Country of origin:

Australia

Description:

Two-seat light sport aircraft

Power Plant:

Specifications:

History:

The Opal was a light sporting aircraft designed by Ross Nolan, an aircraft engineer and designer, and was described by him to the Press by means of the Melbourne Age in 1982 as “the plane of the future”.  Mr Nolan described himself as being affiliated with a company called Aircar Industry. The aircraft was aimed at making flying basically as cheap and accessible as driving cars. Over the years Mr Nolan has also been involved in the design and development of racing cars in Melbourne.

Designed to Civil Aviation Order 101.28, construction of the aircraft was commenced at Morwell, VIC but was eventually transferred to an Essendon, VIC workshop where, in March 1982, it was said it had been “under construction for eight years” and “is the first fibreglass plane in the world powered by a large propeller.” The designer said the plane “is faster because it is lighter and because the rear propeller prevents drag. Visibility is also better as the wings and engine are behind the cockpit, where there is little engine or propeller noise. And, because the Opal has no rivets, the construction is fatigue and corrosion free.”

The aircraft was designed to be amphibious but one problem related to the fact that the engine was in the rear fuselage and drove the rear propeller through an angle joint, the high fitting of the propeller on the tail being necessary because the three-blade propeller would have been too low to the ground and thus would not permit a propeller large enough, and otherwise would have been vulnerable to damage. In order to provide the necessary power a joint which allowed the propeller shaft to rotate at an angle needed to be designed.

The Federal Government granted the designer an $8,000 grant in March 1982 to design and build a joint made up of two standard gears with a spherical bearing. To a Parliamentary Inquiry heard on 20 November 2000 Mr Nolan stated that, after working in the United States for some years, he returned to Australia and commenced construction of what he described as the “World’s first aircraft built of monolithic composite construction; but the aircraft was eventually destroyed by the Department.” He described legislation as “puts in front of any designer a barrier of a minimum of $50 million US”, those figures being based on development of the Neico Lancair, which used a similar method of construction. In the event the aircraft is not known to have been completed and its fate is not known.

Mr Nolan was also involved in the design of an aircraft known as the Slipstream Opal, which was of similar configuration but was never built. It seems the designs were similar but it is not known if they were one and the same aircraft. That design is dealt with elsewhere and information is required as to the relationship between the two aircraft.

Mr Nolan has also been involved in the design of the “Airbike”, described as a flying motorcycle, in 1988; the Air Car, capable of “travelling along the Eastern Freeway at 100 km/h (60 mph) or at three times that speed 500 metres (1,640 ft) above it. It had a propeller and fold-up wings for use above ground, and wheels for hard surfaces.” It was stated in December 1995 “A prototype could be built within 12 months from extremely strong magnesium zirconium alloy and it would run on conventional fuel.” As is usually the case, money is a problem in designing and developing new designs and none of these projects seem to have reached the complete hardware stage.