Wednesday 10 April 2019

B & F Technik FK 14B Polaris(s) of New Zealand

The second type of B & F Technik aircraft to be registered to Polaris Air Ltd on 3/2/09 was the FK 14B Polaris model.

The B & F FK 14 was designed in 1998 and the prototype first flew in May 1999.  It is a conventional low wing side by side two seater.  The original aircraft had a steel framed fuselage but that was superceded by a fibreglass composite monocoque fuselage, or a carbon fibre monocoque for the FK 14B.  It has a steel cockpit frame for the hard points.  The wings are also composite fibreglass or carbon fibre with Fowler flaps to lower the landing speed.  The outboard wings have a tapered leading edge and small winglets are fitted.  The conventional undercarriage is tri-gear but a tailwheel undercarriage is also available.  A spectacular later model is the FK 14B2 Le Mans which is a taildragger that can be fitted with very streamlined side by side open cockpits.  Spectacular!

The specifications for the FK 14B Polaris are: Length 5.69 metres (18 feet 8 inches), wingspan 9.04 metres (29 feet 8 inches) and the wing area is 101 square feet.  The empty weight is around 284 Kg (626 pounds) and in New Zealand the MAUW is 544 Kg (1,200 pounds) which gives a very good payload.  With a 100 HP Rotax 912 engine the cruise speed is around 150 mph burning around 16 litres/hour and the stall speed is around 40 mph.

We have had only one B & F Technik FK 14B Polaris in New Zealand to date.

ZK-RFD (c/n 091) was registered to Polaris Air Ltd of Mt Maunganui on 3/2/09 and it is photo'd above, very early on in its life, on 7/2/09 at the 2009 SAANZ flyin at Ashburton.

On 15/8/16 ownership changed to Alan J Warner of Waitara.  Alan bases his aircraft at Stratford, where these photos were taken on 24/1/18.  Note that it has the Stratford Flyers logo on the tail.  A very nice aircraft.


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