39-551: The Fisher R-80 Tiger Moth is a Canadian two-seat, conventional landing gear , single engined, biplane kit aircraft designed for construction by amateur builders. The designation indicates that the aircraft is 80% the size of the aircraft that inspired it, the de Havilland Tiger Moth . Fisher Flying Products was originally based in Edgeley, North Dakota , USA but the company is now located in Woodbridge, Ontario , Canada . The R-80
78-532: A Consuta laminated hull which could operate on sea or land. A small factory subsequently opened in Woolston, Hampshire in 1914. The company made more than 16,000 aircraft during the First World War. Many more of the company's aircraft were built by subcontractors rather than by Sopwith themselves. These included Fairey , Clayton and Shuttleworth , William Beardmore and Company and Ruston Proctor . Towards
117-415: A conventional geared aircraft can be accomplished in two ways. Normal landings are done by touching all three wheels down at the same time in a three-point landing . This method does allow the shortest landing distance but can be difficult to carry out in crosswinds, as rudder control may be reduced severely before the tailwheel can become effective. The alternative is the wheel landing . This requires
156-482: A gross weight of 1,150 lb (522 kg). The construction of the R-80 is of wood, with the wings, tail and fuselage covered with doped aircraft fabric . The aircraft features interplane struts and cabane struts . Like the original Tiger Moth, the R-80 has no flaps. The R-80's main landing gear is bungee suspended. Cockpit access is via the lower wing. The company claims an amateur builder would need 600 hours to build
195-671: A gross weight of 1,350 lb (612 kg) and was developed at the request of customers. The steel fuselage version was known as the RS-80 . Six RS-80s had been completed by the end of 2004. Since the company moved to Canada, the RS-80 option is no longer available. In reviewing the R-80 Ben Millspaugh wrote in Kitplanes Magazine: She flies beautifully. Ground handling is exceptionally easy and I'd recommend this airplane to anyone who
234-625: A more powerful engine, the Pup led to the Triplane , which was used by just four squadrons of the RNAS during 1917, but became well known for its startling fighting qualities, put to best use by Raymond Collishaw 's famous 'Black Flight' of 'Naval 10' ( No. 10 Squadron RNAS ). This flight was so called due to the black identification colour of the flight's aircraft, which in turn led to their naming as Black Maria, Black Prince, Black Death, Black Roger and Black Sheep. Such
273-473: A single wheel, retractable or fixed, centered under the fuselage, which is referred to as monowheel gear or monowheel landing gear . Monowheel gear is also used on some powered aircraft, where drag reduction is a priority, such as the Europa XS . Monowheel power aircraft use retractable wingtip legs (with small castor wheels attached) to prevent the wingtips from striking the ground. A monowheel aircraft may have
312-639: A tailwheel (like the Europa) or a nosewheel (like the Schleicher ASK 23 glider). Taildragger aircraft require more training time for student pilots to master. This was a large factor in the 1950s switch by most manufacturers to nosewheel-equipped trainers, and for many years nosewheel aircraft have been more popular than taildraggers. As a result, most Private Pilot Licence (PPL) pilots now learn to fly in tricycle gear aircraft (e.g. Cessna 172 or Piper Cherokee ) and only later transition to taildraggers. Landing
351-692: Is a first-time builder or any pilot with little or no tail dragger time. In 2000 African Flying Adventures purchased four RS-80 kits to be used for tourist flying in Zimbabwe . Data from Company website, AeroCrafter & Kitplanes General characteristics Performance In 2015, an R-80 Tiger Moth built by Jerry Boughner was featured in the Taylor Swift video Wildest Dreams . Related development Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear , or tailwheel-type landing gear ,
390-622: Is also used on some tricycle gear aircraft, with the nosewheel being the freely castering wheel instead. Like the steerable tailwheel/skid, it is usually integrated with the rudder pedals on the craft to allow an easy transition between wheeled and aerodynamic control. The tailwheel configuration offers several advantages over the tricycle landing gear arrangement, which make tailwheel aircraft less expensive to manufacture and maintain. The conventional landing gear arrangement has disadvantages compared to nosewheel aircraft. Jet aircraft generally cannot use conventional landing gear, as this orients
429-403: Is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail. The term taildragger is also used. The term "conventional" persists for historical reasons, but all modern jet aircraft and most modern propeller aircraft use tricycle gear . In early aircraft, a tailskid made of metal or wood was used to support
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#1732855308700468-508: The Camel fighter) were equipped with steerable tailskids, which operate similar to a tailwheel. When the pilot pressed the right rudder pedal — or the right footrest of a "rudder bar" in World War I — the skid pivoted to the right, creating more drag on that side of the plane and causing it to turn to the right. While less effective than a steerable wheel, it gave the pilot some control of the direction
507-535: The Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company Limited . In September 1920, the company entered voluntary liquidation after an attempt to build motorcycles failed. The patents and other assets were bought by a new company, H.G. Hawker Engineering . The Sopwith Aviation Company (based at Brooklands ) was created in June 1912 by Thomas Sopwith , a wealthy sportsman interested in aviation, yachting and motor-racing, when he
