Flightstar Microlight?

[EchoKiloEcho]

Does anyone know if the Flightstar microlight is on the pfa register or any flying in the UK? If not, is it possible to import it, build it and then register it?

It looks like a realy nice airplane. I was looking at the XAIR but it does not have a very good useful load whereas the flightstar does?


Look at the info below:

www.fly-flightstar.com

WING SPAN 32 FT.
LENGTH 19 FT.7 IN.
HEIGHT 7 FT.10 IN.
WING AREA 157 SQ. FT.
ASPECT RATIO 6.53 MAX.
EMPTY WEIGHT 385 LBS.
GROSS WEIGHT 950 LBS.
FUEL CAPACITY 10 GAL.

CRUISE SPEED (@ 75%) 65 MPH
STALL SPEED (Vso @ Wg) 36 MPH
VNE 96 MPH.
CLIMB RATE (@ Wg) 600 FPM
RANGE (W/10 GAL.) 200 MILES
TAKEOFF ROLL (@ Wg) 205 FT

POWERPLANT: ROTAX 503FA (496 C.C. 54HP @ 6800 RPM)
OPTIONAL: HKS 700E (680 C.C. 60 HP @ 6200 RPM)

[Head..er..wind]

Must admit to being biased as I do have an Xair but am really happy with it.....420 or so hours. There are about a 1000 flying around the world, and they are pretty docile. I looked at the Flightstar, also very nice. I can't comment really on the load issue b/c for us the Xair is great for buzzing about, and does the job. The main reason that moved on from Flightstar was that here in Oz there wasn't a dealer, whereas Xair does have one - parts are easy to get and there are quite a few flying here so support that way is good too. There is also an online group (Yahoo) - maybe you could get them excited an ask your question to them - yep, they love the Xair too so will be biased but maybe it'll help you decide one way or the other. Xair Ireland might be able to help (Google search for them). either way, good luck and enjoy your choice.
Cheers

[Rod1]

Give PFA Engineering a call and get an up to date answer. It is worth giving the BMAA a call to.

Rod1

Rod1

[EchoKiloEcho]

It looks like it will be much easier to buy a kitplane that is already approved by die PFA. XAIR / RV9A, RV12 / JABIRU / Europa etc. comes to mind.

I contacted PFA engineering. They said the Flightstar is not approved or on the PFA register, so will have to do the following. This is what they said:

1.4.1 Type acceptance fee of £2000
This is charged to the manufacturer or UK agent which imports the example presented for PFA acceptance. The charge is triggered after the “Initial Aircraft Type Evaluation” (per E.P.12.). If the conclusion of this evaluation is that PFA Engineering is to proceed with the type acceptance process, this advised together with an invitation to provide this payment in order to proceed. In cases where the manufacturer or agent declares an unwillingness to provide this payment, it falls to the first UK builder of the type to meet this shortfall.

1.4.2 A Project registration royalty of £50
This is charged to the manufacturer or UK agent upon registration of the project. If neither of these can be identified then the charge must be borne by the person registering the project.


2.0 What Information Will I Need to Provide to the PFA?
The PFA will require a data package consisting of a descriptive data, definition of the design code and compliance data showing how the aircraft complies with the stated code.

2.1 Design Code (Certification Basis)
In order to qualify for a Permit to Fly, the design must generally be in accordance with the set of requirements (design code) which would be applicable if it were a fully certified aircraft. Some areas of non-compliance may be accepted if it can be shown that the feature either demonstrates equivalent safety to the requirement, or that there is a long history of the feature being used on similar types of aircraft in the past without causing airworthiness problems.

[Mariner9]

A mate of mine is selling his very nice Thruster (which is a similar a/c), would be a far easier (and cheaper) route than getting a new design type certified.

[Genghis the Engineer]

EKE - don't even think about that. It is not a job for amateurs: I do that sort of certification work for a living, and would need several months, plus probably a sacrificial airframe, large workshop and a few thousands of pounds worth of working capital to certify even a simply aircraft like that through PFA - with no absolute guarantee of success.

There are loads of great microlight aeroplanes on the UK market already - X'Air,. Thruster, C42, Eurostar, Sky Ranger.... pick one, but don't make life unnecesssarily hard for yourself.

If payload is important, go for a reasonably basic engine and instrument fit, and you'll probably get the payload you want - there's always a trade-off there.

G