The Fly Synthesis Texan is an Italian ultralight and

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...

, designed and produced by Fly Synthesis and which has been in production since 1999. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 52. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 55. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...

microlight rules and US light-sport aircraft rules. It features a cantilever low-wing, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed or retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from carbon fibre. Its span wing has an area of and flaps. Standard engines available are the

Rotax 912UL The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

, the Rotax 912ULS and the

Jabiru 2200 The Jabiru 2200 is a lightweight naturally aspirated, pushrod four-stroke, flat four, air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. Design and development The conventional direct-drive engine is fitted with an alternator, silencers, ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplants.

Operational history

On 23 November 2013, six Fly Synthesis Texans broke the

Guinness world record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for the lowest flying formation by flying at below sea level at the

Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

.AOPA Israel (November 2013
New Israeli Guinness Record of lowest, below sea level, formation flight has been broken 23 November 2013
retrieved 13 March 2014

Variants

;Texan 600 :Version with a gross weight of and with fixed landing gear, for the United States light-sport aircraft class. Known as the ''Lafayette Texan'' in the US. ;Texan Top Class :Version with a gross weight of and with fixed landing gear, for the European microlight aircraft class. ;Texan Club :Version of the Texan Top Class with a gross weight of , with fixed landing gear and equipped with a

engine for the European microlight aircraft class. ;Texan RG :Version of the Texan Top Class with a gross weight of and retractable landing gear for the European microlight aircraft class.

Specifications (Texan Top Class)

References

External links

* {{Fly Synthesis aircraft 1990s Italian ultralight aircraft Light-sport aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft