Marcus van Ierssel's Homebuilt Aircraft


UPDATE: Well, I bit the bullet, and wrote off my earlier work on the hummelbird. I have started over again, but with the following design changes:

  • Riblet airfoil instead of the clarkY
  • full VW instead of half VW
  • the fuel has been moved from a header tank into the leading edges of the wing panels
  • You can see the progress of my new bird in my photo section.


    Well, the text below is a bit dated. Other claims on my time have prevented any new work for a few years now. One of these days I'll get back to it and finish. No, really. Stop laughing.

    You probably ended up here because this page has been here so long that google thinks it must be good/important. Let me redirect you

  • The official source of kits/parts/plans: (Hummel Aviation)
  • The best build pictorial build log I have seen. It looks so good and adds so many good ideas, that I may throw away what I have already built and start over: (Bruce King's Hummelbird)

    I'm currently building a hummelbird . This plane is built from nothing but blueprints and raw materials, it is not a kit. The hummelbird is an all aluminum aircraft with the following features:

  • single seat
  • low wing
  • single engine (1/2 of a VW bug engine - gives about 30Hp)
  • empty wieght: 300lbs.
  • cruise speed: 100mph
  • approx. cost: $5000

    hummelbird picture

    You might ask how one gets half of a VW bug engine. The answer to that question is "with a saw of course!". At the current rate of construction I hope to have the plane ready to fly around Summer 97.

    hummelbird engine picture

    If you are still interested in finding out more about the hummelbird, I've scanned in a three page article from a flying magazine about it.

    page 1
    page 2
    page 3

    I am already planning my next project. It is a plane called the Mustang II. It is a two seater with a top speed of 240mph.