Monoplane

Brown Starlite / Star-Lite Engineering Warp

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Starlite I

Mark Brown created this aircraft in the early 1980s. First flying on 17 May 1983, the original Star-Lite weighed 195 lb and achieved 110 mph with 20 hp. The 1983 price was $4000. Thirty-five were flying by February 1988.

One small single place machine providing 150 knot cruise on only 40hp caused minor sensation amongst would be constructors when it appeared in the marketplace around 1985. The Starlite was conceived by design engineer and computer buff Mark Brown as a sleek, easy to build runabout. Marketed in kit form, the package was complete with everything required with one exception, the trim colour, which the designer reasoned would remain the choice of the individual constructor.

Having grabbed everyone’s attention, the next from the Brown stable was the ¬two place Pulsar. Using a similar form of construction as the Starlite, the Pulsar has undergone extensive flight testing in preparation for release in kit form.

Built up from premoulded sandwich composite parts made of pre-pregnated fibreglass surrounding a structural foam core, the Pulsar fuselage halves come as moulded units epoxied together at joints consisting of internal flanges; no wet lay ups are required. Parts are simply taped together as the epoxy glue cures, then the tape is removed.
Composite sandwich bulkheads are cut to shape, using full size templates, by the builder and are attached by fibreglass tapes and epoxy filler. Three bulkheads support the wings, seats and undercarriage. Construction simplicity is a feature of Mark Brown’s designs. Wing construction differs considerably from that of the fuselage, being substantially from wood. The mainspar, machined from aircraft spruce, has factory laminated tapered unidirectional fibreglass spar caps both top and bottom to reduce inboard bending. One inch thick, pre-cut, foam ribs are spaced eight inches apart and one sixteenth inch thick plywood is wrapped around and bonded to the structure to form the aerofoil. Each spar extends inboard and overlap inside the fuselage, pinned together and to the fuselage with five-eights shear pins, glider style. The tailplane is likewise removable, providing a road transportable/ confined storage aircraft. Modern epoxy adhesives and new flexible polyurethane finishes virtually eliminate the main disadvantages of wood built aircraft and, properly protected from moisture, the designer claims that the Pulsar will survive as long as full composite and aluminium counterparts.

Preliminary flight tests of the Pulsar, powered by a water cooled two stroke 64 hp Rotax 532, have demonstrated encouraging performance figures and fuel economy.

Engine: 40hp Rotax 447
Wingspan: 21’6″
Length: 16’5″
Useful load: 250 lb
Max speed: 140 mph
Cruise: 100 mph
Stall: 42 mph
Range: 400 mi
Seats: 1

SL-1 Star-Lite
Wing Span: 6.5 m
Length: 5 m
Height: 1.2 m
MTOW: 200 kg
Fuel Capacity: 19 ltr
Maximum Speed: 104 kts
Optimum Speed: 87 kts
Take Off Distance: 244 m
Landing Distance: 305 m
Absolute Ceiling: 13,000 ft
Optimum Ceiling: 10,000 ft
Maximum Range: 340 NM
Maximum Climb Rate: 800 ft/min
Seats: 1

Brown Special Monoplane Racer

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Alden Brown incorporated some novel features in his Racer NR71Y #203. The cockpit enclosure had no break or reversal in the fuselage contour. Top of the transparent enclosure was faired into the body lines and the fuselage forward of the cockpit was cut down at an angle of about 10 degrees with the fuselage centreline. Vision forward was poor during ground operations and still marginal in the air.

The Brown had been designed for a retractable undercarriage but time did not permit its installation, so it was fitted with cantilever struts and completely enclosed wheels. It was painted a light blue.

Alden Brown’s plane suffered a mishap on its first take-off at the Nationals. Roy Minor was at the controls. The close fitted wheel pants filled with mud and locked the wheels, causing the ship yo rear up enough to damage the cowl and propeller. As it came to rest the gear also collapsed so the ship was out of competition for the balance of the races.

Lee Shoenhair was the pilot in 1933. During the early part of the year he and Alden experimented with a retractable gear but were unable to get it to function properly so they reverted to the original gear. Lee was careful about use of the wheel pants and when in question on a slightly muddy or rough field these were not used. The aircraft appeared as often in 1933 without wheel pants as it did with them. She now wore the Gilmore Oil insignia and a dorsal tail fin with a small headrest above the glassed-in cockpit enclosure. This improved lateral stability and increased the pilot’s vision. The racer placed fourth in the 1000 cubic inch displacement free-for-all at the Nationals. During this race Lee experienced super-charger trouble with the engine and achieved only 137.52 mph. This was the last year the Alden Brown Racer appeared at the races. After that its whereabouts are unknown.

Model 203’s wing span was 18-19 feet and its length about the same.

