Tuesday 26 September 2017

Hatz Biplane(s) of New Zealand

The last new type of sport aircraft to be registered in 2004 was the Hatz Biplane, of which we have had a lone example.

The Hatz CB 1 Biplane was designed by John Hatz of Merrill, Wisconsin in 1968 and was modelled as a smaller version of the Waco Series F biplane.  As can be seen in the photos it is a tandem 2 seater and it has dual controls.  It has a steel tube fuselage and wooden wings as was pretty standard for that era of amateur built aircraft.  It has spawned several derivatives including the Hatz Classic, the Kelly D and the Hatz Bantam, which is a good sign that it was a nice aircraft.

The Hatz CB 1 has a length of 5.74 metres (18 feet 10 inches) and a wingspan of 7.72 metres (25 feet 4 inches) with a wing area of 178 square feet.  Empty weight is among the lightest for a 2 seat biplane at around 386 Kg (850 pounds) and MAUW is 658 Kg (1,450 pounds).  Engines can be from 100 to 150 HP with commensurate performance, cruising in the 80 - 100 mph range, and stalling around 40 mph.  Several overseas examples have been fitted with radial engines which look great.

ZK-PEC (c/n 245) was built by Peter E Carpenter of Auckland and was first registered to him on 29/11/04.  It is photo'd above at the 2006 SAANZ flyin at Tauranga on 5/2/06 where it was one of the first "registered colour scheme" aircraft that I had seen (with no registration painted on).  On 23/2/09 ownership changed to M E Vodane of Ardmore.

And then on 25/1/10 it was purchased by John C Martin of Tauranga.  It is photo'd above in John's hangar at Tauranga airport on 11/2/17 where it now wears "Buzzard Airlines" script (along with John's other aircraft (see http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.nz/2017/02/buzzard-airlines-at-tauranga-11-2-2017.html ).

We may not see any more of these neat little aircraft here, although I have an idea that one was being built in the Waikato.  However kits and plans are still available.

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