Flying the Mustang

The top-of-the-line Mustang utilises the twin-cylinder 48 hp Robin motor and this aircraft has performance characteristics not dissimilar to that of a ‘real’ lightie. In this relatively powerful machine you can expect a typical nil wind takeoff roll of less than seventy feet while the climb out is as brisk as you require, though remembering that at the time of writing it is illegal to climb higher than 300 feet; your ‘ceiling’ is reached before you know it. One can look forward to a landing speed of around 23 mph and a stall speed of around 20 mph. The stall is truly a non-event as even on a dead stick landing the aircraft can be put into a maximum climb attitude where it will merely slow, float and gently nose down, picking up speed; at no stage does a wing drop or the aircraft depart the pilot’s control.

The mid-range Mustang utilises a twin-cylinder 25 hp KFM motor with an electric start. This exhibits even better handling qualities and naturally uses considerably less fuel than the 48 hp version though in all cases fuel consumption is measured in frugal quantities, a true dream come true for any GA pilot. At the bottom of the range is the training single-seat Mustang which by using a single-cylinder 19 hp Robin two-stroke engine guarantees that a student need never fear the aircraft getting away from him. Takeoffs are longer, climb-outs are very gradual and the aircraft is an ideal taxi trainer in addition to being extremely fuel-frugal.

Flying the Mustang is fun personified.

You sit there completely in control with your feet out in the airstream before you, the countryside below and just enough velocity for it all to be taken in as a slow motion movie. Flying has
never been this much fun before and you can see how in practical terms this aircraft could be a real winner for the rural sector. For instance, farmers can speedily check their stock fences and other distance-related objects without having to drive for an hour or more over bumpy roads, opening and shutting a myriad of gates. The Search and Rescue (SAR) possibilities of ultralights also bears consideration while the Los Angeles Police Department use them for surveillance at about one twentieth the cost of a helicopter.

Landing the Mustang is child’s play, simply set it up in the normal manner, bearing in mind that a metre in a lightie is about an inch in this craft, point the nose at the runway, reduce power, sink sedately towards terra firma, reduce power further, flare and you are fully stopped in under a hundred feet. Landing is in reality about as easy as the rest of the exercise and just as much fun.

The Mustang was designed by Frank Bailey and is built at Bankstown Airport by Lee Wakeland. First flight took place in only December 1982 and by the time this magazine appears in print flight development of the two-seater will no doubt have begun. Again, simplicity is the keyword to effective design and cost containment and basically the two-seater will be the 48 hp version with a longer base support bar allowing the fitment of two seats in place of one. Control column will be centrally mounted while future Mustangs are being converted over to actual rudder pedals (instead of a bar) while the single-seaters will inherit a semi enclosed aerodynamic motor cycle-style fairing.

Airframe is reliant on bolts rather than welds, which we feel is better in the long term while all major wires are double redundant and all shackles are lock pinned. Effectively several major structural support wires can fail without the aircraft losing its structural integrity. As mentioned elsewhere, Charles Yaeger considered the Mustang basically over-engineered and far stronger than any ultralight available in the US.

At time of writing there had been 24 Mustangs sold while Sunsport are planning for annual sales of 50 units for the current financial year. It appears that once the new ANO 95.22 and the Australian Ultralight Association are in full step then the rental market will become viable and flying will literally become a sport that every person can enjoy