Butterfly Banty

The Butterfly Banty, also called the Kimbrel Banty for its designer, is an American homebuilt ultralight aircraft that was designed by Mike Kimbrel and produced by Butterfly Aero of Oakville, Washington, introduced in 1984. The aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction.[1][2]

Banty
Role Homebuilt aircraft
National origin United States
Manufacturer Butterfly Aero
Designer Mike Kimbrel
Introduction 1984
Status Plans no longer available (2013)
Number built 30 (1998)

Design and development

The Banty was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of 254 lb (115 kg). The aircraft has a standard empty weight of 237 lb (108 kg). It features a strut-braced parasol wing, a single-seat open cockpit with a windshield, fixed conventional landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.[1][2]

The aircraft is made from wood with its flying surfaces covered doped aircraft fabric. Its 32.00 ft (9.8 m) span wing utilizes flaps and has a wing area of 128.00 sq ft (11.892 m2). The wings are supported by "V" struts with jury struts and can be folded for ground transport or storage. The cabin width is 22 in (56 cm). The acceptable power range is 28 to 36 hp (21 to 27 kW) and the standard engine used is the 28 hp (21 kW) Rotax 277 single cylinder, two-stroke powerplant. With this engine the standard day take-off roll is 220 ft (67.1 m) and landing roll is 200 ft (61.0 m)[1][2]

The Banty has a typical empty weight of 237 lb (108 kg) and a gross weight of 500 lb (230 kg), giving a useful load of 263 lb (119 kg). With full fuel of 5 U.S. gallons (19 L; 4.2 imp gal) the payload for pilot and baggage is 233 lb (106 kg).[1]

The plans included detailed parts drawings, a materials list and construction instructions intended to assist inexperienced builders. The designer estimates the construction time from the supplied plans as 500 hours.[1]

Operational history

By 1998, the company reported that 1820 sets of plans had been sold and 30 aircraft were flying.[1]

Specifications (Banty)

Data from AeroCrafter and Virtual Ultralight Museum[1][2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: one
  • Length: 18 ft 10 in (5.74 m)
  • Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.75 m)
  • Height: 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
  • Wing area: 128.00 sq ft (11.892 m2)
  • Fuel capacity: 5 U.S. gallons (19 L; 4.2 imp gal)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 277 single cylinder, air-cooled, two stroke aircraft engine, 28 hp (21 kW)
  • Propellers: 2-bladed wooden

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 60 mph (97 km/h, 52 kn)
  • Cruise speed: 50 mph (80 km/h, 43 kn)
  • Stall speed: 25 mph (40 km/h, 22 kn)
  • Range: 90 mi (140 km, 78 nmi)
  • Service ceiling: 9,000 ft (2,700 m)
  • Rate of climb: 400 ft/min (2.0 m/s)
  • Wing loading: 3.9 lb/sq ft (19 kg/m2)

References
  1. Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 131. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1
  2. Virtual Ultralight Museum. "Banty". Archived from the original on 5 March 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
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