Slick Aircraft Slick 360

Last updated
Slick 360
Slick 360 ZU-MDA (6777241888).jpg
RoleAerobatic competition aircraft
National origin South Africa
Manufacturer Slick Aircraft Company
First flight7 February 2004
Number built9

The Slick Aircraft Slick 360 is a South African aerobatics aircraft produced by the Slick Aircraft Company of Pretoria, South Africa. It is designed exclusively as an aerobatic competition aircraft, to compete in events such as the Advanced World Aerobatics Championships (AWAC).

South Africa Republic in the southernmost part of Africa

South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 24th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 58 million people, is also the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Bantu ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European, Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.

Aerobatics flying maneuvers involving attitudes not attained during normal flight

Aerobatics is the practice of flying maneuvers involving aircraft attitudes that are not used in normal flight. Aerobatics are performed in airplanes and gliders for training, recreation, entertainment, and sport. Additionally, some helicopters, such as the MBB Bo 105, are capable of limited aerobatic maneuvers. An example of a fully aerobatic helicopter, capable of performing loops and rolls, is the Westland Lynx.

Pretoria Administrative capital of South Africa

Pretoria is the administrative capital of South Africa. It straddles the Apies River and has spread eastwards into the foothills of the Magaliesberg mountains. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the administrative branch of government, and of foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria has a reputation for being an academic city with three universities, the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT), University of Pretoria (UP), and the University of South Africa (UNISA), also home to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and the Human Sciences Research Council. The city also hosts the National Research Foundation and the South African Bureau of Standards making the city a hub for research. Pretoria is the central part of the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality which was formed by the amalgamation of several former local authorities including Centurion and Soshanguve. There have been proposals to change the name of Pretoria itself to Tshwane and the proposed name change has caused some public controversy.

Contents

Development

The Slick 360 was designed to fill a gap in the light aerobatic aircraft segment, as the aircraft which dominate this segment, the Yak-55, Zlin Z-50 and Extra 230 have all ceased production, making them increasingly hard to obtain. While other Extras are still in production (260, 300, 300S, 300L and 330), they are fitted with six-cylinder (260/300 hp) engines and therefore not allowed to compete in the AWAC. New aircraft have been created in an attempt to replace these three, such as the One Design and the Cap 222, but they have failed to dominate, purportedly due to their excessively-high aileron roll rates, which, being faster than their flick roll rates, results in the flick roll scores being downgraded. In addition, their small size has made them difficult to judge. The result being that neither of the two new designs has yet managed to achieve better results than the older established designs, with the past five AWAC events being won by the Extra 230, Zlin Z-50 and Yak-55. This was borne out by the winner of 2003 AWAC, who was a French pilot who chose to fly an Extra 230 despite the fact that he had access to the French team's Cap 222.

Yakovlev Yak-55 Russian single-seat aerobatic aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-55 is a single-seat aerobatic aircraft. Pilots flying the Yak-55 have won several world aerobatic championships.

Aileron Aircraft control surface used to induce roll

An aileron is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll, which normally results in a change in flight path due to the tilting of the lift vector. Movement around this axis is called 'rolling' or 'banking'.

Due to this, the Slick 360 was envisaged as a newer version of the Extra 230, using the same basic concept and design, but with as many upgrades and improvements as possible. To this end, the size, basic wing shape and control system of the Extra 230 were used as the basis for the new aircraft, but the flick roll characteristics were designed to be closer to that of the Laser, from which the Extra 230 was originally derived.

The aircraft's wings were made from a carbon-fibre composite material, and designed by François Jordaan, an aeronautical and structural engineer who had previously designed the wings of the Celstar aerobatic glider and the Ravin 500. In addition to the improvements made to the wing itself, the latest aileron designs were fitted, giving the aircraft a roll rate of around 400 degrees per second.

Composite construction is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft, watercraft, and building construction. There are several reasons to use composite materials including increased strength, aesthetics, and environmental sustainability.

The aircraft is fitted with a Lycoming AEIO-360-A1B6 engine from AeroSport Power of Canada, which is a fully aerobatic-qualified engine with only one restriction due to the oil system: The pilot is restricted to 10 seconds of vertical flight or steep dives; inverted flight, steep dive; zero "g" manoeuvres and wing-down or knife-edge flights.

Operational history

The Slick 360 is in production and to date 9 have been sold. [1]

However, the pre-production Slick 360 took part in the South African National Aerobatics Championships in June 2004, achieving the unusual distinction of winning the event in its first outing.

This is a list of aviation-related events from 2004:

Specifications [2]

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

Related Research Articles

Zivko Edge 540 aircraft

The Zivko Edge 540 manufactured by Zivko Aeronautics is a highly aerobatic aircraft. Capable of a 420 degree per second roll rate and a 3,700 foot per minute climb rate, it has been flown to victory on the international Unlimited aerobatics circuit several times since the mid-1990s. A tandem-seat version is sold as the Edge 540T.

