Baby Lakes Biplane, Open Cockpit Aerobatic Fun

Peter Parkinson's new Simonini powered Baby Lakes. This plane is seriously good fun to fly! The engine is a Simonini Victor 2 Plus, 102hp, with Mikuni BN carbs and inverted fuel system and turning a Thompson 71"x62"prop. The Simonini engine was chosen to keep the weight down to make the aircraft a legal microlight under New Zealand regulations while providing plenty of power. Empty weight is 475lb and acceleration on takeoff is rapid.

[@anamerican481]

Nice that is a birds eye view of flight

[@fortknoxguy]

That's what I want under my Christmas tree!

[@f-1416]

Me two.

[@Kevin_747]

I guess the simonini helps but 475 empty wt for this little ship is outstanding. Great job to the builder and thanks for the video.

[@Brenttheaviator]

Fair comment, I would too if it sounded half decent, but unfortunately the audio taken by the cameras is a combination of "wind in microphone" crackle and very distorted two stoke roar which just isn't nice to listen to. Silence didn't seem right either. Thanks for the comment.

[@skrswift]

a pleasure to watch, so...whats next Peter?

[@hbarratt1]

Wow this is fantastic, how to be as free as a bird :)

[@joshuagreenlaw8548]

The camera angle and the movement of the plane make the propeller look to do some crazy things... Anyone else see that?

[@f-1416]

I did the propeller does look a little weird with the camera angle.

[@galbq]

Nice video! Are you happy with the simonini engine? I'm thinking to install it in a skyranger ninja, but I'm afraid of the two stroke behavior in a relative fast plane (110mph cruise, to less drag can means high EGT and low CHT). Do you had any problem with it? What your maneuvering speed? Regards from Brazil! Fly safe!

[@DeadRoman]

What do you think of the simonini?

[@Brenttheaviator]

Overall I like the simonini. Good points are great power to weight ratio, and haven't experienced any reliability issues yet. I had one of my own in a Rans S-10, and that also went well. Being two stroke makes it simple to do an inverted system as no oil to worry about. Parts are cheaper than rotax. Negatives are they're not as smooth as a rotax. Very lumpy at low power. Build quality is not as good and you need to check it over and make sure everything is torqued up properly before first run. There are some unrealistic claims made about fuel consumption on the website but real world figures of around 16-18 lph at reasonable cruise speed are still not bad.I could get down to 11lph with a simonini in a skyranger at lower cruise power. It's a bit heavier than they claim too. Installed ready to fly with radiator, coolant, exhaust etc is closer to 60kg. But that's ok.

[@WhallonJesse]

How tall are you? Seems like you just barely fit inside the cockpit. Im 5"11 wondering how I'd fit.

[@kade426]

In the event of a hard landing the top wing will break your neck lol.

[@wordzenpix]

Nice video, beautiful plane and decent aerobatics, but I would much rather have heard engine and prop loading during maneuvers than music. I had a Baby for several years, never flew it and sold it to a guy who has done a beautiful job getting her airworthy again.

[@wordzenpix]

Yep, I understand the problem, and, you're right, it wouldn't have been pleasant or informative to listen to. Little choice but to add some kind of track.

[@Brenttheaviator]

Hi , The Simonini works fine on a faster aircraft, in fact it shouldn't make any difference to EGT s long as the aircraft has the right prop, and CHT is controlled by the thermostat. The Baby Lakes cruises about 90kt, or about 105mph roughly burning about 16 lph. The baby is quite draggy. I haver flown three simonini powered Skyrangers (but not Ninja). Contact me through my website "Thompson dash aero dot com" if you would like to know more. Regards, Brent

[@mekstone]

Thumbs up if you spot the tigermoth 1:30 flying the right way up