|
''This article is about the Canadian ultralight manufacturer. For the unrelated US ultralight manufacturer, see Birdman Aircraft'' Birdman Enterprises Limited was a Canadian aircraft manufacturer that commenced business in 1973 and became well known for its line of hang gliders and later its ultralight aircraft until its demise in late 1987.〔Jones, Terry: ''Birdman WT-11 Chinook - A Cabin-Class "Ultra" Lightplane''. Birdman Enterprises, 1984.〕〔Jones, Terry: ''Birdman WT-11 Chinook - It's A Perfect Aviation Package''. Birdman Enterprises, 1984.〕〔Hunt, Adam: ''Pilot Report: Chinook 2S''. Canadian Owners and Pilots Association ''COPA Flight'', October 1999.〕 A redesigned version of the company's Chinook ultralight design was later placed back in production by Aircraft Sales and Parts of Vernon, British Columbia in 1989 as a kit aircraft.〔Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 37. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851〕〔Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, pages B-72 & E-9. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ISBN 0-9680628-1-4〕〔Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 105. BAI Communications. ISBN 0-9636409-4-1〕〔Hunt, Adam: ''Flying the ASAP Chinook Plus 2 with Ottawa’s Capital Air Sports''. Canadian Owners and Pilots Association ''COPA Flight'', May 2002.〕 ==History== The founder of Birdman Enterprises, Terry Jones, first learned to fly in 1970 from Bill Moyes, the originator of the modern sport of hang gliding. In 1973 Jones started designing and building his own gliders in Edmonton, Alberta. He named the company after the nickname that he had personally acquired as a hang glider pilot, "Birdman Jones".〔〔 The Birdman MJ-4, MJ-5 and MJ-6 were very successful designs and sold in large numbers. Next the company developed a power package for self-launching hang gliders and started marketing it in 1979 as the Altair.〔〔 In 1980 the company introduced its first ultralight aircraft design, the Birdman Atlas, which was based on the Eipper Quicksilver. Operational experience resulted in a greatly improved Atlas model for 1981. The redesigned aircraft provided more lift, engine thrust and a better rate of climb. A total of more than 500 were produced.〔〔 In 1981, the company hired experienced Ukrainian hang glider designer Vladimir Talanczuk, who had recently immigrated to Canada. He was assigned the task of designing a "clean-sheet" ultralight aircraft for mass-production as a kit. Talanczuk's eleventh design, the WT-11, became the Birdman WT-11 Chinook (later redesignated the Birdman Chinook 1S), first flying on 12 December 1982 and entering production the following year.〔〔Taylor, John WR, ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1987-88'' page 544, Janes Publishing Limited.〕 As a result of its focus on ultralight aircraft, including a new factory in St. Paul, Alberta that became known as Canadian Ultralight Manufacturing, Birdman ceased production of hang gliders in 1983. With the WT-11 single-seat ultralight in production, Talanczuk produced the design for the planned Chinook two-seat trainer, which was designated as the Chinook 2S (2 seater). The 2S entered production in 1984.〔〔〔〔 China Daily newspaper carried a story on 9 November 1985 announcing that the government of the People's Republic of China had signed a ten-year contract with Birdman Enterprises to construct 5,000 aircraft in China for sale world-wide. This was announced as part of China's strategy to diversify military production into civil aircraft as part of the nation's modernization program.〔Taylor, John WR: ''Janes All the Worlds Aircraft 1986-87'' page 544, Janes Publishing Company, 1986. ISBN 0-7106-0835-7〕 Between starting Chinook production in 1983 and going out of business in late 1987, Birdman produced approximately 700 WT-11 and 2S Chinooks.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Birdman Enterprises」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|