A phenom in the ultralight world, the Badland made news at last year’s AirVenture by rolling out its single cylinder 460cc 39hp Thump-Air engine, married to its sturdy chrome molly airframe. This year, Badland unveils two major developments, a nose wheel and carbon fiber ribs.
The Badland nose wheel design is an homage to the Van’s RV-8A original nose wheel and is very robust for its size. The nose gear assembly is welded 4130 steel, holding a 400×6 nose wheel. The mini tundra tires for the Badland are actually fabricated in house, giving the aircraft its STOL competitor look.
To make up for the added weight, Badland’s founder, Chris Deuel, and his team designed and fabricated light, but extremely strong, wing ribs, using carbon fiber and high density foam composites. The CF ribs are attached to the aluminum spars using epoxy to provide both a strong bond and isolation from the aluminum, to prevent corrosion.
The base price of the Badland ultralight is $17,00, firewall aft. The tricycle gear and carbon fiber rib upgrade will run an additional $3,500. For more information, visit www.badlandaircraft.com.
NOTE: there is another outfit on the AirVenture ultralight field that has a sign “Badlands” aircraft (with the additional s at the end), but that is not connected to Chris Duel’s company and he has no current idea what that is all about.
Fantastic stuff Chris!! Love it.
I have my doubts that the nose gear will hold up two any significant impact and probably take out the prop and then you’d have to overhaul the engine Cessna Sky catcher had the same Affair it didn’t work well for them just something to keep in mind