LSA/UL

Dart Skycycle

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The Dart Skycycle is an American single-seat, high wing, strut-braced, single-engine, conventional landing gear ultralight aircraft that was designed by Robert Dart and produced by Dart Aircraft of Mayville, New York for amateur construction.

Dart Skycycle Article

Introduced in 1985, the Skycycle is a single-seater designed as an FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles-compliant aircraft with an empty weight within that category’s 254 lb (115 kg) empty weight limit.

The aircraft has a 4130 steel tube frame fuselage and a wing constructed from spruce, all covered in doped fabric. The landing gear is bungee-suspended. The Skycycle can be built with an open cockpit or fully enclosed, allowing flying in cooler weather. The Skycycle was available as plans only or with some prefabricated components, such as the welded fuselage or assembled wings already completed. The standard engine specified was the 28 hp (21 kW) Rotax 277.

Reviewer Andre Cliche wrote: “The Skycycle is an ultralight-legal aircraft that resembles the average taildraggers of the 40s and 50s. It looks like a ‘real airplane’ and should satisfy the more conservative pilots who hesitate to fly ‘colourful lawn chairs’ as basic ultralights are sometimes called. It is a good all-around ultralight that is easy to fly and cheap to operate.”

Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 277 , 28 hp (21 kW)
Propeller: 2-bladed wooden
Wingspan: 30 ft 0 in (9.14 m)
Wing area: 145 sq ft (13.5 m2)
Length: 20 ft 0 in (6.10 m)
Empty weight: 253 lb (115 kg)
Gross weight: 543 lb (246 kg)
Fuel capacity: 5 US gallons (19 litres)
Cruise speed: 55 mph (89 km/h, 48 kn)
Stall speed: 27 mph (43 km/h, 23 kn)
Wing loading: 3.8 lb/sq ft (19 kg/m2)
Crew: one

Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen

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The Aeroprakt A-32 is a Ukrainian two-seat, high-wing, tricycle gear ultralight aircraft that was designed by Yuri Yakovlev and is manufactured by Aeroprakt. In Australia the A-32 is referred to as the Vixxen.

The A-32 is a development of the A-22 Foxbat; however unlike the earlier aircraft, which can be purchased in kit form or fully assembled, the A-32 Vixxen is supplied only as a kit in the UK, or ready-to-fly factory-built aircraft in 31 other countries.

The A-32 was developed from A-22 Foxbat during three years of research and development. To increase cruise speed while employing the same 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912ULS engine as the A-22, the A-32 has a new flush wing-to-body fairing design and all flying horizontal stabilizer, as well as moulded baffling for improved engine airflow and cooling. Other changes include a wing that is 10 cm (3.9 in) shorter, shorter lift struts and better wing tank fairing. This results in a cruise speed that is 20 kn (37 km/h) faster than the A-22.

The prototype A-32 was completed in January 2014 and the first production aircraft was shown in April 2015. It was then transported to Australia, first flying at Moorabbin on 20 July 2015.

The Aeroprakt A-32L is an ultralight variant of the A-32 with a MTOW of 450 kg (or 472.5 kg with recovery parachute system) to comply with European regulations, although not UK legal. Central control Y-stick installed as default, twin control yokes offered as an option.

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A-32 Vixxen
Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 912ULS, 75 kW (100 hp)
Propeller: 3-bladed KievProp 3-blade ground-adjustable prop with metal leading edges
Wingspan: 9.45 m (31 ft 0 in)
Length: 6.27 m (20 ft 7 in)
Height: 2.22 m (7 ft 3 in)
Empty weight: 320 kg (705 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 600 kg (1,323 lb)
Fuel capacity: 95 L (25 US gal; 21 imp gal) usable in two tanks
Cruise speed: 213 km/h (132 mph, 115 kn)
Stall speed: 50 km/h (31 mph, 27 kn)
Never exceed speed: 232 km/h (144 mph, 125 kn)
Endurance: 4.5 hours
g limits: +4/-2
Crew: one
Capacity: one passenger