Extra EA-300 Aerobatic aircraft

The Extra Flugzeugbau EA300 is a two-seat aerobatic monoplane capable of Unlimited category competition. It was designed in 1987 by Walter Extra, a German aerobatic pilot, and built by Extra Flugzeugbau.

Mudry CAP 230 aerobatic aircraft family built by CAP Aviation in France

The CAP Aviation CAP-23x family is a family of aircraft designed for competition aerobatics. The CAP 230 airframe was a direct development of the CAP 21 competition single seater strengthened to cope with a 300 hp 6-cylinder Lycoming AEIO-540 engine instead of the 200 hp original 4-cylinder Lycoming AEIO-360.

Pitts Special aircraft

The Pitts Special is a series of light aerobatic biplanes designed by Curtis Pitts. It has accumulated many competition wins since its first flight in 1944. The Pitts biplanes dominated world aerobatic competition in the 1960s and 1970s and, even today, remain a potent competition aircraft in the lower categories.

Extra EA-200 Monoplane

The Extra 200 is a two-seat, tandem arrangement, low-wing aerobatic monoplane with conventional (taildragger) landing gear fully capable of Unlimited category competition, built by Extra Flugzeugbau.

Zlín Z-50 airplane

The Zlin Z-50 is an aerobatic sports airplane built by the Czechoslovakian company Zlin Aircraft.

Lycoming O-540 family of flat-six piston aircraft engines

The Lycoming O-540 is a family of air-cooled six-cylinder, horizontally opposed fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter engines of 541.5 cubic inch displacement, made by Lycoming Engines. The engine is a six-cylinder version of the four-cylinder Lycoming O-360.

American Champion Decathlon

The American Champion 8KCAB Decathlon and Super Decathlon are two-seat fixed conventional gear light airplanes designed for flight training and personal use and capable of sustaining aerobatic stresses between +6g and −5g. The Decathlon entered production in the United States in 1970 as a more powerful and stronger complement to the American Champion Citabria line of aircraft.

Zlín Z 526 family of sport aircraft

The Zlin Z-526 Akrobat is a Czech sports plane used in aerobatics.

The Jurca MJ-51 Sperocco is a plans-built two-seat tandem aerobatic aircraft derived from the Jurca MJ-5 Sirocco.

DynAéro CR.100

The Dyn'Aéro CR.100 is a French kit built single engine, two-seat monoplane, developed in the 1990s and intended as both an aerobatic trainer and a tourer, primarily for aero club use.

Ultimate Aircraft 10 Dash

The Ultimate Aircraft 10 Dash is a Canadian single-seat sport and aerobatic biplane designed and built by Ultimate Aircraft Corporation of Guelph, Ontario.

XtremeAir Sbach 300

The XtremeAir Sbach 300 is a German aerobatic aircraft, designed by Philippe Steinbach and produced by XtremeAir, of Cochstedt. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.

The Stephens Akro is a single engine monoplane designed in the United States for aerobatic competitions. It first flew in 1967 and proved very successful, leading to several developments of which one won seven US Championships and one World Championship between 1975 and 1982. The Extra EA-230 and Extra EA-300 were also Akro developments with over two hundred built.

Rihn DR-107 One Design

The Rihn DR-107 One Design is an American aerobatic homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dan Rihn and first flown in 1993. The aircraft is supplied by Aircraft Spruce & Specialty of Corona, California in the form of plans and a materials kit for amateur construction.

The Rihn DR-109 is an American aerobatic homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Dan Rihn. The aircraft was supplied by Jim Kimball Enterprises of Zellwood, Florida and more recently by Ashcraft Aero Works of Aurora, Illinois in the form of plans. It was designed for competition aerobatics as well as a trainer for the Rihn DR-107 One Design.

SkyDancer SD-260

The SkyDancer SD-260 was an American aerobatic Homebuilt biplane that was designed and produced by SkyDancer Aviation of Louisville, Kentucky, introduced in the mid-1990s. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit.

The Tech Aero TR 200 is a French homebuilt aerobatic aircraft that was designed and produced by Tech Aero of Glisolles, first flown in August 1988. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Extra EA-260

The Extra 260 is a one of a kind, hand built, single-seat aerobatic aircraft derived from the Extra 230 and first flown in 1986. Designed by aerobatic pilot Walter Extra based on the layout of the Extra 230, the Extra 260 is a higher performance version of its predecessor with 60% more power and 18% increase in weight. The sole EA-260 was flown by Patty Wagstaff to victory in two U.S. National Aerobatic Championships,, and then retired for an Extra 300S. From : "Extra 260". airandspace.si.edu.

Loudenslager Laser 200 1970s American airplane

The Loudenslager Laser 200 is a single place, mid wing, aerobatic monoplane designed and built by Leo Loudenslager. It is constructed of steel tubing and covered with Ceconite fabric.

References

  1. ↑ "Slick Aircraft - About Us". Slick Aircraft Company. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Slick 360 Pilot's Operating Handbook" (PDF). Slick Aircraft Company. January 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 6, 2012. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.