Turbine Ultralight anyone?

[seb7701]

Found this turbine Zenith STOL on youtube and got me thinking, what does it take to whop a turbine into an ultralight??

 

Clearly, I am dreaming here, but I would love to hop into a Drifter and spool up the 'ol turbine.

 

Surely that must add a little reliability to the mix!

 

Any thoughts?

 

 

 

[rankamateur]

Does 60 litres per hour appeal to you? Kero isn't that cheap! Don't think R A Aus is up to the registration of innovative types at the momment anyway.

 

 

[seb7701]

Don't worry they'd just ground it to be safe....

 

 

[Sapphire]

In ultralights you get about an hours endurance-good if you like local flying only with a lot of sound effects.

 

 

[shu77]

It sounds awesome though.

 

 

[winsor68]

This bloke.... Larry... has a few Youtube clips of flying a Turbine Quicksilver and a Turbine Ultralight Chopper...

 

 

 

[seb7701]

Ahh, Larry's chopper was some of my inspiration - I didn't know about the quicksilver though!!

 

 

[seb7701]

Just watched that vid - give me a turbine Drifter somebody - that it just cool!

 

 

[Dieselten]

If it's turbine-powered it won't be an ultralight.

 

 

[Patrick Normoyle]

I'll take one of those too thanks, a turbine drifter would be awesome.

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Larry's GT250 is for sale on Barnstormers right now. $11k. Is under 254 lbs so Pt103 in the US. I don't have 95.10 handy but are turboprops excluded?

 

BTW, when I phoned about Larry's aircraft the guy said Larry died during the last year... If this is true, that's a pity as he was very innovative and entertaining.

 

 

[winsor68]

If it's turbine-powered it won't be an ultralight.

I thought it would fit in 95.10... ?

 

Isn't there no restriction on number of type of powerplant?

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Just checked 95.10. Turboprops are not excluded.

 

 

[Pilot Pete]

No restriction on power plants or the number of them. You are limited to 300kg MTOW and a wing loading of 30 kg per sq meter of wing area.

 

 

[seb7701]

That's sad about Larry. He did some very interesting things!

 

 

[Guest Howard Hughes]

Count me in!!

 

 

[winsor68]

That is a real shame about Larry... He was a bit of a legend in my eyes based upon his Youtube activities.

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Larry's status has not been confirmed by me. I'm only going on what the owner of his turboprop ultralight told me yesterday, so don't write Larry off until there is some other confirmation. I'm sincerely hoping the owner got it wrong!

 

 

[jakej]

Just checked 95.10. Turboprops are not excluded.

FV - you still in town ?

 

 

[flyvulcan]

Sadly, no. Went back to the desert on the 18th.

 

 

[Dano]

Larry's status has not been confirmed by me. I'm only going on what the owner of his turboprop ultralight told me yesterday, so don't write Larry off until there is some other confirmation. I'm sincerely hoping the owner got it wrong!

I had also heard of Larry's passing. I recall reading a comment posted on his YouTube videos and then having a good sniff around the Inter-web to confirm the info. Sadly it appears to be correct. I really enjoyed the 'larrycanfly' videos.

 

 

[M61A1]

One of Larry's clips showing a bit more of the engine installation.

 

 

 

[dazza 38]

Found this turbine Zenith STOL on youtube and got me thinking, what does it take to whop a turbine into an ultralight??Clearly, I am dreaming here, but I would love to hop into a Drifter and spool up the 'ol turbine.

 

Surely that must add a little reliability to the mix!

 

Any thoughts?

 

Too noisy & burns to much fuel.Not worth it unless flying very high.

 

 

[Captain]

Hope I'm not duplicating anything in previous posts, but have a look at the sweet turbine in the Helicycle at http://www.helicycle.com

 

The Helicycle alone is a turn-on, but how good would that be if re-up-rated and put in something like a Lightning.

 

Regards Geoff

 

 

[seb7701]

I hear you. I have eyed off the heli-cycles for a long time now and they appear to be the best of the 'non-rotorway' experimentals. In a lightning, well...."Brace yourself Maverick, we're going ballistic...."