Self-Launch Gliders

  • Registration: N18UA
  • Owner: Eric Dobler
  • Manufacturer: Urban Air
  • Country: Czech Republic

Distar UFM-13 Lambada

The Distar UFM-13 Lambada (named for the Brazilian dance) is a Czech shoulder-wing, two-seat motor glider originally designed and produced by Urban Air and now built by Distar Air of Ústí nad Orlicí. The Lambada was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules at a gross weight of 472.5 kg (1,042 lb) and US light-sport aircraft rules at 600 kg (1,323 lb). The design is on the Federal Aviation Administration's list of approved special light-sport aircraft. The aircraft features a cantilever wing, a T-tail, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed tricycle landing gear or conventional landing gear with a steerable tail wheel and a single engine in tractor configuration.
  • Registration: N313TE
  • Owner: Tony Wiederkehr
  • Manufacturer: Pipistrel
  • Country: Slovania

Pipistrel Taurus (Electro)

Developed by Pipistrel as one of the first self-launched glider in the microlight category the design used the wings of the Pipistrel Sinus with a new two-seat side-by-side fuselage. To enable the Taurus to self-launch a pop-out propeller is mounted on the rear fuselage driven by a Rotax 503 piston engine. In 2007 the company developed the Taurus Electro with the piston engine replaced by a permanent magnet synchronous three-phase brushless motor.
  • Registration: N536PV
  • Owner: Tony Wiederkehr
  • Manufacturer: Pipistrel

Pipistrel Virus

It is a high-wing, cantilever monoplane of pod-and-boom configuration with a T-tail. The cabin has two seats side-by-side. Its fixed undercarriage can be provided in either tricycle or tailwheel configuration. It is available in three models: the Virus 912 with a 12-metre wingspan, the Virus 912 SW 80 (for "short wing" and 80 hp) and the Virus 912 SW 100, both with a 10-metre wingspan. The Virus SW 100 has an uprated Rotax 912 ULS engine producing 100 hp (75 kW). The SW 100 model cruises at 273 km/h (170 mph), which is 24 km/h (15 mph) faster than the long wing 80 hp (60 kW) version.
Schleicher ASW 24E
  • Registration: D-KAYD
  • Owner: Felix Noeling
  • Manufacturer: Alexander Schleicher
  • Country: Germany

Schleicher ASW 24E

The ASW 24 was designed by Schleicher's Gerhard Waibel, with Delft University professor Loek Boermans undertaking the role of aerodynamicist. The prototype made its first flight in 1987, having entered serial production later the same year. It nominally remained in production until 2000, although only a score were built in the mid-to-late ninetiesThe ASW 24E is a nominally self-launching variant employing a Rotax 275 engine and a propeller mounted on a retractable pylon. The engine installation is peculiar for its small size and power, more typical of a turbo, and for its manual start with a pilot-operated ripcord.

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