Hovey Whing Ding II
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| Whing Ding II | |
|---|---|
| Type | Recreational ultralight |
| National origin | United States |
| Manufacturer | Homebuilt |
| Designed by | Bob Hovey |
| Maiden flight | February 1971 |
The Hovey Whing Ding II was an extremely minimalist aircraft design created by Bob Hovey in the United States in the early 1970s. Hovey set out to create the lightest aircraft to carry a person ever to fly, with the resulting design being a plywood box filled with urethane foam to serve as a fuselage of sorts, supporting the pilot's seat and biplane wings, and a conventional fabric-covered empennage carried at the end of a short tailboom made of aluminium tube. The powerplant was a McCulloch chainsaw engine turning a hand-carved wooden propeller via a chain drive. The first prototype had a monowheel undercarriage, with skids under the wingtips, but this was soon changed to twin mainwheels carried on a spring-type strut. With no brakes to stop the aircraft after landing, pilots were supposed to press their heels against the mainwheels. Control in flight was via wing warping.
The Whing Ding was marketed as plans, and sold extremely well - by 1979, over 6,000 sets had been purchased.
[edit] Specifications (typical)
General characteristics
- Crew: One pilot
- Length: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
- Wingspan: 17 ft 0 in (5.18 m)
- Height: 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
- Wing area: 98 ft² (9.1 m²)
- Empty weight: 123 lb (56 kg)
- Gross weight: 310 lb (140 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × McCullouch chainsaw engine, 14 hp (10 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 50 mph (80 km/h)
- Range: 20 miles (32 km)
- Service ceiling: 4,000 ft (1,200 m)
[edit] References
- Taylor, Michael J. H. (1989). Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation. London: Studio Editions, 511.
- Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1976-77. London: Jane's Yearbooks, 543-44.
- AirVenture Museum website
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