Polaris Skin
{{Short description|Italian ultralight trike}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name=Skin | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type=Ultralight trike | national origin=Italy | manufacturer=Polaris Motor | designer= | first flight= | introduced=early 1980s | retired= | status=Production completed (2014) | primary user= | more users= | produced= | number built= | developed from= | variants with their own articles= }} |
The Polaris Skin is an Italian ultralight trike, that was designed and produced by Polaris Motor of Gubbio. The aircraft was supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12, page 218. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XBertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, page 107. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X
By 2014 the company website was listed as "under construction", then was taken down and the company went out of business.{{cite web|url= http://www.polarismotor.eu/|title= Polaris Motor|access-date= 12 February 2022|author= Polaris Motor|work= polarismotor.eu|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140719115541/http://www.polarismotor.eu/|archive-date= 19 July 2014|url-status= dead}}
Design and development
Designed and first flown in the early 1980s, the Skin complies with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, including the category's maximum gross weight of {{convert|450|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. The Skin has a maximum gross weight of {{convert|360|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit with an optional cockpit fairing, tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in pusher configuration.
The aircraft is made from steel and bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its double surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its {{convert|10.60|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} span wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. The powerplant is a twin cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition {{convert|50|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Rotax 503 or the liquid-cooled {{convert|64|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} Rotax 582 engine. With the Rotax 503 powerplant the aircraft has an empty weight of {{convert|155|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}} and a gross weight of {{convert|360|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}, giving a useful load of {{convert|205|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. With full fuel of {{convert|60|L}} the payload is {{convert|162|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}.
A number of different wings can be fitted to the basic carriage, including the Gryps 14, Gyps 16, Gyps 19 and the Ares 21.
Specifications (Skin with Gyps 16 wing)
{{Aircraft specs
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|crew=one
|capacity=one passenger
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|empty weight kg=155
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|gross weight kg=360
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|fuel capacity={{convert|60|L}}
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Rotax 503
|eng1 type=twin cylinder, air-cooled, two stroke aircraft engine
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|eng1 hp=50
|prop blade number=4
|prop name=composite
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|max speed kmh=93
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|stall speed kmh=45
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|climb rate ms=3.5
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|wing loading kg/m2=22.8
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References
{{reflist}}
{{Portal bar|Italy|Companies|Aviation}}
{{Polaris Motor aircraft}}
Category:1980s Italian sport aircraft
Category:1980s Italian ultralight aircraft