Photograph:
German registered Fascination D-MSIT at the Australian International Airshow at Avalon, VIC (David C Eyre)
Country of origin:
Germany
Description:
Two-seat high-performance sport monoplane
Power Plant:
[WD D4 BK Fascination]
One 75 kw (100 hp) Rotax 912S four-cylinder, four-stroke, horizontally-opposed liquid-and-air cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 9 m (29 ft 6¼ in)
- Length: 6.98 m (22 ft 10¾ in)
- Height: 1.85 m (6 ft 0¾ in)
- Wing area: 10.6 m² (114.1 sq ft)
- Max speed: 290 km/h (180 mph)
- Max cruising speed: 269 km/h (167 mph)
- Stalling speed: 63 km/h (40 mph)
- Rate of climb at sea level: 518 m/min (1,700 ft/min)
- Range with max fuel: 1,296 km (805 miles)
- Empty weight: 290 kg (639 lb)
- Loaded weight: 450 kg (992 lb)
- Loaded weight as VLA aircraft: 650 kg (1,433 lb)
History:
The Fascination D4 was a two-seat side-by-side light kit-built aircraft produced by WD Flugzeugbau of Heubach, Germany. It was constructed with a chrome molybdenum tube fuselage with composite skin. It had a carbon-fibre spar, an all-composite wing and a retractable tricycle undercarriage. Some aerobatics were able to be performed. A fixed undercarriage variant was developed for the US light sports aircraft category. Optional engines include the 60 kw (80 hp) Rotax 912UL and the 87 kw (116 hp) DZ-100 four-cylinder unit.
The Fascination was first flown in early 1996 and made its public debut at the Reseau de Sport de L’Air rally at Epinal, France, in July 1996 when two aircraft (D-MOVE and D-MBWH) were demonstrated. It was first seen in the United States at Air Venture at Oshkosh in Wisconsin in July 2000.
First of the type seen in this region was a German-registered aircraft (D-MSIT) which, flown by German national Wilhelm Ewig, made a flight around Australia in late 2002. It was then placed on display at the Australian International Airshow event at Avalon, VIC in February 2003, as well as a number of other aviation events. During its time flying around Australia it set a number of world records for landplanes in the C-1a class, one being from Darwin, NT to Broome, WA at a speed of 218.77 km/h (135.94 mph) on 11 October 2002.
Subsequently two examples were imported to Australia in early 2003 and shown at the NATFLY fly-in at Narromine, NSW at Easter 2003. These were subsequently to be registered under AUF / RAA Regulations.
Further examples have been imported, two being registered in South Australia. The manufacturer had a number of other products available in the ultralight range, including the Evolution D5 with a Rotax 912S engine which utilised the same wings as the Fascination, and the Sunwheel D3, which was a tandem two-seat aerobatic biplane with a Rotax 912 engine. An example was noted for sale in Sydney in late 2019.