Thursday 21 July 2016

RagWing Aircraft of New Zealand (2) - Pietenpol EXP

The RagWing Pietenpol was Roger Mann's first aircraft design and first flew in 1994.  It is also known as the RW 1 Ultrapiet.  It is an approximate 75% scale single seat version of the Pietenpol Aircamper that was designed under the US FAR 103 rules for ultralights.

The Pietenpol EXP is 15 feet (4.59 metres) in length and has a wingspan of 25 feet 6 inches (7.77 metres).  Empty weight is around 254 pounds (115 Kg) and MAUW is 550 pounds (249 Kg), although this is raised to 299 Kg in New Zealand.  Engines can range from 25 HP 2 up to 50 HP.  With 35 HP the cruise is around 55 mph so it is a very light and pretty slow microlight.

We have had one RagWing Pietenpol EXP in New Zealand:

ZK-RWA (c/n RW334) was built by Wayne Wilson of Christchurch and was registered to Lilian I Wilson on 19/10/95.  It first flew on 4/7/98.  It was originally powered by a Kawasaki 340 engine but has since been re-powered with a 50 HP Rotax 503.  It is still current and was photo'd above at Rangiora, where it is based,  on 8/1/14.




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