The Cloudster was designed by Scott Land of Pop’s Prop’s back in 1994. The original Cloudster had a 34′ long wing and stalled at 22 mph. It was white with red stripes and started with a stock 1/2 VW with 88 mm cylinders (rated at 28 hp). It met the main goal of Scott Land, which was to have a low horse power airplane with good fuel economy. It was however, underpowered dragging that long wing. Scott updated the engine to 92 mm cylinders bringing the engine to 32 hp. Scott reported that the updated 32 hp 1/2 VW flew great with the 34′ long wing.
Later the the designer found that it had a bit too much adverse yaw and and decided it was best to shorten the wing to 31′ 2″. This corrected the adverse yaw and resulted in a stall speed of only 25 mph! The prototype was stripped of the original fabric to have wings shortened. Mr. Land removed the turtle deck (he wasn’t a fan) and recovered the airplane, then painted it yellow with a blue stripe.
The revised prototype was then mounted with a Kawasaki 340LC to see how it would perform. Performance was outstanding! The revised prototype was a true ultralight, proven weight at Oshkosh in 1999 was a mere 245 lbs. It would get off the ground in about 75 feet, lifting off at about 25 mph and cruise at 55 mph.
Eventually after the turn of the millennium, Scott Land who designed and sold the Cloudster, lost interest in selling kits and plans and decided he wanted to go a different route in life. In 2010 he was approached by Jeff Erekson who proposed purchasing the rights and assets associated with the design and marketing them once again. An agreement was reached in February 2011, and now Simplex Aeroplanes, owned by Jeff Erekson, is marketing and selling the Cloudster once again.
