Photograph:
Polliwagen VH-JPH (c/n V131) in Western Australia (Robert Grimstead)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Light cabin sport monoplane
Power Plant:
One 75 kw (100 hp) Continental O-200 four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 7.92 m (26 ft)
- Length: 4.88 m (16 ft)
- Height: 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 8.36 m² (90 sq ft)
- Max speed: 322 km/h (200 mph)
- Cruising speed at 75% power at sea level: 306 km/h (190 mph)
- Initial rate of climb: 396 m/min (1,300 ft/min)
- Stalling speed gear and flaps down: 92 km/h (57 mph)
- Range at 75% power with 45 mins reserve: 2,140 km (1,330 miles)
- Empty weight: 293 kg (650 lb)
- Loaded weight: 576 kg (1,250 lb)
History:
The Polliwagen was a light sporting aircraft of composite structure designed by Joseph Alvarez for amateur construction. The first of three prototypes made its initial flight in 1977. Accommodation was provided for two, and the luggage compartment was 0.17 m³ (6 cub ft). The cabin was heated and ventilated. Space was provided for a full complement of instruments and navcom units, and for a three-axis trim autopilot. The canopy slid to the rear. Three types of engine could be installed, the 56 kw (75 hp) Revmaster Volkswagen conversion; the 75 kw (100 hp) Continental O-200; or the 119 kw (160 hp) Lycoming O-320.
The wings were cantilever type with no sweepback. The wing structure was entirely of fibreglass epoxy composite, pre-moulded in vacuum-bagged female moulds. Ailerons, flaps and the cantilever ‘T’-tail were similarly constructed, the wings being removable in five minutes for towing or storage. The fuselage was of similar construction with one bottom and two side D-spars, designed to break outward at the rear cockpit area should the aircraft be subjected to impact loads. The undercarriage was tricycle retractable with Rosenhan main and nose wheels, and Rosenhan hydraulic disk brakes.
The aircraft was supplied as a kit, this providing all necessary parts and hardware to complete the airframe, including pre-moulded parts for the wings, fuselage, cowling, tail section, canopy, windshield and tip tanks. A number of kits were imported to Australia in the mid-1980s but the first completed and registered was VH-PWG (c/n V179) at Colac in VIC fitted with a Continental O-200 engine and registered on 9 November 1998; followed by VH-JPH₂ (c/n V131) fitted with a Volkswagen 2100D engine and registered on 27 July 1999 in Tasmania; and VH-WPW (c/n PWG-01) fitted with a Subaru EA-81 engine registered on 28 November 2003 at Noosaville, QLD.