Photograph:
A Skyseeker on display in a museum (Author’s collection)
Country of origin:
Canada
Description:
Single-seat ultralight sport aircraft
Power Plant:
[Mk III]
One 21 kw (28 hp) Rotax 277 single-cylinder two-stroke air-cooled engine with a 2:1 belt reduction drive with a centrifugal clutch
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 9.75 m (32 ft)
- Length: 3.7 m (12 ft)
- Height: 2.7 m (9 ft)
- Wing area: 14.86 m² (160 sq ft)
- Never exceed speed: 89 km/h (55 mph)
- Max speed: 72 km/h (45 mph)
- Cruising speed: 56 km/h (35 mph)
- Stalling speed: 32 km/h (20 mph)
- Service ceiling: 3,048 m (10,000 ft)
- Range: 290 km (180 miles)
- Fuel capacity: 19 litres (4.2 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 112 kg (248 lb)
- Loaded weight: 225 kg (496 lb)
History:
The Skyseeker was a light aircraft produced for the minimum aircraft market which was sold in some numbers around the world. It was designed to comply with US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicle rules. It was an aircraft with a cable-braced high-wing, seating one in an open cockpit, with a conventional undercarriage featuring a bungee suspension on all three wheels, and a single-cylinder Rotax 277 engine in the pusher configuration mounted on the wing trailing edge, the propeller turning between the tail boom tubes. It was constructed of bolted together aluminium tube, the flying surfaces being covered with Dacron sailcloth. The pilot did not have a windshield.
The aircraft was produced in a number of variants, the Mk I being a single-seat model with hybrid weight-shift and aerodynamic controls; the Mk II was enlarged to seat two; and the Mk III was an improved single-seat model with three axis controls and spoilers for roll control. A few examples were imported to this region and one is on display in the collection of the National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, VIC.