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The 'rag wing' Bushmaster B-2 prototype, showing the 'inline' appearance of the original Norton rotary powerplant. The side airscoop fed a radiator serving the engine's liquid cooled powerheads.
Update — Aircorp Bushmaster
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Aircorp Bushmaster
Australias best kept aviation secret- the development of a line of STOL General Aviation lightplanes by the Brisbane based company, Aircorp- has now entered the final stage
Brisbane based Aircorp resumed test flying the two place prototype Bushmaster during April, following a changeover from the original British rotary powerplant to a conventional Lycoming flat four.
The prototype first flew last October powered by a Norton Motors ‘Aerotor’ twin chamber rotary engine. Norton Motorshad assured both Aircorp and Seabird, who had also been testing the rotary in their Sentinel, that their engine would be fully certificated by the UK authorities by June last year. It has yet to attain certification and Aircorp took the decision to abandon the engine until such time as its teething problems were solved and certification gained, switching instead to the tried and proven American built Lycoming. The company had always intended to certify the Bushmaster with both Norton and Lycoming installations, but it had not intended to change over to theLycoming until after the test flight schedule had been completed.
Although a number of Australian companies are developing small aircraft for the recreational market, these fall into either the A NO:101: 55’heavy’ ultralight category (Light Personal Aircraftrefer p32 Jan 90 AA) or are intended for the homebuilder to construct frOm kits. The Skyfox and the L ancair are both localised variants of American designs, while Howard Hughes’ little Lightwings are being promoted as both a 101:55Category aircraft and a kitbuilt.
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