| Empty
Weight: |
300 lbs. |
| Gross Weight: |
560 lbs. |
| Wing Span: |
26. ft. |
| Wing Area: |
117 sq. ft. |
| Engine: |
447 Rotax |
| Cruise Speed: |
65 m.p.h. |
| Stall Speed: |
26 m.p.h. |
| VNE: |
90 m.p.h. |
| Construction: |
Steel/wood/stits |
| Building time: |
250 Hrs. |
Options include various engines, folding wings brakes, trim, wheel
pants, wing tips bucket seat, extra fuel, plus various quick build and
assembly packages.
TEAM Aircraft Air-Bike
A whole lot of nothing, might say you upon first look at an
Air-Bike... but this is one case where beauty being skin-deep really
doesn't apply, especially since there isn't a whole lot of skin
involved. This is one great little airplane.
The Air-Bike may be one of the most ultralight legal birds out
there. The 220-lb bird is a conventional-geared honey with
conventional controls and strut-braced wooden wings. The welded tube
fuselage comes completely fabricated from the factory and requires
little preparation from the builder. The wings are all wood and the
building chores similar to those found in the model airplanes we built
as kids. A single center control stick, left side-mounted throttle,
and conventional rudder pedals were quite comfy and conformed well to
my dimensions. No brakes were installed (or necessary for that matter)
so some light, but careful, foot dragging can be used to hold
position.
Ground handling is docile but with a pretty good turn radius.
Rudder pedals require moderate pressure and are positioned very well
considering the lack of structure around them. Firewall the baby and
you'll go... sort of. The little Zenoah takes its time to accelerate
you, but it doesn't take much lift to get this mass airborne. Initial
control pressures vary from light to moderate and are accompanied by
light to moderately defined static stability profiles in pitch and
roll, with a surprisingly positive input from yaw. Dynamic tendencies
are slow, but no less positive. Control response is agile but not
twitchy and the overall behavior is fairly linear.
Even the lightest, lowest powered version (using the
single-cylinder Zenoah G25, producing 22 ponies), has more pizzazz
than you might expect. In 15- to 20-mph winds (almost all direct
crosswinds), the little Air-Bike levitates off the deck despite the
less-than-startling power of the Zenoah. We flew the final version,
with the new inverted engine mount, and got off the deck in well under
200'... probably close to 100'. The initial rate of climb wasn't
astonishing (about 400 fpm) but I was battling a lot of heavy sink and
rotors from the heavily forested mountains surrounding the airport.
The Air-Bike is no F-16; as a matter of fact, I think the F-16
probably taxis faster than this critter cruises. However, about 45 mph
feels great for cruise; the little windscreen keeps the June bugs out
of your dentures; and the view is incredible. The bird stalls at about
22 to 24 mph, according to the Hall Wind-meter I was using for ASI,
and the behavior is so docile as to be boring. There is no perceptible
break unless you horse into a steep angle prior to the actual stall
and recovery is simply a matter of lessened angle of attack and pitch
input. There is little dissymmetry despite the seeming lack of
vertical fin and side area, and moderate rudder corrects all ills. The
bird falls off into the start of an autorotation, but leave it alone
and the machine recovers well, and enters a slowly correcting spiral
all on its own.
The unencumbered seating is a real thrill and does not feel as
naked as one might first think, since there is a lot of adjacent
structure to lend moral support. I was surprised at the overall
handling; this is not a "me-too" boring little aircraft—it responds
quite nicely but has not a hint of surprise or twitchiness in its
soul. It does have a pretty good roll rate as long as you properly
coordinate it with rudder (the rudder on this thing is the key to good
rolling action).
The Air-Bike slips admirably considering there is not much of a
fuselage to slip against... and the resultant descent rate is
considerable. Landing is child's play and one has only to look to
one's feet to see how far off the ground to start the landing flare. I
settled in across the fence at 35 to 40 mph (below 40, the drag
profile increases a fair amount and the resulting sink rate increases
a lot), used a light flare, and settled in three-point with a solid 12
knots of estimated crosswind... and stayed pretty close to the
centerline throughout. Yes, this is one "cheapskate flyer" but only in
terms of price. In terms of performance, it has nothing to be ashamed
of... a thoroughly outstanding little airplane. You may call them for
an info pack or a video; $5 and $10, respectively.
TEAM Aircraft Air-Bike
ZOOM REPORT: The Mostest for the Leastest! No one gives you
more bang for your ultralight flying dollar than the TEAM Air-Bike. I
expected a boring, ho-hum flyer and was instead rewarded with a
playful (but still docile), obedient little bird that handled 15-to
20-knot winds with aplomb. I am very impressed with the Air-Bike and
predict it could be one of the most popular new aircraft to hit the
market in years. It's a sweetie!
USA Aircraft Ratings: TEAM Air-Bike
- Design/Engineering: A.
- Ground Handling: B+. No surprises.
- Flight Characteristics: A.
- Company Profile: A-. These people really give a damn.
- Kit/Plans: A-.
- Bang for the Buck: A+. I dare you to find more plane for less
$$.
- Risk Factor: 1. Outstanding reputation.
- Final Grade: A. OUTSTANDING! Voted Best New U/L Aircraft for
1995 by USA.
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