The Flylight Doodle Bug is a British

powered hang glider A foot-launched powered hang glider (FLPHG), also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang gliding, hang glider harness with a internal combustion engine, motor and propeller (aircraft), propeller in pusher configuratio ...

that was designed and produced by Flylight Airsports starting in 1999.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page C-33. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 67. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X The aircraft is now out of production.

Design and development

The aircraft features a cable-braced

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

-style

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 ...

, weight-shift controls, single-place accommodation in the seated position, foot-launching and landing and a single engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. The aircraft uses a standard hang glider wing, made from bolted-together

aluminium 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. I ...

tubing, with its single surface wing covered in

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

sailcloth. The wing is supported by a single tube-type

kingpost A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above fro ...

and uses an "A" frame control bar. The engine is a lightweight,

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

, single cylinder Radne Raket 120 of . The Doodle Bug differs from other powered hang gliders in that the pilot flies in the seated position. A cloth fairing behind the pilot streamlines drag and provides space for baggage stowage. The propeller is protected on the ground by two support legs that retract automatically when the pilot assumes the normal flying position, though pressure on the foot rest. Electric starting is optional.

Specifications (Doodle Bug)

References

External links

* {{Flylight aircraft 1990s British ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Powered hang gliders