Single seat single engined high wing mono¬plane with conventional three axis control. Wing has swept back leading edge, unswept trailing edge and tapering chord; cruciforin tail. Pitch control by elevator on tail; yaw control by fully flying rudder with additional fin; roll control by wing warping; control inputs through stick for pitch/roll and pedals for yaw. Wing braced from below by struts; 100% double surface. Undercarriage has three wheels in tricycle formation; coil spring suspension on nose¬wheel and disc spring suspension on main wheels. Push right go right nosewheel steer¬ing connected to yaw control. Brake on nosewheel. Aluminium tube framework, without pod. Engine mounted at wing height driving tractor propeller.
Although the Ladybird is the first microlight to carry his name Mike Campbell Jones is no stranger to the micro¬light industry, having worked at one time or another for Hiway and Huntair in Britain, and Fulmar and the EMC 2 company in Belgium.
The Ladybird does not set out to be a high performance aircraft, at least not in terms of climb rate and speed. Instead, Mike has tried to create a light, simple machine with a good glide ratio and pleasant handling. The pro¬totype Ladybird was shown at the Long Marston fly in during August ’82 and was generally well received; however it was obviously in need of refinement and since then push rods and bell cranks have re¬placed control cables, the rudder has been down sized to eliminate over sensitivity and a differential movement has been built into the wing warping mechanism, to give the ‘up’ wing more movement than the ‘down’. The Ladybird’s most unusual feature is its wing warping mechanism, however, this mechanism is not just for roll control; a separate lever allows the pilot to twist both wings equally to adjust the speed range, thus permitting the pilot to select a slower stall speed in preparation for a tricky landing.
In 1983, the aircraft was powered by a Hiro engine, but Mike was not satisfied with its reliability and was consider¬ing substituting the 330 Robin for production aircraft.
Engine: Hiro Delta Mk I, 22 hp at 7500 rpm.
Propeller diameter: 54 inch, 1.37m.
Gearbox reduction, ratio 3.0/1.
Max static thrust 130 lb, 59 kg.
Power per unit area 0.16hp/sq.ft, 1.7hp/sq.m
Fuel capacity 4.8 US gal, 4.0 Imp gal, 18.2 litre.
Empty weight 250 lb, 113kg.
Max take off weight 475 lb, 215kg.
Payload 225 lb, 102 kg.
Max wing loading 3.49 lb/sq.ft, 17.1 kg/sq.m.
Max power loading 21.6 1b/hp, 9.8kg/hp.
Load factors +6.0, 3.0 design
Length overall 18.0 ft, 5.50 m.
Height overall 7.4ft, 2.26m.
Wing span 36.1ft, 11.00m.
Chord at root 4.6ft, 1.40m.
Chord at tip 3.0ft, 0.90m.
Dihedral: 2deg.
Sweepback: 7.5deg
Tailplane span 6.3 ft, 1.91 m.
Fin height 2.0 ft, 0.61 m.
Total wing area 136 sq.ft, 12.6 sq.m.
Fin area 1.5sq.ft, 0.14 sq.m.
Rudder area 9.5sq.ft, 0.88 sq.m.
Tailplane area 10.0 sq.ft, 0.93 sq.m.
Total elevator area 22.0 sq.ft, 2.04 sq.m.
Wing aspect ratio 9.64.
Wheel track 5.0 ft, 1.52 m.
Wheelbase 5.5 ft, 1.68 m.
Nosewheel diameter overall 13 inch, 33 cm.
Main wheels diameter overall 13 inch, 33 cm.
Floats, dimensions length 12 ft, 3.7 m.
Max level speed 55 mph, 88 kph.
Never exceed speed 65 mph, 105 kph.
Max cruising speed 50 mph, 80 kph.
Economic cruising speed 45mph, 72kph.
Stalling speed 25 28mph, 40 45kph.
Best glide ratio with power off 13/1 at 45 mph, 72 kph.
Take off distance 150 ft, 45 m.
Land¬ing distance 100ft, 30m.
Service ceiling 3000ft, 910m.
Range at average cruising speed 100 mile, 161 km.
