Ring Around the Tail Boom

Dean Sigler Electric Powerplants, Sustainable Aviation 5 Comments

Call it Kismet, but three aircraft builders in wide-spread locations have recently announced similar approaches to putting a pusher propeller on the tail boom of three different ultralight sailplanes.  Each enjoys the benefits of mounting a propeller on a rear portion of a pod-and-boom fuselage: streamlining the folded propeller into the wake of fuselage/wing junction, enabling use of a large propeller, and turning the prop slowly to get the greatest efficiency from a small motor. Moyes Tempest from Down Under “Bodex,” a pilot in Brisbane, Australia write, “A mate and I managed to acquire two old Moyes Tempests last year. Although they fly well for what they are, we wanted to see if it could be converted to electric in the hope of getting a self-launch from it. “Originally the idea was going to mount the motor behind the fuselage under the boom, but ground clearance was a problem. Then we thought nose mounting, ground clearance again…even with a dolly …