LiteWing Aircraft LiteWing
{{Short description|American ultralight trike aircraft}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=LiteWing | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Ultralight trike | national origin=United States | manufacturer=LiteWing Aircraft | designer= | first flight= | introduced= | retired= | status=Production completed | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built=20 (February 2000) | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The LiteWing Aircraft LiteWing, also called the Lite Wing Trike, is an American ultralight trike that was designed and produced by LiteWing Aircraft of Caryville, Tennessee in the late 1990s. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page C-13. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. {{ISBN|0-9680628-1-4}}Downey, Julia: 2000 Trike and 'Chute Directory, Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 2, February 2000, page 46. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851
Design and development
The aircraft was designed to be a US homebuilt aircraft as its empty weight exceeds the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, which imposes a category maximum empty weight of {{convert|254|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}. The LiteWing has a standard empty weight of {{convert|280|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}. It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a single-seat, open cockpit with a three-piece fiberglass cockpit fairing, tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in pusher configuration.
The aircraft is made from welded and bolted 6061-T6 aluminum tubing, with its NorthWing 157 wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its {{convert|32|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} span wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame control bar. The engine factory supplied was the {{convert|40|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Rotax 447 twin cylinder, two-stroke, air-cooled aircraft engine. The aircraft can accept engines of {{convert|40|to|50|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}}. Brakes on the main wheels are standard equipment.
Twenty examples had been completed and flown by February 2000.
Specifications (LiteWing)
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|length ft=8
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|wing area sqft=160
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|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=280
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|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=600
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|fuel capacity={{convert|6|u.s.gal}}
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Rotax 447
|eng1 type=twin cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=40
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=wooden
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|cruise speed mph=60
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|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=10000
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|climb rate ftmin=1000
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References
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{{LiteWing Aircraft}}
Category:1990s United States ultralight aircraft