Ultralight Engineering Astra
{{Short description|American ultralight aircraft}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2022}}
| {{Infobox aircraft begin
| name = Astra | image = | caption = }}{{Infobox aircraft type | type = Ultralight aircraft | national origin = United States | manufacturer = Ultralight Engineering | designer = | first flight = | introduced = | retired = | status = Production completed | primary user = | more users = | produced = | number built = | developed from = Eipper Quicksilver | variants with their own articles = }} |
The Ultralight Engineering Astra ({{langx|en|Star}}) is an American high-wing, tricycle landing gear, cable-braced, single-seat, open cockpit, single engine in pusher configuration, ultralight aircraft that was designed and produced by Ultralight Engineering in the 1980s. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page E-2. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. {{ISBN|0-9680628-1-4}}
Design and development
The aircraft was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of {{convert|254|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}. The Astra's standard empty weight is {{convert|248|lb|kg|0|abbr=on}}. Like many ultralights of the early 1980s, it was derived from the Eipper Quicksilver and generally resembles that aircraft. The Astra primarily improved upon the Quicksilver in its main landing gear design, which is suspended by coil springs to reduce the chances of damage during rough landings.
The airframe is made from bolted-together aluminium tubing and covered in Dacron sailcloth. The {{convert|33|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} span wing is braced by cables from a kingpost. The controls are three-axis, with roll controlled by three small spoilers mounted on each wing. The standard factory supplied engine was the Rotax 377 of {{convert|35|hp|kW|0|abbr=on}} and it is mounted on the trailing edge of the wing, with the propeller in between the four tailboom tubes. The aircraft can be assembled or disassembled for storage or ground transportation by two people in fifteen minutes.
Ultralight Engineering went out of business after the fatal crash of a prototype of another design and production of the Astra ended at the same time.
Specifications (Astra)
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|gross weight lb=550
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