Ron,

Norm Howell built a sweet Quickie called the "Ugly Quickling" in the 80's.
He set some records in it with his highly modified Onan (not fire-breathing,
just intake, exhaust, and >>lotsa good cooling mods<< hint hint). After he
got tired of the Onan (poor climb), he switched to a Rotax 503 with a 2.00:1
gearbox. I think he used the Miller-style cowl. The gearbox necessitated a
tiny prop, with quite high pitch. The climb was a little better than with
the Onan, but the cruise speed was way up there. I don't recall a solid
number from anything published, but IIRC there was something about 150mph at
50% power and some talk about the airframe redline being around 170mph and
that being easily do-able at cruise....

I'd have to look things up to verify all the foregoing so don't take it as
gospel. Do your own research. Sport Aviation magazine Sept. 1987 page 48 for
the Onan powered version. Q-Talk back issues for the Rotax upgrade info
(sorry, I don't have issue numbers).

BTW, I have a 503 set aside for my Quickie for after the Onan scares me too
much. The oil injection is a necessity in my opinion. The non-injected
engines rely on the fuel mix for lubrication and at high airspeed/low
throttle, the lubrication just isn't enough for the high RPM at which the
prop is turning the engine such as during descent (like on that mock
strafing run!). With oil injection, the oil delivery is metered in part by
throttle setting and in part by RPM, so at low throttle/high RPM you get a
"richer" oil mix and (hopefully!) adequate lubrication. Of course,
ultralights don't suffer the 'detriment' of high speeds so ignore your
ultralight buddies' advice on this issue. Also, ignore the ultralight prop
manufacturer's recommendations (Powerfin, Ivo, Warp, etc.) and get a Catto
prop (or equivalent) for your 503 SuperQuickie....


David J. Gall