546-618: The Armistice. After the war, the company attempted to produce aircraft for the civil market based on their wartime types. These included aircraft such as a single-winged Camel and the Dove , a derivative of the Pup and the Swallow , but the wide availability of war-surplus aircraft at knock-down prices meant this was never economical. In 1919 the company was renamed as Sopwith Aviation & Engineering Company and
585-635: The British Supermarine Attacker naval fighter and the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-15 . Both first flew in 1946 and owed their configurations to being developments of earlier propeller powered aircraft. The Attacker's tailwheel configuration was a result of it using the Supermarine Spiteful 's wing, avoiding expensive design modification or retooling. The engine exhaust was behind the elevator and tailwheel, reducing problems. The Yak-15
624-645: The Canadian ace, won a Victoria Cross flying one in an epic single-handed dogfight against enormous odds. Towards the end of the war, the company produced the Cuckoo torpedo-bomber and the Salamander armoured ground-attack development of the Snipe, but these types were too late to see action. Many other experimental prototypes were produced throughout the war, mostly named after animals (Hippo, Gnu etc.), leading to some referring to
663-429: The R-80. Specified engines for the R-80 version have included the 80 hp (60 kW) Geo Tracker auto-conversion engine and the 100 hp (75 kW) Norton AE 100R rotary engine . By late 2011 more than 24 R-80s were flying. In 2000 Fisher introduced a welded 4130 steel tube fuselage as an alternative to the standard wooden fuselage. This version featured a LOM M132 engine of 120 hp (89 kW),
702-604: The RNAS for much of the First World War. In 1916, Herbert Smith became Chief Engineer of the Sopwith company, and under his design leadership its other successful World War I types included the larger Type 9901. This aircraft, better known as the 1½ Strutter due to its unconventional cabane strut arrangement, was used from 1916 by the RNAS, RFC and the French Aviation Militaire as a single-seat bomber, two-seat fighter and artillery spotter and trainer. Soon after came
741-496: The company from finding sufficient capital to carry on the business, and it will be therefore wound up. At a meeting of creditors held in October 1920 it was explained that although the company had previously accumulated a surplus of £900,000 in 1918, following a slump in the sale of motorcycles the company had liabilities of £705,430 (which included £583,510 for excess profits duty) and assets of £862,630. The amount of excess profit duty
780-434: The craft was moving while taxiing or beginning the takeoff run, before there was enough airflow over the rudder for it to become effective. Another form of control, which is less common now than it once was, is to steer using " differential braking ", in which the tailwheel is a simple, freely castering mechanism, and the aircraft is steered by applying brakes to one of the mainwheels in order to turn in that direction. This
819-495: The end of the war, Sopwith took out a lease on National Aircraft Factory No.2 , constructed in 26 weeks during the winter of 1917 a mile to the north of the Canbury works in Ham . The company were able to greatly increase production of Snipe , Dolphin and Salamander fighter planes as a result. At the beginning of the war the company had 200 employees; this had reached 6,000 employees by
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#1732855308700858-510: The engines at a high angle, causing their jet blast to bounce off the ground and back into the air, preventing the elevators from functioning properly. This problem occurred with the third, or "V3" prototype of the German Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. After the first four prototype Me 262 V-series airframes were built with retracting tailwheel gear, the fifth prototype was fitted with fixed tricycle landing gear for trials, with
897-491: The factory was re-organised to produce ABC motorcycles under licence; this included an investment of £100,000 in new machinery. In September 1920 the Kingston factory closed for stocktaking and the company decided to enter voluntary liquidation; the works manager at Kingston announced in a letter to the 1400 employees: We much regret we find it impossible to reopen the works, as the difficulties caused by restricted credit prevent
936-713: The history of Sopwith. A two-seater sports car , styled and named after the Sopwith Dove was revealed at the London Concours car show later that year. Initially, Tom Sopwith himself, assisted by his former personal mechanic Fred Sigrist, led the design of the company's types. Following a number of pre-war designs for the Royal Naval Air Service, such as the Three-seater and the Bat Boat , Sopwith's first major success
975-526: The liquidation of the Sopwith company, Tom Sopwith himself, together with Harry Hawker , Fred Sigrist and Bill Eyre, immediately formed H.G. Hawker Engineering , forerunner of the Hawker Aircraft and Hawker Siddeley lineage. Sopwith was Chairman of Hawker Siddeley until his retirement. Hawker and its successors produced many more famous military aircraft, including the inter-war Hart , and Demon ; World War II's Hurricane , Typhoon , and Tempest ; and
1014-627: The pilot to land the aircraft on the mainwheels while maintaining the tailwheel in the air with elevator to keep the angle of attack low. Once the aircraft has slowed to a speed that can ensure control will not be lost, but above the speed at which rudder effectiveness is lost, then the tailwheel is lowered to the ground. Examples of tailwheel aircraft include: Several aftermarket modification companies offer kits to convert many popular nose-wheel equipped aircraft to conventional landing gear. Aircraft for which kits are available include: Sopwith Aviation Company The Sopwith Aviation Company
