The Blue Yonder Merlin is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

-designed and -built two-seat, high-wing

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing con ...

with

taildragger Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

. It can be built as a basic ultra-light, an advanced ultra-light or amateur-built aircraft.Hunt, Adam: ''Merlin Magic'',

COPA Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Aircraft, Cirrus Owners and Pilots Asso ...

Flight publication, page C-1, February 2005Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 43. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The Merlin was designed in 1986 by John Burch, who intended to use it in his flight training school. Burch was disappointed with the early ultralights available, in particular their inability to take off and land in crosswinds. The aircraft wing was inspired by the Lazair's wing and used the same

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

"D" cell and foam rib construction techniques and constant-tapered wing planform. The first example flew in 1987.Armstrong, Kenneth: ''Choosing Your Homebuilt - the one you will finish and fly! Second Edition'', page 195-201. Butterfield Press, 1993. The Merlin won the Pilot's Choice Award as Best Ultralight at the Aircraft Sport Expo in 1988. Burch formed Macair Industries in

Baldwin, Ontario Baldwin ( 2021 population 579) is a township in the Canadian province of Ontario. Located in Sudbury District north of Espanola, the township's two main communities and population centres are McKerrow and Lorne. The junction of Ontario Highway ...

to produce the aircraft. Initially there were two versions: the Merlin M50 powered by the

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke engine, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pp. 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1 ...

two-stroke powerplant and the Merlin GT and Sport 65 version powered by the

Rotax 532 The Rotax 532 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary valve engine, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Ra ...

and later 582. The Honda-based CAM 100 engine was also available as an option. In 1991 Burch moved production of the Merlin to

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, USA under a new company name, Malcolm Aircraft. Within a short time that company went out of business and the Merlin was picked up by a new company in 1993 operating under the name of Merlin Aircraft who marketed the Merlin GT. After three years the company ceased business and the rights to the design were acquired by Blue Yonder Aviation of

Indus, Alberta Indus is a hamlet in southern Alberta, Canada under the jurisdiction of Rocky View County. It is home to the Bill Herron Arena Indus is located approximately 6.1 km (3.8 mi) east of the City of Calgary's eastern limits and 24 km ...

who continue to produce kits. Marketing in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

was conducted by Aerocomp (now

Comp Air Comp Air Inc, formerly known as Aerocomp Inc, is an aircraft manufacturer based in Merritt Island, Florida, owned by Ron Lueck.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', pages 97-100. BAI Communications, 1998. Downey, Julia: ...

) for some time, but this arrangement has been ended. Blue Yonder's current model is the Merlin EZ which has an option of engines: the Rotax 582 of , the

Rotax 912UL The Rotax 912 is a flat-four engine, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke engine, four-stroke aircraft engine with a Propeller speed reduction unit, reduction gearbox. It features Radiator (engine cooling), l ...

with and the 912ULS with . The

Rotax 618 The Rotax 618 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, liquid cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEA ...

two-stroke powerplant of was an option until that engine was discontinued by

Rotax Rotax is the brand name for a range of internal combustion engines developed and manufactured by the Austrian company BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG (until 2016 BRP-Powertrain GmbH & Co. KG), in turn owned by the Canadian Bombardier Recreational Prod ...

. The Merlin was used as the testbed aircraft for development of the Hexadyne P60 engine. The Merlin EZ uses the same foam-rib construction as previous models, but with a constant- chord wing with a

Clark Y Clark Y is the name of a particular airfoil profile, widely used in general purpose aircraft designs, and much studied in aerodynamics over the years. The profile was designed in 1922 by Virginius E. Clark using thickness distribution of the Germa ...

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

replacing the previously tapered wing. The fuselage is of 4130 welded steel tube construction, covered in aircraft fabric. The factory estimates build times at 350–450 hours of labour.

Merlin Manufacturers

Blue Yonder is the fourth manufacturer of the Merlin design. Companies who have built the Merlin were:

Variants

;Merlin M50 :Initial model, tapered wings, powered by a

engine ;Merlin GT/Sport 65 :Initial model, tapered wings, powered by a

and later by a

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...

or CAM 100 enginePurdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 93. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ;Merlin EZ :Current model, constant chord wings, powered by a

Rotax 912ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, ...

;Merlin TG :

Tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

model, constant chord wings, powered by a

Specifications (Merlin EZ Rotax 912ULS)

References

External links

Blue Yonder Aviation
{{Uncertified aircraft developed in Canada

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

1980s Canadian ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft