Michigan Avionics (MGL) Archives

Michigan Avionics (MGL)

Website: https://www.michiganavionics.com

Phone: 810-356-9855

Lapeer, MI 48446 - USA

Bat Hawk: Well-Established South African Aircraft Lands in America

By Dan Johnson || February 11, 2022 15 Comments

It's always exciting to welcome a new entry into recreational aviation. Two Bat Hawks are presently inside the USA and will be debuted at Sun 'n Fun 2022.

Bat Hawk is a well-established, conventional microlight-style light aircraft powered by a Rotax 912 that helps it provide "sensational" performance.

"We now have two planes in the country," said importer and representative Gary Saitowitz, "and we just received our FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate at the end of 2021." At this time, Bat Hawk is not a Special LSA. As they get started with the new-to-Americans model, both are registered Experimental Exhibition. After Bathawk Aircraft USA can gauge market interest, they may pursue another level of FAA approval.

LSA with a Purpose

"Like a bat outta…" in this case, South Africa not that hotter place. Kidding aside, Bat Hawk is positioning itself as a very capable workhorse. Their website shows a great many activities for which this aircraft is being used, perhaps most notably, as a workhorse for rhino anti-poaching actions.

Such working duties should not surprise anyone since LAMA has (apparently) successfully convinced FAA that these light aircraft are more than capable of certain types of for-hire activities LAMA called "aerial work." LAMA didn't call it "commercial use" as that could imply passenger hauling or air freight and those were not included in the request. Instead Bat Hawk in South Africa refers to work such as anti-poaching and follow-up patrols; water-point monitoring; patrolling rivers and gathering valuable data on crocodiles; vegetation mapping and erosion monitoring; and, monitoring and mapping burning programs, to select only a few. Most of these are surveillance of one kind or another and any of us who enjoy aerial sightseeing can comprehend that use easily. I'm pleased our fun flying aircraft might be pressed into some useful duties. These aircraft are capable and offering manufacturers another potential customer base can help keep them healthy so they keep developing and building recreational aircraft for the majority who simply fly for fun.

What is Bat Hawk?

As the South African describe it, "Bat Hawk is a high-wing monoplane with crew of two seated side by side in an under-slung tubular framed structure surrounded by a glass fiber composite fairing." Occupants are protected from the elements by "a very large wrap-around windshield."

Bat Hawk's engine and prop are mounted in a tractor position at wing level. Its tailplane is conventional in location and layout. Tricycle gear has a steerable nose-wheel. Bat Hawk's wing is strut- and lift-wire braced. Once common, wire bracing has largely disappeared from fixed wing but it remains a very strong configuration. Bat Hawk's wing is built around two larger aluminum tubes forming the spars, one at the leading edge and one at the rear edge of the wing as is very common of aircraft with this construction. Sewn Dacron sailcloth covers all wing and tail surfaces plus the aft cockpit fairing. Bat Hawk uses full-span flaperons attached to the rear spar; flaperons work independently as ailerons and together as flaps. There is no flap position indicator but approximate settings can be determined from the flap selector angle. Maximum flap movement is restricted by a limit stop mounted on the flap lever quadrant.

Side by side seating offers full dual control based on a center stick that no doubt makes entry a bit easier. Bat Hawk's rudder is actuated by cables running from the pedals. Ailerons are controlled by cables from a torque tube connected to the central control stick, which has a built-in control stop. The elevator is actuated by a push/pull cable attached directly to the control stick with built-in stops. Manufacturer Micro Aviation said a wide track undercarriage has the main wheels supported by an inverted ‘V’ shaped glass fiber that provides suspension. Bat Hawk's nose wheel is supported by two hydraulic shock absorbers that "allows Bat Hawk to operate on rough terrain." Black Max disc brakes are actuated using a hand lever on the control stick. Differential braking is not available.

