Both machines are part of the life of our South Australian member, Henry Schultz. The plane is a Schultz Longeze. It is a design from Burt Rutan from the 1970s. A homebuilt glassfibre and foam plane with excellent performance and safety. The construction is not unlike a reshaped foam Esky with a couple of layers of resined fibreglass over the outside. The shapes are achieved through the use of templates and hot wire cutting, and a bit of sanding, allowing a strong and durable airframe to be built fairly easily and quickly.

When I say quickly and easily, this is relative to other construction methods, Henry used 5 years and about 5,000 hours to achieve his. This extra time must've been worthwhile as it has won a number of awards:

1990	Best Amateur built aircraft, Langley Park (Perth)
1991	Best Composite sport aircraft RAAF 70th anniversary, Richmond
1988, 89, 91	Concours D'Elegance, National SAAA fly-in Mangalore
1997, 98, 99	Best Composite aircraft, National SAAA fly-in Mangalore

There may be more, and there may be more to come.

Performance can vary according to standard of construction, engine fitted and the weight that it is flown at. But you can expect a maximum speed of about 330km/hr, cruise of 270kmh. This can be done comfortably up to 10,000', with a fuel burn of about 22 litres/hr. This is about 7 litres/100km. With a fuel capacity of 200 litres, that's a 9 hour endurance (without reserve), or up to 2,820km. This endurance easily outlasts Henry's bladder.

The engine, a Lycoming O235, is an aircooled horizontally opposed four cylinder of 3.87l capacity, producing 110hp at 2,400rpm (redlined 2,800). This is 28hp per litre. The TII's engine is a watercooled in-line four cylinder of 1.231l capacity, producing 110hp at 5,500rpm (redlined 6,000). This is 89hp per litre. Due to its turbocharging the Honda engine would still be producing a significant percentage of its rated power at 18,000' (if you could get it there), whereas the Lycoming would be gasping. The Lycoming can be bolted straight into your aeroplane, but the TII motor would take quite a bit of adapting.

Aeroplane engines are designed to run continuously at 65% of rated power. Most motorcar engines only run at about 20 to 30% of rated power when cruising on the highway. This is one of the reasons why there are few successful auto powered aeroplanes. But one day their time will come.

© 2002 Honda Car Owners' Association of QLD