Construction

It is very easy to build one of our ultralights from plans, and even easier to build using one of our kits. A plans built or kit built wood and fabric ultralight offers you numerous benefits over other options available. The most obvious benefit being the cost savings. You simply can’t build a tube and fabric, or riveted aluminum ultralight for the same costs as one of our aircraft.

Our original design, the “Cloudster,”  has a fuselage built with simple box spar type construction. Both sides and bottom are covered with 3mm (1/8″) plywood providing a rigid torque box. The top is braced with diagonal members aft of the cockpit leaving access during assembly. A novice builder can easily construct the basic fuselage in two or three days.

Our second design, the “Zing,”  has a fuselage built similar to other parasols with the basic gusset and truss method.

Both aircraft have a tail group that is constructed using conventional methods, however the Zing utilizes a strong, lighter, and more aerodynamic tail groups with stabalizer leading edges made up of D-cells similar to the leading edge of the wing.  Both aircraft have an Elevator that uses a single push/pull tube running through phenolic bearings. Wire or tube bracing may be used to reinforce the tail assembly.

The wings consist of a modified Clark Y airfoil and are given a 2 1/2 deg. angle of attack and a 1 1/2″ deg. dihedral setting. Ailerons are operated by a pair of push/pull tubes and torque tubes running in phenolic bearings.  Leading edges of the wings are covered with 1/16″ plywood and spars consist of two caps and plywood webs. Optional wingtips can be laminated on for the finished look. Parallel struts and x-wires provide the wings with their support.

The  landing gear consists of a one piece prefab aluminum slab made from 1/2″ x 4″ 2024-T351 alloy. The spindles are pre-welded and drilled for easy installation. 4.00 x 6 Azuza wheels and wheelbarrow tires finish out the assembly and brakes can be adapted with little effort. Complete or partial gear assemblies are available.

The fuel tank is a 5 gallon unit located behind the firewall with enough room in the center section for 5 gallons of fuel and gravity feed.

The Cloudster and Zing require no welding (when the landing gear kit is purchased) and all steel components are kept to a minimum. A fiberglass cowling is available as an option as well.

There is a lot to be learned about building with wood, but you’ll find that it really is quite easy.

There is a lot to be learned about building with wood, but you’ll find that it really is quite easy.

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