The Storm 320E, sometimes written Storm 320 E, is an Italian microlight aircraft that was designed and produced by Storm Aircraft of

Sabaudia Sabaudia is a coastal town on the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the province of Latina, Lazio, in central Italy. Sabaudia's centre is characterised by several examples of Fascist architecture, as it was one of several towns built in the 1930s built on land ...

. Storm Aircraft was originally called ''SG Aviation srl''. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 246. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

Designed for the

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) 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 maintains worl ...

European microlight class, the Storm 320E features a cantilever

low-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

enclosed cockpit under a forward-hinged

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can vary drastically; so ...

, fixed

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

with

wheel pants An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...

, and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...

. A

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

version is designated the Storm 280. The aircraft is made from aluminum sheet with some

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass c ...

parts. Its span wing employs a NACA 4415

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...

, mounts flaps and has a wing area of . The wing planform is rectangular, but the

aileron An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement aroun ...

s taper outboard, giving an overall tapered result. The cabin width is . The acceptable power range is and the standard engine used is the

Rotax 912UL The Rotax 912 is a flat-four engine, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke engine, four-stroke aircraft engine with a Propeller speed reduction unit, reduction gearbox. It features Radiator (engine cooling), l ...

powerplant. The Storm 320E has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for pilot, passenger and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with an engine is and the landing roll is . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 400 hours or 250 hours from the quick-build kit.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that 100 of the 280 and 320E model kits combined had been sold and 70 aircraft were completed and flying.

Variants

;Storm 320E :

Tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

version ;Storm 280 :

Conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...

version

Specifications (Storm 320E)

References

External links

Photo of Storm 320EPhoto of Storm 280
{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation 320E 1990s Italian sport aircraft 1990s Italian ultralight aircraft 1990s Italian civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft