The Hovey Delta Bird is an American
ultralight aircraft that was designed by
Bob Hovey in 1982 and supplied as plans for
amateur construction.
[Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page E-12 Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ]
Design and development
The aircraft was designed to comply with the US
FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles
Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries.
In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not req ...
rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a
biplane wing configuration, a single-seat, open cockpit,
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 aircraft is made from
pop-riveted and gusseted
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...
tubing, with the wings and tail surfaces covered in
doped aircraft fabric covering. Its biplane wing has a top span of , a bottom span of , employs
cabane struts and one set of
interplane strut
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 ...
s. The controls are conventional three-axis, with full-span
ailerons on the top wing. The
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
is
bungee suspended and includes main wheel brakes and tailwheel steering. Common engines used include the
Cuyuna 430R
The Cuyuna 430 and Cuyuna 340 are a family of two-stroke, twin-cylinder piston snowmobile engines that were redesigned to serve as ultralight aircraft powerplants.Cuyuna Development Company: ''Cuyuna Engines'', Cuyuna Development Company, unda ...
in the Delta Bird and the
Kawasaki 440
The Kawasaki 440, also called the T/A 440, is a Japanese twin-cylinder, in-line, two-stroke engine that was designed for snowmobiles and produced by Kawasaki Heavy Industries until the early 1980s.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's G ...
in the Delta Hawk.
Variants
;Delta Bird
:Base model, an open cockpit design, with the pilot's seat mounted to the main keel tube.
;Delta Hawk
:Model with conventional fabric-covered fuselage, empty weight and gross weight.
;Super Delta Hawk
:Model with sheet aluminum covered fuselage.
Specifications (Delta Bird)
References
{{Bob Hovey aircraft
1980s United States ultralight aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft