The Zia was originally conceived as a tailless motor glider and transformed by Oshkosh 1983 into the twin-boom pusher.
George Applebay entered the ultralight world with a very soaring oriented design, the Zia, whose control system consists of tip rudders, angled so that they work in roll as well as yaw and controlled by stick and pedals through a mixer, and a slotted flap occupying 25% of the canard surface, which provides pitch control. Glidepath control is by flaps which extend to 45 degs.
The tricycle undercarriage has a steerable nosewheel and the braked main wheels are suspended on glass fibre struts reinforced with Kevlar. He designed the Zia according to the JAR22 standard, using composite construction in the main but with Dacron wing covering.
Single seat single engined mid wing monoplane with conventional three axis control. Wing has swept forward leading and trailing edges, and tapering chord; no tail, canard wing. Pitch control by flaps on canard; yaw/roll control by angled tip rudders; control inputs through stick for pitch/yaw/roll and pedals for yaw/roll. Cantilever wing; wing profile; double surface. Undercarriage has three wheels in tricycle formation; suspension on nosewheel and glass fibre/Kevlar suspension on main wheels. Flush right go right nosewheel steering connected to yaw control. Brakes on main wheels. Composite construction fuselage, totally enclosed. Engine mounted at wing height driving pusher propeller. The engine is started by a pull rope either on the ground or for air starting.
Engine: Robin EC25PS, 18 hp.
Power per unit area 0.14 hp/sq.ft, 1.6 hp/sq.m.
Fuel capacity 4.0 US gal, 3.3 Imp gal, 15.0 litre.
Length overall 13.1ft, 4.00m.
Wing span 43.3ft, 13.20m.
Total wing area 125sq.ft, 11.6sq.m.
Empty weight 209 lb, 95kg.
Max take off weight 452 lb, 205kg.
Payload 243 lb, 110kg.
Max wing loading 3.62 lb/sq.ft, 17.7 kg/sq.m.
Max power loading 25.l lb/hp, 11.4kg/hp.
Never exceed speed 81 mph, 130kph.
Cruising speed 59mph, 95 kph.
Stalling speed 28 mph, 45 kph.
Best glide ratio with power off 27/1 at 42 mph, 67 kph.
No. of Seats: 1
Wing span: 14m / 46ft
Wing area: 118 sq.ft / 10.96 sq.m
Empty Weight: 182kg / 400lb
Payload: 113kg / 250lb
Gross Weight: 295kg / 650lb
Wing Load: 26.92kg/sq.m / 5.5lb/sq.ft
Aspect ratio: 18
Airfoil: Wortmann FX 66-197
Structure: fiberglass, carbon spar
All Aero 