Neha Patil (Editor)

DSK Duster

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Top speed
  
206 km/h

Length
  
6 m

Wingspan
  
13 m

First flight
  
August 1966

Sailplane circling


The BJ-1 Dyna Mite, or California Sailplanes Duster was a sailplane designed by Ben Jansson in the United States in the 1960s for homebuilding.

Contents

Design and development

A conventional shoulder-wing design with conventional empennage, no component of the BJ-1 exceeds 18 ft (5.5 m) in length, in order to facilitate building and storage in a domestic garage. Construction throughout was of wood, apart from a few mouldings (like the nosecone) made of fiberglass. The BJ-1 Dyna Mite first flew in 1966.

The rough building sketches from Ben Janssons prototype design from 1963, were refined by Hank Thor and the BJ-1B Duster plans were released in 1971 featuring a lighter weight, extended wingspan and a lower canopy that required the pilot to fly it semi-reclined. By 1977, more than 200 sets of plans had been sold. In total 371 sets of plans were sold and DSK (Duster Sailplane Kits) sold about 169 kits.

Variants

BJ-1 'Dyna Mite'
BJ-1B 'Duster'

Aircraft on display

  • US Southwest Soaring Museum - prototype
  • Specifications (BJ-1B)

    General characteristics

  • Crew: One pilot
  • Length: 20 ft 6 in (6.0 m)
  • Wingspan: 42 ft 8 in (13.00 m)
  • Wing area: 103 ft2 (9.6 m2)
  • Aspect ratio: 17.7
  • Empty weight: 350 lb (159 kg)
  • Gross weight: 580 lb (281 kg)
  • Performance

  • Maximum speed: 128 mph (206 km/h)
  • Maximum glide ratio: 29
  • Rate of sink: 148 ft/min (0.76 m/s)
  • References

    DSK Duster Wikipedia