Weight: |
500 lbs. |
| Wing Span: |
22 ft. |
| Wing Area: |
117 sq. ft. |
| Engine: |
447 Rotax |
| Cruise Speed: |
60 m.p.h. |
| Stall Speed: |
24 m.p.h. |
| VNE: |
80 m.p.h. |
| Construction: |
Steel, aluminum,
fabric |
| Building time: |
200/400 Hrs. |
This year Brian showed up at Sun N Fun with a Kolb Firefly and
walked away with the Grand Champion ultralight award. According to
Brian the idea of building a Firefly for the show decked out in the
"Stars and Stripes" came about three months prior to the show.
The Firefly which is a part 103 legal ultralight, when powered by
the Rotax 447 engine, took about 150 hours to build from kit form
and then another 200 hours were dedicated to the award winning paint
job!
First the fuselage and airframe were powder coated, then the base
paint colour applied to the fabric. Brian then had to hand stencil
on the design using a white lead pencil. Mask then paint the white
areas, then re-mask and paint the blue areas, then apply the shadows
and darker charcoal colour.
The final result speaks for itself!
The FireFly was first introduced in 1995. It features a welded steel fuselage, folding
wings, full span flaperons, steerable tail wheel, spring steel landing gear, 5 gallon fuel
tank and 2 blade wood prop.
Options include brakes, full enclosure, ballistic parachute,
instrument, composite prop, strobe light. The craft is available in several quick build
kits, partial kits and fully assembled.
For more information on the Firefly contact:
The New Kolb Aircraft Company
8375 Russell Dyche Hwy.
London, KY 40741 |
