ANDERSON "KINGFISHER" - Plane + Pilot

ANDERSON “KINGFISHER”

Plane & Pilot

Saturday, August 01, 2009 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By: Omar Filipović

Key Takeaways:

The Kingfisher aircraft, inspired by the VJ-22 Sportsman, utilizes J-3 Cub wings, a 100-hp Continental engine, and a lightweight spruce/plywood fuselage with fiberglass covering.
Its key design distinction is a tractor engine mounting, which simplifies cooling, induction, exhaust systems, and propeller selection compared to a pusher configuration.
The designer, Anderson, ensures standard component use due to the tractor engine mounting, and plans for the aircraft are still available.

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STANDARD DATA: Gross wt. 1,500. Empty wt. 1,032. Fuel capacity 20. Wingspan 36’1″. Length 24′.
PERFORMANCE: Top mph 122. Cruise mph 90. Stall mph 42. Climb rate 550. Takeoff time 16 sec. Range 275.

Designer Anderson credits the highly popular VJ-22 Sportsman as the inspiration behind his own creation, the Kingfisher. There are many similarities between the two. Both use wings from production airplanes, the J-3 Cub in the case of the Kingfisher. Both use 100-hp Continental engines. General structural technique is similar with the fuselage built of spruce longerons and braces with mahogany plywood skin and an overall lightweight covering of fiberglass. The biggest difference is Anderson’s choice of a tractor engine mounting rather than a pusher. In this way the engine mounts on its proper pads, the cooling, induction, and exhaust systems are standard, and there is no necessity to have the propeller custom made. Plans are still available.