Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Two-seat light sport and training aircraft

Power Plant:

(Typhoon)

One 75 kw (100 hp) RG TT 2000 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Homebuilt Aviation Typhoon was designed by the late William ‘Bill’ Andiel and marketed by Homebuilt Aviation in northern New South Wales.  ‘Willy’, as he was also known, had been involved in the design, development and construction of some 18 ultralight aircraft types.  However, he was killed on 9 June 1997 when testing one of his designs near Armidale, NSW, this being an aircraft described as a Little Tinny registered 10-1797.

One of his successful designs was the Typhoon. The prototype of the Typhoon was first flown on 10 April 2002 and was demonstrated for the first time at the annual NATFLY event at Narromine, NSW, in 2003. This aircraft 19-3882 (c/n 0001) had the Company’s new RG TT 2000 helical gear drive engine installed, this being a conversion of the Volkswagen Type IV engine used in VW Kombies but modified extensively to make it suitable for ultralight and experimental aircraft, providing 75 kw (100 hp). During testing it was fitted with a three-blade propeller.

A further variant of the engine was then made available, this being an 86 kw (115 hp) unit, which had eight-plug heads, ceramic coated combustion chambers and fuel injection. It was also available with programmable ignition with dual coils or four dual coil packs.

The Company commenced operations in July 2002 and subsequently developed its own opposing cylinder alloy billet calipers, toe-operated cylinders with a disc, and alloy wheels. It sold products of its own design and specialised in aluminium products.

The two aircraft designs, the Typhoon and the Cyclone, were available in kit form and smaller sub-kits were available for builders to commence construction.

The Typhoon was a low-wing two-seat all-metal aircraft with detachable wings and flying tailplane.  The undercarriage was of a tailwheel configuration, but a tricycle undercarriage could be fitted.  A range of engines could be installed, including the Rotax 912S, the Jabiru 3300, and the Chevrolet Corvair.  It had 15.2 cm (6 in) main wheels for better ground handling on grass fields.

The aircraft was constructed from 6061 T6 alloy.  The main spars were pre-riveted and joined to the centre-section so the dihedral was set accurately. Flight instruments, engine instruments, seat belts, and interior trim were part of the kit.  It was available with a tinted bubble canopy.

First aircraft of the type completed was 19-3882 (c/n 0001), described as a Typhoon TD-1. Another Typhoon became 19-4083 (c/n 1).

In 2004 Homebuilt Aviation released the Cyclone to meet customer requirements for a higher performance kit aircraft, utilising the fuselage of the Typhoon with a new wing of 7.31 m (24 ft) span, centre-section and horizontal stabiliser, utilising the same RG TT 2000 engine with optional wing tanks of 35 litre (7.7 Imp gal) capacity. Max speed was 257 km/h (160 mph) and cruising speed was 213 km/h (132 mph).

A second prototype of the Typhoon was completed (19-4013 – c/n unknown). This was known as the Typhoon S, which had the RG TT 2000 geared drive engine and was fitted with a tricycle undercarriage. On test it achieved 185 km/h (115 mph) at 3,000 rpm with a two-blade propeller.

The Typhoon seated two and was developed to the Typhoon 4, a four-seater, this having a wingspan of 8.55 m (28 ft), a height of 2.6 m (8 ft 5 in) and a length of 7.28 m (23 ft 9 in), with an all-up weight of 907 kg (2,000 lb), fitted with a 168 kw (225 hp) liquid-cooled six-cylinder Chevrolet engine developed by RE Engines with a belted drive.  Cruising speed was expected to be 257 km/h (160 mph), with a climb of 457 m/min (1,500 ft/min). Reports indicated construction of a tricycle undercarriage example was commenced in Las Vegas, Nevada, in the United States in 2007.

By early 2019 all rights to produce the Cyclone and Typhoon had been taken over by Wedgetail Aircraft of Camden, NSW, all production jigs and incomplete aircraft being taken to Camden for eventual completion and sale, new aircraft becoming known as the Wedgetail Cyclone and Wedgetail Typhoon. It is known at least five examples of the series have been completed. A Typhoon was noted parked under trees at Cowra, NSW in mid 2021.