Instrumentation is provided by an also South African MGL EMS (sold and serviced in America by Michigan Avionics). The MGL digital instrument is standard equipment and "enables the pilot to monitor dual CHTs and four EGTs plus voltage, oil pressure, oil temperaturem and RPM simultaneously." Price? — What will this multi-purpose aircraft set you back? In Experimental Exhibition category for now, the first aircraft is listed for sale at $79,500 plus shipping. Bathawk Aircraft USA is investigating Experimental Amateur Built or Light-Sport Aircraft for the future. More about that as I learn about it.

Bat Hawk SPECIFICATIONS

All specifications provided by the factory

Overall length — nose to rudder trailing edge 18.2 feet (5.5 meters)
Length — propeller to rudder 17.0 feet (5.3 meters)
Wingspan — 31.2 feet (9.50 meters)
Height — 10.5 feet (3.20 meters)
Undercarriage wheel track — 5.4 feet (1.7 meters)
Main wheel size — 8 x 6 inches
Nose wheel size — 4 x 4 inches
Powerplant — Rotax 912 100 horsepower 4-cylinder, 4-stroke
Maximum weight all-up weight (gross weight) — 1,204 pounds (540 kilograms)
Typical empty weight with standard equipment — 573 pounds (260 kilograms)
Maximum fuel — 20.5 gallons / 123 pounds (56 kilograms)
Minimum solo crew weight — 163 pounds (74 kilograms)
Payload with full fuel — 508 pounds (231 kilograms)
Cruise speed — 77 knots
Stall speed — 36 knots
Vne — 92 knots
Take-off run — 100-165 feet (30-50 meters)
Landing roll — 165-200 feet (50-60 meters

For more info, Bathawk in America is finishing their new website, so email importer, Gary Saitowitz, or call 404-408-0305. You can also check the South African website for Bat Hawk producer Micro Aviation SA. I'll be looking for Gary and his two Bat Hawks at Sun 'n Fun 2022. I'll report more then. Hope to see many of you in Lakeland!

It’s always exciting to welcome a new entry into recreational aviation. Two Bat Hawks are presently inside the USA and will be debuted at Sun ‘n Fun 2022. Bat Hawk is a well-established, conventional microlight-style light aircraft powered by a Rotax 912 that helps it provide “sensational” performance. “We now have two planes in the country,” said importer and representative Gary Saitowitz, “and we just received our FAA Special Airworthiness Certificate at the end of 2021.” At this time, Bat Hawk is not a Special LSA. As they get started with the new-to-Americans model, both are registered Experimental Exhibition. After Bathawk Aircraft USA can gauge market interest, they may pursue another level of FAA approval. LSA with a Purpose “Like a bat outta…” in this case, South Africa not that hotter place. Kidding aside, Bat Hawk is positioning itself as a very capable workhorse. Their website shows a great many activities for which this aircraft is being used, perhaps most notably, as a workhorse for rhino anti-poaching actions.

American Ranger AR1 Gyroplane Embraces Rotax 915iS Power

By Dan Johnson || June 25, 2020 4 Comments

You can call modern gyroplanes "wanna-be" helicopters if you want but that might miss a few important points.

First, a gyroplane can be flown by a Sport Pilot. Other than Part 103 ultralight version, a helicopter requires a higher certificate and that means a medical, at least BasicMed. LAMA believes gyroplanes will be included in FAA's revised LSA regulation from what is known at this time. That means they'll be available ready-to-fly and prices are so much less than conventional helicopters that it's not even comparable. Comparing the most deluxe fully-built gyroplane to even a used helicopter is a world apart. Finally, maintenance of a gyroplane is dramatically less than any helicopter.

Igor Bensen's original Gyrocopter set the field in motion but these machines have advanced so much further. Seen at Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy museum.

Despite those differences, gyroplanes enjoy some of the same performance capabilities of a helicopter — other than vertical launch. Gyroplanes also work unusually well in wind conditions that might ground most other aircraft. No wonder gyroplanes have enjoyed a huge run in space-tight European countries and have been growing steadily in the USA. All this makes Silverlight's shift from weight shift to gyroplanes look smart. While the USA invented gyrocopters (as many called them back when, even though that term refers to a Bensen design), Europe marched forward with the idea while some American producers grappled with safety issues. That's mostly history now. Designed and produced in America, Silverlight Aviation's American Ranger AR-1 series (open and closed cockpit variations) has found a growing number of buyers.

Now, More Powerful

"Rotax 915iS is recommended for customers starting from high altitudes like in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico," said Silverlight, "or if the customer is looking for the ultimate performance anywhere." Read my comparison of 915iS to 912iS.

Company leader, Abid Farooqui, notes that Rotax's newest powerplant requires use of an EFIS (Electronic Flight Information System, or digital screen avionics) for engine monitoring that can interface with 915's electronic engine monitoring. Analog gauges are not an option with use of this engine. The lowest cost and simplest EFIS is MGL Extreme, Abid advised. The 141-horsepower engine is fully ASTM compliant. Silverlight said the engine package "includes engine, air filter, intercooler, intercooler custom piping, oil lines, oil radiator, remote oil tank, fuse box, ECU, coolant radiator, engine mounts, exhaust system with turbo, engine mounting hardware, fuel system components, standard composite propeller." Yet reading that list does not speak to the effort of designing the engine installation for AR-1

I will link to a video with much more detail but as one example, Rotax's powerful engine has a turbocharger. Those air boosters make air hotter so an intercooler is needed. The trouble with these components is they have to be securely mounted and a gyroplane like AR-1 is slim, so Abid did not want a big intercooler sticking out and upsetting the lines and low drag of his design. As the video below shows, he went to considerable effort to clean up the 915 installation. To learn all about the many actions Abid took to install Rotax 915s into his aircraft, see GyroGerald's video here; this goes into good detail with lots of close-up images. (Good job, Gerald!)

Specifications — American Ranger AR-1 (with 3 Engine Options)

Empty Weight — 646 pounds (912ULS/912iS), 665 pounds (914UL), 697 pounds (915iS)
Gross Weight — 1,200 / 1,232 / 1,260 pounds
Useful Load — 554 / 567 / 563 pounds
Payload (full fuel) — 452 / 465 / 461 pounds
Minimum Speed (a substitute for Stall Speed) — 25 mph
Max straight and level speed (Vh) — 105 mph / 110 mph / 120 mph
Never Exceed Speed — 120 mph
Takeoff Roll (calm, turf, prerotated) — 450 feet / 350 feet / 200 feet
Takeoff Distance (50 foot obstacle) — 1200 feet / 980 feet / 750 feet
Landing Roll — 0 to 30 feet, with proper technique
Landing (50 foot obstacle) — 500 feet
Rate of Climb (sea level) — 725 fpm / 850 fpm / 1300 fpm
Fuel — 17 gallons
Fuel Burn at Cruise — 4 to 6 gph
Rotor Diameter 28 feet 3 inches (larger rotor of 28 ft. 10 in. available for high altitude)
Height — 9 feet
Width (not cockpit width) — 76.5 inches,
Length — 17.7 feet
Folding Mast Option — 6.1 feet (when folded)

https://youtu.be/W7APuLNjJdw Here's a fuller description of flying a gyroplane — suitable for pilots without experience in these aircraft.

https://youtu.be/qIJPGX0G1Tc

You can call modern gyroplanes “wanna-be” helicopters if you want but that might miss a few important points. First, a gyroplane can be flown by a Sport Pilot. Other than Part 103 ultralight version, a helicopter requires a higher certificate and that means a medical, at least BasicMed. LAMA believes gyroplanes will be included in FAA’s revised LSA regulation from what is known at this time. That means they’ll be available ready-to-fly and prices are so much less than conventional helicopters that it’s not even comparable. Comparing the most deluxe fully-built gyroplane to even a used helicopter is a world apart. Finally, maintenance of a gyroplane is dramatically less than any helicopter. Despite those differences, gyroplanes enjoy some of the same performance capabilities of a helicopter — other than vertical launch. Gyroplanes also work unusually well in wind conditions that might ground most other aircraft. No wonder gyroplanes have enjoyed a huge run in space-tight European countries and have been growing steadily in the USA.