Item Number: UH-13P
Construction Method: Composite, Foam & Wood
Capacity: 2 Passengers
Payload: 550 lbs.
Speed: 40-55 mph.
Length: 13 ft.
Width: 6.5 ft.
Hover Height: 8 Inches
Flotation: 1500 lbs.
Empty Weight: 375 lbs.
Climb Gradient: 18%-45%
Engines: 16-25 hp. Vertical Shaft
Construction Time: 40-110 hrs.
Construction Cost: $1500 - $3000

My Craft differs from the above in that it has:

54 inch thrust duct, 54/50 prop.

2 engines - 503 rotax thrust, 10.5 briggs for lift

A little background to the last few months of flying. I did not put a whole lot of time in flying, the engine tachs show 3 hrs of run time. What I found was that the craft looks better than it performs and this is the reason for this page. (We just gotta fix that).

Speed -  40+ on snow and land (confirmed with someone driving beside me in a car)

Speed - 35+ on water.

The craft handled well but seemed to drag its rear a bit. Performance declined if there were two people on the craft.

I set up for static thrust measurements. I did this by placing a scale against the shop wall and running the craft on cushion against it.

My Static Thrust measurement at full throttle was 95 - 100 lbs. The Tach measurement at higher rpm was erratic. Erratic Tach readings at higher rpm is a sign of incorrect exhaust setup. 

I have installed the exhaust incorrectly. This has been pointed out to me by a few people that have visited my website. Basically the way I have the exhaust installed was for best fit. I placed the exhaust in the mount and then created a big octopus of pipe from the engine to it. This is wrong and the best way to explain it is in this article.http://www.800-airwolf.com/pdffiles/ARTICLES/part8.pdf

I also found a 3foot opening in the skirt. The skirt pulled away from the attach screws on the back left lower attach strip. This may explain the reason for dragging.

I Completed the skirt repair, and noticed a improvement in lift right away. This more than likely explains the drag I felt and the performance change with 2 adults on the craft.

I also completed the exhaust modifications, Took some time to do, I had to alter the engine mount and measure/cut and weld up the original exhaust to the correct input cone length.

 I set up for static thrust measurements. I did this by placing a scale against the shop wall and running the craft on cushion against it. I was expecting a little bit of performance gain but what occurred took me a little by surprise. The craft got up to 250 -260 pounds of thrust then the nose moved off the center of the scale and broke. I think I still had some throttle left, I will have to get a new scale and do some more testing.

I will start tuning the carb next.

 March 1,

I adjusted the carb. My last thrust measurement was just over 300 lb. I will need to install a Tach and a gauge to measure Exhaust temp before I go further.