The Huntwing BMW Trike.

The Huntwing has been available as a plans built trike since 1992, although the original Huntwing flew as early as 1982. The design was refined and proven to section S in 1992 and consequently over 100 sets of plans have been sold, so far about 20 have been completed. It remains the only approved set of plans for a weightshift microlight, I believe in the world but certainly in the UK.

At the time that the plans were completed it was thought that the design would appeal only to those working to a tight budget and show the engine mounts for a Fuji Robin 440 engine, cheap and readily available at the time. Subsequently an engine mounting plate was included for the Rotax 503 and this has been the favourite option of all the engines.

There are also Huntwings with the Rotax 447 (a little lacking in performance), all versions of the 503, Rotax 462 and Rotax 582.

The first question that most people ask are "Can we use a 4 stroke?" and often this is followed up by references to the BMW engine, or sometimes the VW. So far no one has used either the Jabiru (which is probably just as well) or the 912 Rotax which would be very good.

The BMW engine is very good in a Motorbike but there are lots of modifications required to fit into an aircraft and it is heavy that so until the introduction of version 2 of section S (which allows the pilot to trade fuel against pilots weight) it was not really a goer.

In 1998 I completed the construction of BMW powered trike but it is only now after completing 300hours of flying with a modified BMW engine, 200 hrs on a Huntwing and some 100hours on a Blade wing that I have enough information and the drawings to offer this conversion to others with some confidence that the engine is better than a Rotax 2 stroke and cheaper to run.

Initially a completely new trike was built and fitted to G-MMGT the original Huntwing.

Following structural loading tests, noise testing and flight testing was completed successfully and a full Permit to Fly was issued.

The aircraft was flown to Blois in 1999, the Pyrenees and Blois for a second time in 2000 and after some 200 hours of flying the wing was changed for a production Blade wing.

Again a full test program was implemented for this new combination and eventually this received a full Permit to Fly in mid 2001.

This combination has now 100 hours completed including a trip to Beas de Segura in the south of Spain, 2 up and with full camping equipment, in June 2001.

Further details of this trip can be found on www.wyevalleyflyers.org.uk complete with some pictures.

The Mainair Blade has a top speed approx 10 to 15MPH faster than the Huntwing and a cruise speed approx 5 to 10 MPH greater. It is slightly lighter in pitch, has a good speed trimming device, is slightly heavier in roll than the Huntwing and has a slightly slower stall speed. Overall therefore it has a better speed range and can be purchased straight from Mainair without the hassle of building.

Are there plans for the Huntwing and the Blade BMW?

A set of plans have now been completed, along with complete instructions on the modifications required to the engine and these are available at a cost of £40.

The trike plans will be available as a standalone package, both in there original format at a cost of £60 or complete with the BMW plans at £90. This package includes details of the engine mounting frames and also details of the use of the Pegasus Quantum/Quasar tank. If it is intended to use the Blade wing an additional £15 will purchase the owners manual for this combination.

The original Huntwing plans are £125 or £160 with the BMW plans attached.

So to summarise

You now can build a complete Huntwing with any of the current Rotax 2 strokes and several older versions.

You can use the BMW R100RS engine on the Huntwing.

You can just use the Huntwing Trike with the Mainair Blade, which save the effort of building the wing.

These are available from

John Hunt,

Old Railway Inn,

Clydach sth,

Nr Abergavenny.

Gwent.

NP7 0RD

01873 830876 (evenings)

07768 131349 (Mobile)

Checkout the website for more information