The Bushcaddy R-120 is a Canadian

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

produced by Canadian Light Aircraft Sales and Service (CLASS) of St. Lazare, Quebec and later Les Cedres, Quebec and now Bushcaddy of

Lachute, Quebec Lachute () is a town in southwest Quebec, Canada, northwest of Montreal, on the Rivière du Nord, a tributary of the Ottawa River, and west of Mirabel International Airport. It is located on Autoroute 50, at the junctions of Quebec Provincial ...

and more recently Cornwall Regional Airport in

Summerstown, Ontario South Glengarry is a township in eastern Ontario, Canada on the Saint Lawrence River in the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry. South Glengarry borders Quebec. Communities The township of South Glengarry comprises a number of vil ...

.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 35. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XVandermeullen, Richard: ''2012 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 47. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 The R-120 is a development of the Bushcaddy R-80 and is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the Canadian and United States amateur-built aircraft rules. It features a

strut-braced In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

enclosed cockpit, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. The R-120 is structurally strengthened over the R-80 to allow a higher gross weight and accept larger engines. The aircraft is made from

6061-T6 aluminum 6061 ( Unified Numbering System (UNS) designation A96061) is a precipitation-hardened aluminium alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements. Originally called "Alloy 61S", it was developed in 1935. It has good mechani ...

sheet over a cage of welded aluminum square 6061-T6 aluminum tube. The tail boom is conventional

semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among ot ...

construction. The non-tapered planform wings have 6061-T6

ribs The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels. The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...

and

spars The United States Coast Guard (USCG) Women's Reserve, also known as the SPARS (SPARS was the acronym for "Semper Paratus—Always Ready"), was the women's branch of the United States Coast Guard Reserve. It was established by the United States ...

and employ a

NACA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its assets ...

4413 (mod)

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...

. The airfoil modification removes the undercamber on the bottom of the wing, which makes construction easier, without giving up low speed performance. The aircraft's structure uses 2024-T3 aluminium for critical parts where extra strength is required, such as the spar, float and strut attachments as well as other critical components like the rudder horns. The R-120's structure is covered with 6061-T6 sheet of varying thicknesses. The wings are supported by conventional "V" struts. 6061-T6 is predominantly used for its lower cost and also its better corrosion resistance, since many R-120s are flown on floats. Its span wing has an area of . Flaps are optional.Hunt, Adam: ''Elegant Utility - Flying the CLASS R-80 BushCaddy'', Canadian Flight July 2005, page B-1.

Canadian Owners and Pilots Association The Canadian Owners and Pilots Association (COPA) (french: Association canadienne des pilotes et propriétaires d'aéronefs) is a federally registered not-for-profit association that provides information and advocacy services for Canadian pilot ...

. Standard engines used on the R-120 include the

Rotax 912UL The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

, the

Rotax 912ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

, the

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

Rotax 914 The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier ...

, the

Continental O-200 The Continental C90 and O-200 are a family of air-cooled, horizontally opposed, four-cylinder, direct-drive aircraft engines of 201 in³ (3.29 L) displacement, producing between 90 and 100 horsepower (67 and 75 kW).''Federal Aviation Admini ...

, the

Lycoming O-235 The Lycoming O-235 is a family of four-cylinder, air-cooled, horizontally opposed piston aircraft engines that produce , derived from the earlier O-233 engine.Textron Lycoming: ''Operator's Manual, Textron Lycoming Aircraft Engines, Series O-23 ...

, the Jabiru 3300 and other

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplants. The aircraft can also be mounted on floats and skis. Controls include a central "Y"

control stick A joystick, sometimes called a flight stick, is an input device consisting of a stick that pivots on a base and reports its angle or direction to the device it is controlling. A joystick, also known as the control column, is the principal cont ...

. Construction time for the R-120 from the factory kit is 1,000 hours.

Variants

;CLASS R-120 BushCaddy :Version produced by CLASS of

Saint-Lazare, Quebec Saint-Lazare is an off-island suburb of Montreal, in southwestern Quebec, Canada in the Regional County Municipality of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. History Originally part of the Seigneurie de Vaudreuil in the 18th century, the territory correspond ...

. Production was later moved to Les Cedres, Quebec. ;Bushcaddy R-120 :Current production version produced by Bushcaddy of Lachute, Quebec after buying the rights from CLASS in 2011.

Specifications (R-120)

References

External links

Official website
{{Uncertified aircraft developed in Canada 1990s Canadian ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Light-sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft