Another Huge Post: Czech Factory Visit

This will be a long post covering nearly everything. Bout time too I know. But I only post when I have something to share. And now I can share a lot of our progress and innovations.

However, it is Easter weekend so let’s start with a few images of a beautiful church in Olomouc, Czech Republic. I do not know how many decades it took to make this church, but it is magnificent, as most churches are in Europe.

I am now on a train returning to Prague then flying to USA. Just in time to prepare for the SNF show beginning next week. Oh great, a week in Florida sun, just after I had a skin cancer surgery on my head. that’s what 46 years of Oshkosh and SNF gets you I guess.

Let us start with Merlin Lites. Perhaps the most controversial topic. Short engine recap: We had too many issues with the Polini 303 to be comfortable with it. We began the installation of the Vitorazzi Cosmos 300 which has come on strong in the PPG market. And we are flying with it on the TrueLite and find it to be an excellent engine. But installation has dragged on. The engine, like the Polini, is not designed to fit inside a cowl. Exhaust sticks out one way, carb another, spark plugs a third vector. All challenges for us. But now we are quite close to running the engine.

We have 3D printed an intake manifold with a 70-degree elbow. We have re-welded the exhaust to fit better. And modified the cowl to enclose the cylinder head and spark plugs. The installation is nearly complete.

Here you can see the cooling system, fuel system, and electronics all mounted.

For the panel, we are installing a row of circuit breakers and switches to control the engine, avionics, strobes, and trim.

We are considering switching to the MGL Blaze Flight-3 instrument as it can provide all we need for avionics and most of what we want for the EMS. The IFD-Net EFIS we were using is no longer in production, plus, we just found out we have to send any faulty units back to Italy for service. Not really acceptable.

https://legitavionics.com/products/blaze-flight-3

The panel layout has the trim indicator and rocker switch on the left, the EFIS/EMS next, a row of CBs and switches, then the start button and mag switches. Plenty of space for your iPad. Two fuel gauges will be located in the spar lightening holes above. Fuel on-off valves either on the panel left side or below the panel in the center.

I ordered a Blaze ASV-2 for the electric-powered Merlin Lite. We do not need fuel gauges, CHT, RPM, or other engine sensors.

I have noticed that Polini has sorted the 303 issues with the introduction of a new model: The Thor 260.

https://www.polinithor.com/en/polini-thor-260-2/

This engine already has an excellent reputation and, as we already have the engine mount, cowl, and installation done, I thought we should give it a go.

Here is the Thor 260 as I uncrate it at the factory. Our plan now is to ship both Polini and Cosmos-powered Merlin Lites to our build center at M-Squared around the end of this month or very early in May. We will only need a few days to prepare them for flight, and we can fly both aircraft side-by-side for comparison.

As posted previously, we have 8 Merlin Lites mostly finished with stock of both long and short wings. In May, we begin construction on another batch of 8. We are already confirming specs and order details with our customers. See photo above showing throttle and brake assembly and parking brake. Not many ultralights have anywhere near the features the Merlin Lite has.

And now on to the Electrolite, the Merlin Lite with electric power system. We now have completed the assembly of 2 battery packs and are building the composite housing. The batteries are fully functioning so we can now install and program the inverter/controller.

We are approaching static motor tests which means flying is right around the corner! We will keep this aircraft in CZ for extensive flight testing and to prepare operating manuals and POH. An inexpensive and viable electric motor glider is coming soon with a viable 1- hour flight time expected.

Now on to TrueLite news. We are more than 1/2 way done with our first TrueLite build at M-Squared and it is starting to look like an aircraft. We plan to use this aircraft to test and demonstrate some of our military technology such as fully autonomous flight and our patent-pending Small Hybrid Aerial Computer (SHAC) used for precision munitions targeting.

The test pilot (me) is only there for the ride. A ground controller will do all the actual flying including the take-offs and landings. Having a pilot on board circumvents all the UAV restrictions. And grapefruit will probably be our munitions.

As a proof-of-concept for the LEOPARD and Hyper-STOL projects, we designed and built probably the most complex and beautiful wing ever on an LSA-class aircraft. 2 sets of wings are nearly finished. We will be flight testing in USA and Slovakia.

The wing has retractable leading-edge slats and double-slotted Fowler flaps. And is 3D tapered. This is all very complex and deserves a post of its own which I will make later. Finally, a true STOL wing with high cruise speeds! Aeromarine keeps raising the bar!

I nearly forgot, we have now completed the flight testing of our own reduction drive system for the Vtwin. And now offer a firewall forward package for all the Kitfox’s that will need to replace their Rotax 582 power.

And finally, we close in on the completion of a Merlin II with a Rotax 915iS installed and a MT 3-blade constant-speed propeller. This should be fast!

This Merlin II has control yokes and bomb bay doors.

We won’t have much to show at SNF, but by the time Oshkosh rolls around we will be fully into deliveries and showing some of our tech.

Cheers,

CHIP