1977 Varga 2150A Kachina
Outstanding condition
- Make
- Varga
- Model
- 2150A Kachina
- Year
- 1977
- Seller
- DesH
- Location
- Perth, United Kingdom
- Condition
- Pre-owned
- Seller type
- Private
- Total Time
- 2384 h
- Engine Time
- 1678 h
- Undercarriage
- Tricycle
- Seats
- 2
- Flight Rules
- VFR Day
- Registration
- G-BPVK
Highlights
- Full bare metal respray in 2021 including main gear overhaul + all new fuel and oil hoses at a cost of Approx £15k
- G-BPVK is one of only 3 Varga’s flying in the UK with the vast majority of the 150 or so examples built remaining in the US where they were manufactured from 1975 until 1982
Maintenance
- LAA Permit until 24th July 2023 however can be sold with a fresh permit by negotiation
- VK also comes with a tow bar and a number of spares including new front and rear canopies, interior, trim panels, fuel system parts, gear parts etc etc in addition to a copy of the factory maintenance manual, everything needed to keep her flying for many more years to come
Specifications
- Seat Configuration
- 1+1
- Gross Weight
- 824 Kg
- Empty Weight
- 551 Kg
- Useful Load
- 273 Kg
- Cruise Speed
- 110 Kt
- Fuel Burn
- 34 l/h
- Fuel Capacity
- 130 l
Engine
- Manufacturer, Model
- Lycoming, O-320-A2C
- Fixed pitch metal prop
- Power
- 150
- Fuel Type
- Avgas 100LL
- TSOH
- 1678
Avionics
- GPS/NAV/COM
- Garmin, GNS 430
- Standard instruments
- VOR/ILS
- DME
- ADF
- EFIS
- Retro-fitted wireless Aeolus AHARS system allowing a full EFIS display on any tablet
Additional Remarks
- The type was originally designed by William Morrisey, who in addition to working as pilot for legendary Howard Hughes was also a test pilot for Douglas and involved in testing US president Harry Truman's own private aircraft
- Originally designed in 1948 as the 115hp Wood and Fabric Morrisey 1000C Nifty the design was reworked in 1958 to become the all metal Morrisey 2000 and shortly after the Morrisey 2150 featuring a larger 150hp Lycoming 0-320. In 1959 the construction and design rights were sold to Shinn Engineering who built 35 examples of the aircraft as the Shinn 2150A
- In 1967 the design rights were then sold once again to George Varga who formed the Varga Aircraft Corporation and the Varga 2150A Kachina was born. In total 121 examples of the Varga 2150A and 18 examples of the slightly modified 180hp 2180 were built between 1975 and 1982
- G-BPVK is a 1977 example having started out life as N4626V before finding its way over to Belgium prior to being imported into the UK in 1989 where it has remined since
- The Varga is an exceptionally simple but delightful aircraft to fly with outstanding all round visibility and very light and crisp handling often described as like flying a baby warbird. The Varga gives an excellent mix of short field performance, 1400fpm climb rate as well as a respectable cruise speed making it a fantastic all rounder. There is a large baggage area behind the rear seat and with 130 litres fuel capacity giving almost 4hrs range at 110kts there is plenty of scope for touring with one of the previous owners having flown it extensively around Europe
- Having been a factory built aircraft the Varga also doesn’t suffer from typical W&B issued encountered with many LAA types having an empty weight of 551kg, a MTOW of 824kg leaving 273kg of useful load
- G-BPVK was clearly cherished by its previous owners having been exceptionally well equipped for an LAA aircraft
- ILS, DME, ADF etc (all working) in addition to a retro-fitted wireless Aeolus AHARS system allowing a full EFIS display on any tablet. Given the Varga is factory built aircraft with one example in the UK still on a CofA it should be a fairly straightforward process to have the aircraft certified by the LAA for Night and IMC operations if you so wish
- Some good reviews of the type can be found here:
- https://www.planeimpressions.com/post/varga-kachina-2150a
- https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/april/pilot/budget-buy-varga-kachina
- https://www.planeandpilotmag.com/aircraft/buyers-guide/six-light-single-engine-planes-they-totally-need-to-bring-back/
- Typical cruise speeds (real world) as follows:
- 2350 rpm (65% econ cruise) = 110kts TAS = 9 USG per hr
- 2450 rpm (75% perf cruise) = 115kts TAS = 10 USG per hr
- 273kg of useful load with excellent W&B loading range
- The aircraft comes with an extensive paperwork history going right back to the original delivery spec sheet in 1977 and what looks to be possibly the entire UK history of the aircraft
- Aircraft currently hangared at EGPT, Perth Scone and available for any inspection