Krucker Cygnet at Sun 'n Fun, 2004

 

The Krucker Cygnet amphibious ultralight trike was designed by J.P. Krucker and initially produced by his company Krucker Manufacturing in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Supplied as a kit for amateur construction or asa complete ready-to-fly-aircraft, the aircraft was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category and the US light-sport aircraft rules.

 

It features a strut-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit, retractable wheeled tricycle landing gear and dual floats and a single engine in pusher configuration.

 

 

The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its single surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its 10.3 m (33.8 ft) span wing is supported by struts and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. The standard powerplants are the twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 65 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 engine, the four cylinder, air and liquid-cooled, four-stroke, dual-ignition 80 hp (60 kW) Rotax 912UL and the 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS engines.

 

A number of different wings can be fitted to the basic carriage, including the North Wings Pulse 17 m² (180 sq ft) and 19 m² (200 sq ft) sizes. The LSA-approved wings are the North Wing Mustang 3 in 15 m² (160 sq ft), 17 m² (180 sq ft) and 19 m² (200 sq ft) and the Keitek Hazard.

 

The Cygnet was awarded Best Trike at Sun 'n Fun in 2005.

 

SLSA #99 was the Krucker Cygnet amphib trike. The SLSA completed on 3 July 2009 accoring to U.S. representative, Michael Percy, of XL Kites who imports the Cygnet to the US.

 

 

The Cygnet was later manufactured by Sea and Sky of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, United States, selling for US$49,600 (with Rotax 912) in 2011, and still in production in 2013.

 

Engine: 1 × Rotax 582, 64 hp (48 kW)

Propeller: 3-bladed composite

Wingspan: 33 ft 10 in (10.3 m)

Wing area: 189 sq ft (17.6 sq.m)

Empty weight: 529 lb (240 kg)

Gross weight: 992 lb (450 kg)

Fuel capacity: 10 U.S. gallons (38 L; 8.3 imp gal)

Wing loading: 5.2 lb/sq ft (25.6 kg/sq.m)

Maximum speed: 60 mph; 52 kn (96 km/h)

Cruise speed: 37 mph; 32 kn (60 km/h)

Stall speed: 31 mph; 27 kn (50 km/h)

Rate of climb: 490 ft/min (2.5 m/s)

Seats: 2