Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
:

Marty Shapiro wrote in
:

Bertie the Bunyip wrote in
:

Marty Shapiro wrote in
:




Move up to the Rallye 235. Not marginal in climb at all.

Yeah, so I believe. Not very fast, though, is it?

No. Top speed is 152 MPH (131 kt). The automatic leading edge slats
and fixed gear add quite a bit of drag.


Really? I thought they were a good bit slower than that.

The light airframe models are slower.

Rallye's have multiple models. The "light" airframes were mainly 2 seat,
stick, and engines from 100 HP through 150 HP (Rolls Royce, Continental,
Lycoming). The 180 HP was a 4 seater and you could order with stick or
yoke. Lycoming engine.

The "heavy" airframes were the Minerva (Franklin 220 HP engine) and the
Rallye GT aka 235E (Lycoming O-540-B4B5 235 HP). All the "heavies" had 4
seats, yokes, and 2 hard points on each wing.

The 235C was a tail dragger version of the 235E. The 235's also came with
a factory opiton of a glider tow kit.



With half tanks, just me in the aircraft, 1/2 flaps, and a cool day
(10 C) I can be almost 1,000' AGL by the end of a 3,100' runway if I
hold Vx all the way.


Good bush airplane alright. Rare enough nowadays too, since most seem to
have corroded away.

Only the 235C would be a good bush airplane. The prop clearance on the
trike is at best 2". It does have a decent payload capacity. Empty weight
is 1,535 lbs and MTOW is 2,645 lbs. Max landing weight is 2,513, so plan
on burning 22 gals if you take off at max weight.

The last time I looked, there was something like slightly less than 100
Rallye's of all models (both French and Polish) on the FAA registry.

Is it a French one or a Polish one?

French. To my knowledge, PZL Koliber only sold a version of the 150. They
were working on a version of the 235 but I'm not aware of it ever being
released.

The original Rallye's were made by Moraine-Soulnier, which was eventually
merged into SOCATA, which is now part of EADS. SOCATA licensed it to PZL,
which used it to produce the Koliber 150. I seem to remember reading that
SOCATA has bought the license back from PZL.


I saw a Taildragger one recently in Spain. That'd probably be quite a
useful machine..



(Fowler flaps. 1/2 has them fully extended but only 10 degrees or so
down.)


At power off, yoke full back, the 235's nose bobbles (more like
light buffet) very slightly on the horizon whle you descend at just
over 1,000 fpm in this nose level attitude.



You'd probably walk away formit, but it would hurt! You're forward
speed is pretty low in this flight regime then, eh? Less than 40?

About 35 MPH.

That's pretty good OK.


The design is STOL. Huge oversized control surfaces. In a power off stall
configuration, you can still steer with just the ailerons, although you
will get a dramatic adverse yaw demonstration.

We have a 300' displaced threshold at my home field. I can pop the mains
off before the landing threshold and well below the white arc. Yes, it
will wallow in ground effect a bit, but then settles right down and climbs.
With a little concentration, you can land in 500' and just light brakes.

Great visibility from the cockpit. The sliding canopy comes down almost to
your waist. The first time I did a 45 degree bank it seemed that I was
going to slide right out of the cockpit. You can also fly with the canopy
open, although you do have speed restrictions based on how far it is open.
Up to 4" and there are no restrictions. Fully open you're limited to 93
MPH.

--
Marty Shapiro
Silicon Rallye Inc.

(remove SPAMNOT to email me)