Bingo! It’s Dingo… A Charming, Fun, Affordable Part 103 Ultralight Biplane

If you look at Dingo and smile, you may be an ultralighter. Appearance and qualities about Future Vehicles‘ single seat bi-wing flying machine attract certain pilots like bees to a bright flower.

If you must have two seats, large flat screen displays, an autopilot, and luxurious appointments, you probably are not attracted to Dingo. Fine. The good news is that you’ll have plenty of choices among Mosaic LSA.

Those of us still smiling at the nearby images might already be captivated. If you are caught by Dingo’s interesting specs and its affordability, you might want to learn more. So, here’s more…

Dingo Is for Fun

Shown to Americans for the first time at MAX 2024 (Midwest Aviation Expo) by Bluff City Aircraft, Dingo drew steady interest from the fun flying crowd. For a grin-producing flight at the end of your workday, Dingo might be just about perfect. Bluff City displays at Sun ‘n Fun, AirVenture (as seen in the first video below), and MAX 2024 brought awareness to a large swath of the aircraft-buying public. Read two earlier articles, from July 2023 and July 2022.

Created by widely-known European designer Marek Ivanov beginning with 3D images at the beginning of 2021, Dingo rapidly took form and was put through test flights by Jan Jilek. The new creation entered production only two years later, in summer of 2023. Marek has lead development of several aircraft that show his great range. About Dingo he said, “My long-time dream was to build something like Hovey Whing Ding because I like it, but a little bigger so I can fly it.” It’s here in America now.

“No Americans had seen Dingo before,” said Rick Bennett, one of two partners in the U.S. import business. “They flipped out over the design. We experienced strong attention.”

Knowing they were launching a new design in the giant U.S, market, Bluff City Aircraft collaborated with manufacturer Future Vehicles to appear at all the major U.S. airshows in 2024. Of even greater interest, other partner David Eubanks said, “Future Vehicles has agreed to build and put 10 kits on the shelf so that we can deliver in seven to 10 days.” Compared to most LSA that have delivery delays running several months to literally years, getting a Dingo shipped in barely over one week is a remarkable feat.

In a time when it seems the price of everything goes always higher, here’s a complete airplane you can own for around $25,000, in kit form. To get that lowest price, do the assembly yourself but if you’re not up for that and have a somewhat larger budget, Bluff City will build it for you at a typical cost of less than $40,000. Buyers electing options like custom paint will pay more but Dingo clearly qualifies as a great value (though I recognize those prices may not fit every budget).

Those who want to hold the cost to the minimum — “$25-27,000 is a reasonable estimate for most buyers,” Rick estimated) — should plan on 300 hours of build time. However, no special jigs are needed as match-hole assembly assures accurate joining of components. Such sophisticated kits are now common in larger kit aircraft but not on a flying machine selling for such a modest price.

Bluff can legally deliver a fully-built aircraft because Dingo easily fits the parameters of Part 103 ultralights. As you see in the factory specs below, Future Vehicles can deliver an aircraft weighing only 210 pounds, a rather amazing 44 pounds under Part 103’s limits. Americans fitting Dingo with a more powerful engine and high quality paint will weigh more but Rick and David both emphasized that it is easily possible to stay within Part 103 meaning no pilot medical is required nor are N-numbers.

The engine Rick and David like best is the Thor 260 Polini producing 36 horsepower. This much juice means spirited performance for Dingo even with the largest pilot the design can accommodate at 240 pounds. Since the seat is bolted to the aircraft, ballast is needed for the heaviest pilots, with the weight placed aft. If you are as light as David  (160 pounds), you’ll need ballast up front instead. Rick weighs 180 pounds; he made no mention of ballast. Polini is a popular choice for the lightest aircraft and boasts dual starting — hand-pull or electric — plus a centrifugal clutch yields an easier and smoother start.

See all tech specs, kit info, and more details about Dingo

Rick and David use a two-place Quicksilver for intro flights as a way to assure pilots can handle the very light Dingo. Rick indicated that even though Dingo offers responsive handling, he believes it is more stable than a Quicksilver. Since Quicks are widely known for docile performance, that is a substantial claim.

American pilots used to a huge variety of aircraft choices additionally asked about features such as brakes, floats, folding wings, and tricycle gear. Future Vehicles is evaluating all these options, however, that 254-pound Part 103 empty weight will limit how much a buyer can add.

From our friends at Kitplanes magazine (part of Firecrown, as is ByDanJohnson.com), here’s much of what you want to know about Dingo in only 90 seconds.

Since we are about to enter the holiday season, here’s a fun Christmas video from Future Vehicles showing Santa going aloft using something more realistic than a flock of flying reindeer.