Ken Dawe and Vim Toutenhoofd own a pair of Aeriane Swifts (“Manufactured and Improved by Aeriane since 1993”) powered flying wings they hangar at a small airport outside Newberg, Oregon. Vim’s has a single-cylinder, two-stroke engine for self-launching and Ken’s has the Eck-Geiger HPD-10, 10-kilowatt motor, controller and battery system, as part of the Icaro 2000 setup designed and sold by Manfred Ruhmer. After Vim and Ken studied the videos left by Manfred Ruhmer on charging the batteries and hooking everything up, and a few frustrating delays (flat tires mainly), Ken was able to start the motor, taxi out and take off. The craft showed a good rate of climb and full control of the ultralight airplane. The wing alone weighs around 100 pounds, the pod and electrical components might add another 100, and Ken doesn’t look over 150 pounds. The 350-pound total takeoff weight seemed to accelerate and climb well on the 13 horsepower available, with the 1.4-meter (4.6-foot) …
Cutting Grass with Manfred Ruhmer
Manfred Ruhmer has designed a motorized trike for the Laminar wing under which he has flown to world champion status three times, and achieved a world record flight of 701 kilometers (434.62 miles). The trike can be powered with a Simonini two-stroke or Bailey four-stroke engine, or the Geiger/Eck electric motor/controller/folding propeller combination. Here, Manfred shows off some of his world-class flying skills. Note that about 40 seconds into the video, the landing gear has picked up some vegetation. Later, at around the 2:00 mark, the streamers reappear. Whether this is from the grassy field from which Manfred flies, or some very low passes, is open to speculation. The Icaro 2000 site is useful for making some important comparisons between the IC engine options and the electric flyer. Each of the two engines’ installed weights is 18.3 kilograms (40.26 pounds), and the fuel tank for either holds 8 liters of fuel. Icaro claims both engines consume about 2 to 2.5 liters per hour, giving up …