The RagWing RW9 Motor Bipe is a family of single seat, open-frame

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

, open-cockpit, single engine ultralight aircraft designed by Roger Mann and sold as plans by RagWing Aircraft Designs for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 233. BAI Communications. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Plans Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 16, Number 1, January 1999, page 66. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The RW9 was designed as an

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 ...

compliant

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

that would have an empty weight within that category's empty weight limit. The RW9 achieves its light weight in part due to its completely open-frame tube fuselage. The RW9's wings are constructed entirely from wood and covered with

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. The fuselage is a fastened aluminum tube truss construction. The landing gear is of conventional configuration. The aircraft's installed power range is and the standard engine is the

Kawasaki 440A 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 ...

installed 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 c ...

. The

2si 460 The 2si 460 is a family of in-line twin-cylinder, two-stroke, single ignition, aircraft engines that were designed for ultralight aircraft.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page G-2 Cybair Limited Publishing, 20 ...

has also been used. The RW9 is available only as plans and reported construction time is 150–175 hours. The same basic airframe design was also used to produce the

parasol 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 ...

RagWing RW16 Aerial.

Variants

;RW9 Motor Bipe :Open-frame fuselage, open-cockpit ultralight biplane first flown in 1995 and powered by a

or a

. ;RW16 Aerial :Open-frame fuselage, open-cockpit ultralight parasol wing aircraft, powered by a

Kawasaki 340 The Kawasaki 340 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. The engine was available in air-cooled and liquid-cooled versions. The e ...

Specifications (RW9)

References

External links

Official website - RW9
{{RagWing Aircraft Designs 1990s United States ultralight aircraft

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (RW9)

See also

References

External links