Engineering:Blue Yonder EZ King Cobra
| EZ King Cobra | |
|---|---|
| Role | Kit plane |
| National origin | Canada |
| Manufacturer | Blue Yonder Aviation |
| Designer | Wayne Winters |
| First flight | 1998 |
| Introduction | 1998 |
| Primary user | Private owners |
| Number built | 1 |
| Developed from | Merlin |
| Variants | EZ Harvard |
The Blue Yonder EZ King Cobra is a Canadian designed and built, single-engined, single-seat aircraft provided as a completed aircraft or in kit form by Blue Yonder Aviation. The aircraft is approximately a 60% scale replica of the Second World War Bell P-63 Kingcobra fighter.[1]
The aircraft can be constructed in Canada as a basic ultra-light, or amateur-built aircraft, but is not currently available as an advanced ultra-light.[2][3]
Development
The EZ King Cobra was designed by Wayne Winters of Indus, Alberta and based on the earlier EZ Merlin. The project was started as a customer request for an ultralight category scale replica of a fighter and was later offered as a commercially available kit aircraft.
Winters created the EZ King Cobra by designing a new cantilever wing based on the Merlin wing, itself based on the Lazair wing design. The fuselage is constructed of welded 4130 steel tube and has a canopy and fin that resembles the original fighter design. The aircraft retained the Junker's ailerons of the original Merlin wing along with the Clark "Y" airfoil and construction featuring a leading edge "D" cell and foam ribs. The prototype is powered by a Rotax 582 two stroke engine of 64 hp (48 kW).[1][4]
The prototype of the new design flew in 1998. In the basic ultralight version gross weight is limited to the category maximum of 1,200 lb (544 kg).[1]
The EZ King Cobra can accommodate a variety of powerplants:[5]
- Rotax 503 50 hp (37 kW)
- Rotax 582 64 hp (48 kW)
- Rotax 912 80 hp (60 kW)
Operational history
Despite being widely demonstrated no further orders have been received for the type and the prototype remains the sole flying example.[2]
Specifications (Rotax 582)
Data from Blue Yonder website[1]
General characteristics
- Crew: one
- Capacity: 657 lb (298 kg) useful load
- Length: 21 ft 0 in (6.4 m)
- Wingspan: 27 ft 0 in (8.2 m)
- Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.8 m)
- Wing area: 158 sq ft (14.7 m2)
- Airfoil: Clark Y[4]
- Empty weight: 543 lb (246 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,200 lb (544 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 582 fixed pitch, 64 hp (48 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 120 mph (194 km/h, 100 kn)
- Cruise speed: 90 mph (146 km/h, 78 kn)
- Stall speed: 30 mph (49 km/h, 26 kn)
- Range: 460 mi (740 km, 400 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 14,000 ft (4,270 m)
- Power/mass: 18.75 lb/hp (0.09 kW/kg)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Winters, Wayne (n.d.). "EZ King Cobra". Archived from the original on 2009-02-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20090226025127/http://ezflyer.com/page9BYA.html. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Transport Canada (7 November 2016). "Canadian Civil Aircraft Register". http://wwwapps.tc.gc.ca/Saf-Sec-Sur/2/CCARCS-RIACC/ADet.aspx?id=21712&rfr=RchSimp.aspx. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
- ↑ Transport Canada (November 2008). "Listing of Models Eligible to be Registered as Advanced Ultra-Light Aeroplanes (AULA)". http://www.tc.gc.ca/civilaviation/general/CCARCS/advancedullist.htm. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lednicer, David (October 2007). "The Incomplete Guide to Airfoil Usage". http://www.ae.uiuc.edu/m-selig/ads/aircraft.html. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
- ↑ Winters, Wayne (n.d.). "EZ King Cobra Price Lists". Archived from the original on 2009-03-17. https://web.archive.org/web/20090317054433/http://www.ezflyer.com/page30BYA.html. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
External links
- Blue Yonder Aviation
- Photo of the EZ King Cobra prototype
- Top view photo of the EZ King Cobra prototype
 |  |