Brotero Bichino / IPT IPT-0

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Designed as a private venture in the late ‘thirties, the Bichino subsequently served as a test-bed for the IPT (Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas or Technological Research Institute) of the São Paulo State University. Four examples were built. In 1938, the IPT’s Aviation Research Department was, by a fair margin, the most important aviation research centre working in Brazil and had completed a long series of studies of the use of native Brazilian woods in aircraft. A special technique had been developed for producing in industrial quantities a new kind of plywood for aircraft using Brazilian pine, and studies had been made of freijo, a Brazilian hardwood 20 per cent stronger and heavier than spruce. One of the principal researchers at the IPT was Frederico Abranches Brotero, who was also a gifted aircraft designer. In company with Orthon Hoover, an American who had come to Brazil as a demonstration pilot for Curtiss in 1911 and had decided to stay, Brotero set about putting freijo and the new plywood to the test in a light aircraft. Work on Brotero’s tiny wooden aeroplane, designed around a 60 hp Walter Mikron engine, began late in 1939 in a workshop of the São Paulo Polytechnic School under IPT supervision and it was transferred to Rio Claro city aero club for completion and first flight. The latter was effected in 1940. The Little Bug was of all wood construction, the cantilever low-wing being a two-spar structure with a Clark Y aerofoil; the spars were of paumarfim, ribs of freijo and covering of Brazilian pine plywood. Ailerons were fabric covered; fixed letter-box slots were incorporated ahead of the ailerons and split flaps extended along each trailing edge from aileron to fuselage. The wooden monocoque fuselage structure had guapuruvu longerons and freijo reinforcements with plywood construction. Tail unit construction was of freijo with fabric covering for the elevators and rudder; there was a controllable trim-tab in the starboard elevator. The fixed landing gear had rubber-in-compression shock absorbers and a steel tail skid. Phenolic resin was used to bond the wooden components. The open cockpit was just wide enough for a pilot of average build, but was comfortable and afforded good visibility. In 1943, the Bichino prototype (PP-THH) was purchased by the IPT to be used as a flying test bed and three more examples were put in hand, with some structural redesign to reduce weight and improve performance. The three new Bichinos had 65 hp, 75 hp and 85 hp Continental engines respectively. By this time, IPT had completed other prototypes designated the IPT- 1, IPT-2 and IPT-3, and the Bichino was consequently given the designation IPT-0, the three new examples becoming the IPT-0-A, -B and -C respectively. The fourth and last was completed in 1947 and proved to be the best performer and most pleasant to fly

Broome Le Beau

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second aircraft

Ray Broome designed and built two ultralight aircraft in the late 1980s early 1990s based on the Resurgam parameters.

Number one was completed in 1987 as a landplane with a tricycle undercarriage although it was operated on floats for a time. The fuselage of the first aircraft was built solely from fibreglass. It was sold unregistered in 1991 and reconfigured as a taildragger and was still flying in NSW, Australia, as late as mid-2014.

The second aircraft was built in 1992 and took up the registration 10-0046 C/N 2. It was always operated as a floatplane, mostly around the Moreton Bay area until 2008 by which time it had accumulated approximately 330 hours in service.

The fuselages of both aircraft were built on a mould taken from the front section of a damaged Club Libelle glider which inspired the name LeBeau. The composite was 6mm Kevlar foam sandwich. The rear fuselage is an aluminium tube with the tail sections having timber ribs on aluminium spars. The wings similarly have timber ribs with a double sided plywood main spar and plywood nose skin. Wing, rudder and tailplane are covered with Stits aircraft fabric painted in two-pack.

second aircraft

The floats are single skin fibreglass with plywood ribs and sealed flotation chambers. The engine is a 2-stroke, 4-cylinder Konig SD-570, rated at 28hp at 4200 rpm with a toothed belt reduction drive. The propellor is a 3 bladed ground adjustable in pitch. A third nose cone and fuselage was moulded but not taken any further.

second aircraft

The second aircraft was delivered by road to QAM Caloundra by the builder/donor Ray Broome.

second aircraft
Engine: Konig SD-570, 21kW (28hp)
Wing Span: 9.75m / 32ft
Wing Area: 11.89sq m / 128sq ft
Wing Chord: 1.22m / 48in
Wing Section: NACA 4415
Length: 5.64m / 18ft 6in
Height: 1.98m / 6ft 6in
Weight Empty: 150.88kg / 337lb
Weight Loaded/MTOW: 258.55kg / 570lb
Fuel Capacity: 35L / 7.7gal
Max Speed: 105km/h / 65mph
Cruising Speed: 96km/h / 60mph
Initial Climb: 122m/min / 400ft/min
Range: 193km / 120mile
Fuel Consumption: 14L/hr / 3.3gal/hr

Brokaw BJ-520 Bullet

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Dr. D.F. Brokaw, with the aeronautical engineering help of Dr. Ernest R. Jones, has developed a high-speed homebuilt with good cross country capability, comfortable seating for two in tandem fashion, retractable gear, full FR capability and the ability to perform aerobatics. While the prototype took Brokaw seven years to build, offspring can be built in about three years working from plans.

