The Pipistrel Spider is a Slovenian ultralight trike, designed and produced by Pipistrel of Ajdovščina. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.[1]
| Spider | |
|---|---|
| Role | Ultralight trike Type of aircraft |
| National origin | Slovenia |
| Manufacturer | Pipistrel |
| Introduction | 1980s |
| Status | Production complete (2018) |
| Produced | 1980s - present |
| Number built | 250 (1998)[1] |
The Spider was sold in Europe by Flight Team UG & Company AG of Ippesheim, Germany and was sometimes called the Flight Team Spider.[2]
By October 2018 it was listed as a "legacy" product and production had ended.[3]
The aircraft was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, including the category's maximum gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb). The aircraft has a maximum gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb). It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit with an optional cockpit fairing, tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in pusher configuration.[1]
The aircraft is made from composites and steel tubing, with its double surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. A number of different wings can be fitted to the basic carriage, but typical is a 10.50 m (34.4 ft) span wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. The powerplant is a twin cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 50 hp (37 kW) Rotax 503 or the twin cylinder, liquid-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 64 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 engine. The aircraft has an empty weight of 130 kg (287 lb) and a gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb), giving a useful load of 320 kg (705 lb). With full fuel of 42 litres (9.2 imp gal; 11 US gal) the payload is 290 kg (639 lb).[1][4]
The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off and landing roll with a 50 hp (37 kW) engine is 30 m (98 ft).[1]
The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 150 hours.[1]
By 1998 the company reported that 250 kits had been sold were flying.[1]
Data from Purdy[1]
General characteristics
Performance
Flight Team aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Ultralight trikes | |
Pipistrel aircraft | |
|---|---|
| Aircraft | |