The Aero Designs Pulsar is an American two-seat, low wing,

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

and

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed by Mark Brown and first produced by Aero Designs of

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

, introduced in 1985. When it was available the Pulsar was supplied as a ready-to-fly aircraft and as a kitplane for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 253. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The aircraft was later produced by Skystar Aircraft of

Nampa, Idaho Nampa () is the most populous city in Canyon County, Idaho, United States. The population was 100,200 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is Idaho's List of cities in Idaho, third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise, Id ...

and then by Pulsar Aircraft of

El Monte, California El Monte is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The city lies in the San Gabriel Valley, east of the city of Los Angeles. El Monte's slogan is "Welcome to Friendly El Monte" and is historically known as "The End of the San ...

. Each subsequent manufacturer introduced new variants.

Design and development

The Pulsar was a development of the Star-Lite Aircraft Star Lite and 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 open cockpit under a

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 ...

or optionally

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 ...

with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from composites. Its span wing employs a

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

MS(1)-0313 mod

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 cabin width is . The acceptable power range is and the standard engines used are the

Rotax 532 The Rotax 532 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary valve engine, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive engine that was formerly manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It was designed for use on ultralight aircraft.Ra ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

, the BMW R1100S or the Rotax 912ULS or the Rotax 914

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (also known as a turbo or a turbosupercharger) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake air, forcing more air into the ...

powerplant. The Pulsar Series II has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passengers and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 1000 hours.

Operational history

In March 2014 130 examples were registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...

, although a total of 195 had been registered at one time. In March 2014 five were registered with

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

and 29 with the CAA in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Variants

;Pulsar :Original model, powered by a

two-stroke powerplant and introduced in 1985 by Aero Designs. ;Pulsar XP (also called the XP912) :Improved model, with higher gross weight, powered by an

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 ...

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 ...

powerplant and introduced in 1992 by Aero Designs. ;Pulsar Series II :Improved model, powered by a Rotax 912ULS

or Rotax 914

powerplant and produced by SkyStar Aircraft. ;Pulsar III :Improved model, powered by an

or Jabiru 2200 powerplant,

and produced by Pulsar Aircraft starting in 1989. A total of 500 kits were claimed to have been delivered by 2005. ;Pulsar SP100 :Super Pulsar introduced in 2001, powered by an

or Jabiru 3300 powerplant, Continental or Lycoming engines, produced by Pulsar Aircraft.

Specifications (Pulsar Series II)

References

External links

{{Commons category

Pulsar A pulsar (''pulsating star, on the model of quasar'') is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its Poles of astronomical bodies#Magnetic poles, magnetic poles. This radiation can be obse ...

1980s United States sport aircraft 1980s United States ultralight aircraft 1980s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft