Photograph:
Culp Special VH-ZUZ (c/n CS1947) at Serpentine, WA (Peter Cashman)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Two-seat high-performance aerobatic biplane
Power Plant:
One 269 kw (360 hp) VOKBM M-14PT nine-cylinder supercharged air-cooled radial engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 7.32 m (24 ft)
- Length: 6.4 m (21 ft)
- Height: 2.44 m (8 ft)
- Wing area: 14.96 m² (161 sq ft)
- Max speed: 354 km/h (220 mph)
- Economical cruising speed at 2,590 m (8,500 ft): 274 km/h (170 mph)
- Stalling speed power off: 108 km/h (67 mph)
- Max rate of climb: 1,371 m/min (4,500 ft/min)
- Service ceiling: 3,660 m (12,008 ft)
- Range with max fuel at economical cruise: 1,770 km (1,100 miles)
- Range with max payload: 902 km (561 miles)
- Empty weight: 635 kg (1,400 lb)
- Max payload weight: 191 kg (420 lb)
- Loaded weight: 1,043 kg (2,300 lb)
History:
The Culp Special was designed by Mr Steven Culp of Culp Specialities of Shreveport, Louisiana and was a development he made to the basic design of the Steen Skybolt to increase its aerobatic performance. Reminiscent of 1930s biplanes, and of similar appearance to the famous Laird designs of that time, the Culp Special was aimed specifically at unlimited aerobatics, the design loads being +/-10G.
Although usually fitted with the Russian designed (and Romanian built) M-14P supercharged nine-cylinder radial engine driving a two-blade wooden propeller, other engines in the 269 kw (360 hp) to 410 kw (550 hp) range could be installed. Fuel capacity was 299 litres (65.8 Imp gals).
The prototype N367LS was flown for the first time on 15 April 1996. The type was a fully aerobatic single-bay biplane and was available in kit form. More than 40 kits have been sold.
Construction was of welded steel tube and wood with fabric covering. The undercarriage was a tail wheel type.
The first of the series in this region was VH-ZUZ (c/n CS-1947) registered to its owner/builder at Riverton, WA in March 2003, fitted with the Aeromotors Sa M-14P variant of the Soviet radial engine. A kit was imported but is not yet known to have been completed. VH-ZUZ was built from basic plans.