Lite Flite Dragonfly, anyone know much about it?

[Guest Flyingsoon]

Hi all, I've been looking at buying an ultralight recently and subsiquently came across the Dragonfly. I started out in a Drifter and would like to buy something open cockpit and relatively low cost. I had never heard about the Dragonfly before, so if anybody has ever owned/flown one before I'd love to hear from you.

 

Are there any flaws in the design, or concernes regarding maintenace or preformance? (I know it flies tearfully slowly:laugh:). It also looks very similar to the Drifter, does it handle the same?

 

Thanks.

 

 

[Tomo]

Sadly they aren't as cheap as one would think, about $50k new I think.

 

They are pretty demanding on the ground, not many people I know actually taxi them on the ground, usually flown everywhere, with a 17kt power off stall at full MTOW, and 14kts with some power, they are pretty badly effected by wind.

 

I'm planning on getting my Tow endorsement sometime in the next little while on one. There are quite a few around the Dalby area used to tow hang gliders.

 

Ensure you get proper training on one with an instructor who knows how to fly them, before venturing on your own. Apparently there are a few things that you can easily damage if you do something wrong. Like smacking the tail on to hard, and you can have a prop strike on the tail boom. (not sure if they've changed that or not now)

 

Personally I'd be looking at a Drifter for some more utility etc... as these are slow, and quite demanding on the ground, especially on a windy day. Vne from memory is about 57kts or something, so everything is slow. They are designed to climb, and that they do.

 

Flying wise, I haven't actually flown one myself yet, so couldn't tell you, but the view is highly unobstructed! :big_grin:

 

 

[Guest Maj Millard]

They are purpose built to tow hanggliders (usually from a wheeled dolly), and as Tomo mentions they do climb !. I did a back seat ride in one in California once, and as I recall we did smack the prop on the boom on landing,(582) A good Drifter would probabily be a better all rounder, as the Dragonfly is specialized to do one thing well......................Maj...

 

 

[Guest Flyingsoon]

Ok, thanks for that. Your probably right, a drifter would be a better option, especially if they priced as you say Tomo!

 

Its great to have a blog like this where you can get feedback so quickly. Thanks all.