FINALLY WE ARE READY TO START PRODUCTION!
The summer that swept by felt short but was maybe normal for this part of the world and also one with a rather good weather. Flight testing is time consuming, especially out of water, but it’s my impression that we utilized the time quite efficient.
Summertime in Sweden also means lots of vacations and to cut the subject short, we closed the company for two weeks which is more than we ever did before.
Summarizing the latest sequence of flight testing gives:
1. The new cantilever wing is on the positive side only. Better in the air and the lack of struts makes mooring to bridges easier. Furthermore, the whole Seagull is loaded on trailer by two men in ten minutes. You can store in a garage instead of expensive hangar space or having it unattended in a nearby lake.
2. The new sponsoon wing with airbrakes. Works fine in the water with some minor additional mods. The airbrakes function the same way as on gliders and thus making the landings even easier and permitting steeper approaches. Excessive speeds also bleed of quicker.
3. Considerable time has been spent on adapting the water rudder. Sounds trivial but having a working water rudder is imperative for all slow water taxiing when wind is blowing. Our solution is retractable and hidden in the afterbody just below the fin’s leading edge. A lever in FWD cockpit moves it up and down. It automatically connects to the rudder when extended and is easily replaceable.
4. The engine has been running relatively well during the summer and for the first time since we started flying, engine problems have not been the prime reasons for shortening flights. Propeller availability for the pushing Jabiru is a problem though. Without good assistance from a Ukrainian prop maker the progress would have been even slower. The now working engine has put more focus on something we actually knew from the beginning. We have never been able to get more than 70 hp out of this engine and while this is enough for flying and land operation we get off the water lightly loaded only. The Jab is okay for a UL version but not sufficient for water operation at max weight of 600 kg.
And then the conclusion is simple, why not installing the engine the Seagull was initially designed for!
So, what is up now?
The Seagull testing will continue but we know enough about the basic design to take the decision of starting a limited production. We are looking at a small batch of five kits to give the process a chance to mature. We are shortly coming back to the special conditions we intend to have around those five.
As I might have mentioned before we have a Rotax 914 on loan that we are free to use while the owner finishes his SeaRey kit? The Seagull airframe was initially designed for the 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS and this option of using a 914 means that we have to adapt to a somewhat bigger engine. Then, when we install the 912 we can be sure that the same for example water and oil coolers are sufficient. The engines are of the same physical size why the switch should be easy. Some builders might prefer the 914 why it should be an advantage to have performance data on this combination as well.
The first time installation of a new engine is however quite a task so it will take a while.
Beside this we are finishing up the temporaries we added during testing but those are of more aesthetic nature than actually functioning snags.
It’s fully understandable if you viewers lose faith because the extended time frame could give the impression that it will go on for ever and never be finished.
Interesting is that we, the directly involved feel exactly the opposite.
We have gradually learned that our initial time perception was very optimistic and that the reality we experience is following the same pace as for others doing similar tasks.
Wise men say that if you focus on your goal you will get there and the time it takes is of less importance.
Encouraging is that the more we learn about the Seagull the more we see that this concept is outstanding.
Thanks for your interest
Lage
