assiegordon
Member
Someone asked me to post about my plane, so here goes.
Just a very quick history.
My Ogar was built in 1977, one of the last 12 produced by the factory. It was imported into the US without an engine (like all North America) and equipped with a turbo charged revmaster engine.
It was purchased by a business man in Edmonton. The ferry pilot didn't want a check-out and didn't secure the canopy on take-off at Chino, causing the canopy to go through the prop and elevator. The plane was then abandoned beside the runway for 2 years.
Jack Lambie (author of Composite Construction) then repaired the plane and flew it up to Edmonton, with two engine outages along the way (but it must have been quite an adventure).
Then she was donated to the Edmonton Soaring club, eventually being sold to a partnership. The revmaster was removed and a subaru engine was installed. It flew for a couple of hundred hours before the Subaru PSRU failed, almost cutting off the tail in flight. Insurance paid out and the plane was sold for scrap.
Dave Puckrin in Edmonton bought the plane, got a new boom from the factory and replaced the subaru with a Rotax 912. The plane is equipped with a set of electric actuators that open flaps both at the belly and under the wing, allowing air to flow up through the radiator mounted behind the cockpit bulkhead the the ones under the wing allow air to flow through the engine compartment and through the oil cooler.
We've owned the plane for about a year, put another 30 hours on her. Not as many hours as I had hoped, but we did have the engine catch fire and put it out of commission for about 8 months (it's why my wife says it is cursed, seems there is an issue with each new owner
).
The fire was accidental. The original exhaust pipes were standard steel, wrapped in exhaust wrap. One of the exhausts broke and ignited the inside of the cowl (which had a thin coat of storage oil on it). No damage to the engine, but the plastic bits on top didn't like the heat so much. So the engine was "completely repaired" by the Rotax guru up here (thanks Phil!!).
The Rotax installation is tight. There isn't much room to spare and getting to the oil tank with the wings on isn't as nice a job as I would have liked. I've also had to change the original rotax cooling rad with a rad from a polaris Razor because of the air path through the fuselage. But the temperatures are all good now and the engine is running great!
I'm very happy with the Rotax. The engine has been very reliable (even before the fire) and the ability to turn the engine on and off during flight adds so much to the soaring enjoyment. The original VW based engines were always questionable on the restart after cold soaking, but this is not the case with the Rotax. Just open the vents, push the start button, off we go.
The plane weighs 1026 lbs empty, 1600 lbs gross. ...and I can get all 564 lbs in the front cockpit without exceeding the C/G envelope. She only holds 7 gallons of fuel but I can get 2-1/2 hours with reserve.
Upgrades from a conventional Ogar:
Rotax 912
Winglets
Hydraulic brake on main
Winter mech vario and Borgelt electric vario, both connected to a TE probe (on nose).
New e-prop three blade 62" prop with spinner.
We also got a one man rigger, which makes moving those heavy wings around such a breeze! It truly is a one man job (but usually my son helps because he doesn't like standing around watching). Otherwise it will take 3 to 4 fellows to carry one of those suckers!
And Bruce made the plane a nice cover to sit outside all the time.
Here is an earlier flight. The second half is pure gliding, no engine.
Do you have an Ogar? What is your story?
Just a very quick history.
My Ogar was built in 1977, one of the last 12 produced by the factory. It was imported into the US without an engine (like all North America) and equipped with a turbo charged revmaster engine.
It was purchased by a business man in Edmonton. The ferry pilot didn't want a check-out and didn't secure the canopy on take-off at Chino, causing the canopy to go through the prop and elevator. The plane was then abandoned beside the runway for 2 years.
Jack Lambie (author of Composite Construction) then repaired the plane and flew it up to Edmonton, with two engine outages along the way (but it must have been quite an adventure).
Then she was donated to the Edmonton Soaring club, eventually being sold to a partnership. The revmaster was removed and a subaru engine was installed. It flew for a couple of hundred hours before the Subaru PSRU failed, almost cutting off the tail in flight. Insurance paid out and the plane was sold for scrap.
Dave Puckrin in Edmonton bought the plane, got a new boom from the factory and replaced the subaru with a Rotax 912. The plane is equipped with a set of electric actuators that open flaps both at the belly and under the wing, allowing air to flow up through the radiator mounted behind the cockpit bulkhead the the ones under the wing allow air to flow through the engine compartment and through the oil cooler.
We've owned the plane for about a year, put another 30 hours on her. Not as many hours as I had hoped, but we did have the engine catch fire and put it out of commission for about 8 months (it's why my wife says it is cursed, seems there is an issue with each new owner
). The fire was accidental. The original exhaust pipes were standard steel, wrapped in exhaust wrap. One of the exhausts broke and ignited the inside of the cowl (which had a thin coat of storage oil on it). No damage to the engine, but the plastic bits on top didn't like the heat so much. So the engine was "completely repaired" by the Rotax guru up here (thanks Phil!!).
The Rotax installation is tight. There isn't much room to spare and getting to the oil tank with the wings on isn't as nice a job as I would have liked. I've also had to change the original rotax cooling rad with a rad from a polaris Razor because of the air path through the fuselage. But the temperatures are all good now and the engine is running great!
I'm very happy with the Rotax. The engine has been very reliable (even before the fire) and the ability to turn the engine on and off during flight adds so much to the soaring enjoyment. The original VW based engines were always questionable on the restart after cold soaking, but this is not the case with the Rotax. Just open the vents, push the start button, off we go.
The plane weighs 1026 lbs empty, 1600 lbs gross. ...and I can get all 564 lbs in the front cockpit without exceeding the C/G envelope. She only holds 7 gallons of fuel but I can get 2-1/2 hours with reserve.
Upgrades from a conventional Ogar:
Rotax 912
Winglets
Hydraulic brake on main
Winter mech vario and Borgelt electric vario, both connected to a TE probe (on nose).
New e-prop three blade 62" prop with spinner.
We also got a one man rigger, which makes moving those heavy wings around such a breeze! It truly is a one man job (but usually my son helps because he doesn't like standing around watching). Otherwise it will take 3 to 4 fellows to carry one of those suckers!
And Bruce made the plane a nice cover to sit outside all the time.
Here is an earlier flight. The second half is pure gliding, no engine.
Do you have an Ogar? What is your story?