At the 1983 Oshkosh Brokaw had re-engined the prototype and extended the wings.

The original powerplant was a 285-hp Continental, but the most common options are a 310-hp Continental or the 380-hp Lycoming turning a Sensenich three-blade propeller. The fuselage, wings, tail and all control surfaces are built from light alloy, while the tricycle landing gear are retractable. Stressed to 6G for aerobatics, with 322 mph top speed and a service ceiling of 28,000 feet, the Bullet ranks as a high performance homebuilt.

Engine: 380-hp Lycoming
Gross Wt. 3142 lb
Empty Wt. 2033 lb
Fuel capacity 47-92 USG
Wingspan 24 ft 4 in
Length 23 ft l0 in
Top speed 322 mph
Cruise 293 mph.
Stall 86 mph.
Climb rate 2100 fpm
Ceiling 28,000 ft
Takeoff run (50 ft) 2000 ft
Landing run (50 ft) 1300 ft
Range 1323 miles.

Brochet MB.120

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The Brochet MB.120 two-seater light touring monoplane has the airframe of the three-seat MB.100 remodelled as a two-seater, lighter wings, the landing flaps of the MB.80 and a 90 hp Continental C90 engine.

Flown for the first time on 5 April 1954, the MB.120 has a steel-tube fuselage and a spring-steel cantilever undercarriage. The cabin seats two side-by-side and dual controls can be fitted.

Two prototypes were built.

Engine: 90 hp Continental C90
Wingspan: 34 ft 11 in
Length: 21 ft 3.75 in
Height: 6 ft 6.75 in
Empty weight: 1113 lb
Loaded weight: 1686 lb
Max speed: 121 mph
Cruise: 105.6 mph
Ceiling: 16,404 ft
Range: 497 mi
Seats: 2

Brochet MB.100 / MB.101

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The M.B.100 three seat cabin monoplane was developed from the earlier M.B.70 and M.B.80. The M.B.101 is identical to the M.B.100 apart from the addition of an air filter and tropical finish to suit it for service in North Africa.

An initial order for eight M.B.100s and twelve M.B.101s was placed by the French Service de l’Aviation Legere Sportive which were distributed to flying clubs in France and Norg Africa.

Engine: Hirth H.M.504A-2, 100 hp
Wing span: 34 ft 11 in
Wing area: 153 sq.ft
Length: 21 ft 4 in
Height: 6 ft 7 in
Empty weight: 1023 lb
Loaded weight: 1716 lb
Max speed: 112 mph
Cruise: 102 mph
ROC: 590 fpm
Service ceiling: 11,480 ft
Range: 375 mi
Seats: 3

Brochet MB-80 / MB-81 / MB-83 / MB-84 

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Brochet MB.84

The MB.80 was a derivative of the Brochet MB.71, using essentially the same wood airframe, but with a redesigned wider fuselage, balanced control surfaces, and revised, spring steel undercarriage.

The MB.80 No.1 F-BGLA first flew on 4 October 1951 (or 15 November) with André Deschamps at controls. The Certificat de Navigabilite was obtained on 6 June 1952.

The Service de l’Aviation Légère et Sportive purchased ten examples for distribution to French aeroclubs. Most examples were operated in France, but one example was later sold privately to the United Kingdom.

MB.80
Engine: Minie 4DC-32B, 56 kW (75 hp
Wingspan: 10.45 m (34 ft 3 in)
Wing area: 14.2 m2 (153 ft2)
Length: 6.58 m (21 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.55 m (8 ft 4 in)
Empty weight: 385 kg (849 lb)
Gross weight: 615 kg (1,356 lb)
Maximum speed: 158 km/h (99 mph)
Range: 500 km (310 miles)
Rate of climb: 3.5 m/s (690 ft/min)
Crew: One pilot
Capacity: 1 passenger
10 built

MB.81
Engine: Hirth HM 500B-2
1 built

MB.83
Engine: Continental C90
1 converted from MB.80

MB.84
Engine: Continental A65
1 converted from MB.80 F-BGLI

Brochet MB.70 / MB.71 / MB.72

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MB.70

Derived from the MB.50 Pipistrelle and MB.60 Barbastrelle, the two-seat cabin MB.70 was built to meet the requirements of the Service de l’Aviation Legere et Sportive.

It obtained its Certificat de Navigabilite in July 1950.

Prototypes of three versions were built, differing only in the type of engine installed.

MB.70
Engine: Salmson 9ADB, 45 hp
Wing span: 33 ft 11 in
Seats: 2

MB.71
Engine: Minie 4 DC32, 75 hp
Wing span: 33 ft 11 in
Length: 21 ft 4 in
Height: 8 ft 2 in
Empty weight: 765 lb
Loaded weight: 1212 lb
Max speed: 101 mph
Cruise: 89 mph
ROC: 787 fpm
Seats: 2

MB.72
Engine: Continental A65, 65 hp
Wing span: 33 ft 11 in
Seats: 2