1053-591: The post-war Sea Fury , Hunter and Harrier . These later jet types were manufactured in the same factory buildings used to produce Sopwith Snipes in 1918 as Hawker Aircraft bought the Ham Factory when Leyland's lease expired in 1948. In 2021, the Sopwith Aviation name was acquired by Bevan Davidson International based in Swaffham, Norfolk, who plan to release a line of celebratory motor vehicles in celebration of
1092-601: The sixth prototype onwards getting fully retracting tricycle gear. A number of other experimental and prototype jet aircraft had conventional landing gear, including the first successful jet, the Heinkel He 178 , the Ball-Bartoe Jetwing research aircraft, and a single Vickers VC.1 Viking , which was modified with Rolls-Royce Nene engines to become the world's first jet airliner. Rare examples of jet-powered tailwheel aircraft that went into production and saw service include
1131-499: The small and agile single-seat Scout, which quickly became better known as the Pup because of its obvious descent from the 1½ Strutter. The Pup and 1½ Strutter were the first successful British tractor fighters equipped with a synchronisation gear to allow a machine gun to fire through the rotating propeller. This gear was known as the Sopwith-Kauper gear from its designers, although several other designs were used later. The Pup
1170-443: The tail on the ground. In most modern aircraft with conventional landing gear, a small articulated wheel assembly is attached to the rearmost part of the airframe in place of the skid. This wheel may be steered by the pilot through a connection to the rudder pedals, allowing the rudder and tailwheel to move together. Before aircraft commonly used tailwheels, many aircraft (like a number of First World War Sopwith aircraft, such as
1209-712: Was 24 years old. Following their first military aircraft sale in November 1912, Sopwith moved to the company's first factory premises which opened that December in a recently closed roller skating rink in Canbury Park Road near Kingston Railway Station in South West London. An early collaboration with the S. E. Saunders boatyard of East Cowes on the Isle of Wight, in 1913, produced the Sopwith "Bat Boat" , an early flying boat with
Fisher R-80 Tiger Moth - Misplaced Pages Continue
1248-758: Was a British aircraft company that designed and manufactured aeroplanes mainly for the British Royal Naval Air Service , the Royal Flying Corps and later the Royal Air Force during the First World War , most famously the Sopwith Camel . Sopwith aircraft were also used in varying numbers by the French, Belgian and American air services during the war. In April 1919, the company was renamed as
1287-519: Was based on the Yakovlev Yak-3 propeller fighter. Its engine was mounted under the forward fuselage. Despite its unusual configuration, the Yak-15 was easy to fly. Although a fighter, it was mainly used as a trainer aircraft to prepare Soviet pilots for flying more advanced jet fighters. A variation of the taildragger layout is the monowheel landing gear . To minimize drag, many modern gliders have
1326-421: Was being disputed by the company which had already paid £450,000 in duty. The meeting concluded that the best result would be to sell the business as a going concern. The Ham factory, which was included in 38 acres of freehold land, was sold to Leyland Motors . The newly formed H.G. Hawker Engineering Company obtained the Sopwith patent rights and a government contract to refurbish Sopwith Snipe biplanes. Upon
1365-548: Was designed by Fisher Aircraft in the United States in 1994 and was intended to comply with the US Experimental - Amateur-built category, although it qualifies as an ultralight aircraft in some countries, such as Canada . It also qualifies as a US Experimental Light Sport Aircraft . The R-80's standard empty weight is 560 lb (254 kg) when equipped with a 100 hp (75 kW) Norton AE 100R engine and it has
1404-588: Was the fast and compact (hence the name) Tabloid , a design which first showed the influence of the company's test pilot, the Australian Harry Hawker . A float-equipped version of this aircraft won the Schneider Trophy in 1914. The landplane version was used by both the RNAS and RFC at the start of the war. With higher power and floats, the type evolved into the Sopwith Baby , which was a workhorse of
1443-634: Was the impact of this type that it spawned a large number of experimental triplane designs from manufacturers on all sides, although only the Fokker Triplane achieved any subsequent success. In the early summer of 1917, the twin-gun Camel fighter was introduced. This aircraft was highly manoeuvrable and well-armed, and over 5,000 were produced up until the end of the War. It destroyed more enemy aircraft than any other British type, but its difficult flying qualities also killed very many novice pilots in accidents. It
1482-604: Was used, modified, as both a night-fighter and shipboard aircraft, and was flown in combat by the Belgian and American Air Services as well as the British. Later still in front-line service came the stationary-engined four-gun Dolphin and the ultimate rotary-engined fighter, the Snipe . The Snipe saw little wartime service, being issued only in small numbers to the Front, but William George Barker ,
1521-579: Was widely used on the Western Front by the RFC and from ships by the RNAS from the autumn of 1916 to the early summer of 1917, and was considered a delight to fly by its pilots. It continued in use as an advanced trainer for the remainder of the War. The Pup began the famous series of animal -named Sopwith aircraft during the war, which, as a whole, would become renowned in aviation history as "The Flying Zoo". Experimentally equipped with three narrow-chord wings and
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