Website www.jabiru.net.au Founded 1988 | Headquarters Bundaberg, Australia Type Proprietary company | |
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Industry Aerospace manufacturing Key people Rodney Stiff
Phil Ainsworth Products Light aircraft and aircraft engines Profiles | ||
Jabiru Aircraft Pty Ltd is an Australian aircraft manufacturer that produces a range of kit- and ready-built civil light aircraft in Bundaberg, Queensland. The company also designs and manufactures a range of light aircraft engines. Types include microlights (Ultralight or ULM), including the Calypso, two-seat trainers (J/120/J160/ J170/j230) and four-seat aircraft (J400/ J430/J450).
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The aircraft are built largely of composite materials and are conventional high-wing monoplanes with typically tricycle undercarriage, although taildragger versions are also available. The wings can be removed for ease of storage or transportation.
Use of modern composite techniques has resulted in a strong yet light structure. The aircraft are designed around the pilot and passengers, being spacious and comfortable for touring, yet with a small footprint and frontal profile. Controls include a centrally mounted control column, brake and trim lever.
There is also a Jabiru assembly facility in George, Western Cape, South Africa.
History
The company was formed in 1988 by Rodney Stiff and Phil Ainsworth to manufacture affordable light aircraft in kit and certified forms.
In October 1991, the first aircraft (Jabiru LSA 55/2k), was certified by the Australian Civil Aviation Authority.
Due to the original engine manufacturer, Italian American Motor Engineering ceasing production of the KFM 112M aero engines used, the company started development of its own engines, and by 1995 the Jabiru 2200, a horizontally opposed four-cylinder air-cooled aviation engine, was available for delivery. Since then the six-cylinder Jabiru 3300 and eight-cylinder Jabiru 5100 have been added to the range.
Also in 1995, it was decided to offer the aircraft range as amateur-build or experimental self-build kits.
The microlight version of the Jabiru two-seater aircraft, the Jabiru UL, holds two world speed records for three-axis microlight aircraft. These were set over 50- and 100-kilometre predefined courses and certified by the FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale).
Factory-built
Kitplanes
Engines
Jabiru produces its own range of lightweight, four-stroke, horizontally opposed, air-cooled engines, specifically designed and engineered for use in aircraft. All engines are direct drive and are fitted with alternators, silencers, vacuum pump drives and dual ignition systems as standard. Over 3600 four-cylinder engines and over 1700 of the six-cylinder engines have been produced. The basic design is now so mature that only minor design changes have been made in the last 1000 engines or so.
In November 2014 the Australian Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) proposed restricting all Jabiru-powered aircraft to day-visual flight rules (VFR) only, without passengers or solo students and within gliding distance of a safe place to land due to the engine line's safety record. The final rule adopted somewhat softened the restrictions, allowing the carriage of passengers and students, but requiring them to sign an acknowledgement of risk before flying and restricting equipped aircraft to day VFR flight and within gliding distance of a safe place to land. Both the manufacturer and Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus) opposed the restrictions as unnecessary and unwarranted. RA-Aus reported that it was supplied with only a fraction of CASA's source data – just a day before submissions closed – and that CASA seemed to have excluded all engine reliability data post-"early 2014".