Ultralight aviation is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional 3-axis control aircraft with ailerons, elevator and rudder, calling the former "microlight" and the latter "ultralight".
An ultralight trike is a type of powered hang glider where flight control is by weight-shift. These aircraft have a fabric flex-wing from which is suspended a tricycle fuselage pod driven by a pusher propeller. The pod accommodates either a solo pilot, or a pilot and a single passenger. Trikes grant affordable, accessible, and exciting flying, and have been popular since the 1980s.
In aeronautics, a variable-pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change the blade pitch. A controllable-pitch propeller is one where the pitch is controlled manually by the pilot. Alternatively, a constant-speed propeller is one where the pilot sets the desired engine speed (RPM), and the blade pitch is controlled automatically without the pilot's intervention so that the rotational speed remains constant. The device which controls the propeller pitch and thus speed is called a propeller governor or constant speed unit.
In aeronautics, a propeller, also called an airscrew, converts rotary motion from an engine or other power source into a swirling slipstream which pushes the propeller forwards or backwards. It comprises a rotating power-driven hub, to which are attached several radial airfoil-section blades such that the whole assembly rotates about a longitudinal axis. The blade pitch may be fixed, manually variable to a few set positions, or of the automatically variable "constant-speed" type.
The LH Aviation LH-10 Ellipse is a two-seat light aircraft kitplane designed by LH Aviation of France. It is a low-wing single-engine pusher configuration with a tandem seating arrangement, and is constructed of composite materials. The plane is marketed in a surveillance configuration as the Grand Duc.
Unlike a standard one-piece boat or aircraft propeller, a modular propeller is made up of using a number of replaceable parts, typically:
Electravia - Helices E-Props is a French company based in Vaumeilh, that at one time produced electric propulsion systems and carbon propellers for ultralights, motorgliders, paramotors, airships, UAVs and light airplanes, and now designs and manufactures hi-tech carbon propellers for light aircraft.
The Aeronix Airelle is a tandem wing ultralight with twin engines in push-pull configuration, that was designed and built in France at the start of the millennium. It was intended to be homebuilt from kits, and a few prototypes were constructed, but development ended when the company went into receivership in 2006.
A ground-adjustable propeller is a simple type of aircraft variable-pitch propeller where the blade angle can be adjusted between pre-set limits of fine and coarse pitch. As its name implies, a ground-adjustable propeller may be adjusted only when the aircraft is on the ground and when the engine is not running. To adjust the propeller, the blades are loosened in the hub, a new angle set and then the hub tightened.
The Colomban MC-30 Luciole is an ultra-lightweight plans-built single-seat low-wing tail-dragger monoplane, designed by the French aeronautical engineer Michel Colomban, creator of the tiny single-seat Colomban Cri-cri twin-engined aircraft and the MC-100 Ban-Bi two-seat aircraft.
The Shark.Aero Shark is a conventionally laid out, single engine, low wing light aircraft which seats two in tandem. It was first flown on 19 August 2009 and is built in Slovakia by Shark.Aero s.r.o.. It has optionally fixed or retractable landing gear.
The Arplast Micro'B is a French ultralight aircraft that was designed and produced by propeller manufacturer Arplast Helice. It was supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.
The Air Creation Tanarg is a French ultralight trike, designed and produced by Air Creation of Aubenas. The aircraft is supplied as complete ready-to-fly-aircraft. In the United Kingdom the Tanarg is amateur-built from kits supplied by Air Creation.
The Air Creation Trek is a French ultralight trike, designed by Air Creation of Aubenas. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.
The Merville D.63 was a modification of the Druine D.62 Condor with a nosewheel undercarriage, modified fin and French engine. It flew in 1962.
The ScaleWings SW51 Mustang, formerly marketed as the FK-Lightplanes Fk51 Mustang, is an Austrian ultralight, light-sport aircraft and homebuilt aircraft that was designed by ScaleWings of Strasswalchen, Austria and was initially produced by FK-Lightplanes of Krosno, Poland, who introduced it publicly at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in 2013. After FK-Lightplanes ceased production, the design was built by ScaleWings.
Alisport srl is an Italian aircraft manufacturer based in Cremella. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft and sailplanes in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft for the European Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, as well as aircraft propellers.
Air Sylphe was a French aircraft manufacturer based in Villereau, Nord. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of powered parachutes in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles and the European Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight categories.
Société Nouvelle d'Aviation Sportive (SNAS) was a French aircraft manufacturer and flight school based in Noillac. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of powered parachutes in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the European Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category.
