Flylight Motorfloater
{{Short description|British ultralight trike}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Motorfloater | image=G-LOAM MotorFloater first flight.jpg | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Ultralight trike | national origin=United Kingdom | manufacturer=Flight Airsports | designer=Ben Ashman | first flight= | introduced=2010 | retired= | status=In production (2013) | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Flylight Motorfloater is a British ultralight trike, designed by Ben Ashman and produced by Flylight Airsports of Northamptonshire. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 213. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X
The Motorfloater was introduced at the Flying Show in Birmingham in 2010.
Design and development
The Motorfloater is intended as a simple, light and inexpensive aircraft with an emphasis on ease of handling and enjoyment, rather than speed. It was derived from the more complex Flylight Dragonfly and designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category as well as the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules. It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a single-seat open cockpit without a cockpit fairing, tricycle landing gear without wheel pants 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 standard {{convert|9.60|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} span Aeros Fox 16T wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. Powerplants available are the single cylinder, air-cooled, four-stroke, {{convert|22|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Bailey V4 200 engine and the single cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, {{convert|25|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Simonini Mini 2 engine. The aircraft has an empty weight of {{convert|72|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} and a gross weight of {{convert|205|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}, giving a useful load of {{convert|133|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. With full fuel of {{convert|20|L}} the payload is {{convert|118|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}.
A number of different wings can be fitted to the basic carriage, including the standard Aeros Fox 16T, Aeros Discus 14T and 15T as well as the Aeros Combat 12T.
Specifications (Motorfloater with Fox 16T wing)
{{Aircraft specs
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|span m=9.60
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|wing area sqm=16.2
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|empty weight kg=72
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|gross weight kg=205
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|fuel capacity={{convert|20|L}}
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|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Simonini Mini 2
|eng1 type=single cylinder, air-cooled, two stroke aircraft engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=25
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=composite
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|max speed kmh=80
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|cruise speed kmh=53
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|stall speed kmh=30
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|climb rate ms=2.5
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|wing loading kg/m2=12.7
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References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Flylight Motorfloater}}
- {{Official website|http://www.flylight.co.uk/flexwing/motorfloater.htm}}
{{Flylight aircraft}}
Category:2010s British sport aircraft
Category:2010s British ultralight aircraft