Aeroprakt Ltd. (ТОВ «Аеропракт») is a Ukrainian

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and founded in 1991 by . The company specializes in the design and manufacture of

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a Maximum Takeoff Weight, maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are use ...

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 ...

and ultralights in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly aircraft.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 116-118. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', pages 20, 154. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', pages 17-20, 138. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The company is a "Товариство з обмеженою відповідальністю" a form of limited liability company. It has about 50 employees and operates from a facility.

History

The company was founded as an amateur aircraft design club by Yuri Yakovlev when he graduated from the Kuybyshev Aviation Institute and commenced work at

Antonov Antonov (d/b/a Antonov Company, formerly the Aeronautical Scientific-Technical Complex named after Antonov or Antonov ASTC, and earlier the Antonov Design Bureau, for its chief designer, Oleg Antonov) is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing and ...

in Kyiv in 1986. It was at the time of Ukrainian independence from the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in 1991 that the company was formally formed. The company was named after a similar-named the Kuybyshev Aviation Institute student's design bureau (SDB «Aeroprakt»), founded while Yakovlev was there at school. In 1981, Yakovlev, being a student of 3rd course at Kuybyshev Aviation Institute, started research on

Rutan Quickie The Rutan Model 54 Quickie is a lightweight single-seat taildragger aircraft of composite construction, configured with tandem wings. The Quickie was primarily designed by Burt Rutan as a low-powered, highly efficient kit-plane. Its tandem w ...

using as initial data a single publication in Finnish aviation magazine. Till 1984 he, together with few other members of SDB «Aeroprakt», designed and built an experimental aircraft Aeroprakt-8 (Aeroprakt A-8), that was a reverse engineered and modified copy of the Quickie. The next aircraft of the SDB «Aeroprakt» was

Aeroprakt T-8 Aeroprakt Ltd. (ТОВ «Аеропракт») is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer based in Kyiv and founded in 1991 by . The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft, homebuilt aircraft and ultralights in the for ...

, a simple two-seat

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 ...

trainer. The prototype was constructed in 1987, using photos of French ULM (ultralight monoplane) «Baroudeur», designed by André Confesson, which was photographed in details at

Paris Air Show The Paris Air Show (, ''Salon du Bourget'') is a trade fair and air show held in odd years at Paris–Le Bourget Airport in France. Organized by the French aerospace industry's primary representative body, the ''Groupement des industries frança ...

. Aeroprakt T-8 first shown in the Soviet Union in 1989, but did not enter series production, despite winning awards. In 1991, Yakovlev together with Oleg Litovchenko founded Ukrainian company «Aeroprakt» (formally «Aeroprakt-Kyiv», while in Russia «Aeroprakt-Samara» has been founded by members of Kuybyshev Aviation Institute student's design bureau). The first true production aircraft was the

Aeroprakt A-20 Vista The Aeroprakt A-20 Vista is a family of Ukrainian tandem two-seat high-wing, strut-braced, pusher configuration conventional landing gear, ultralight aircraft, produced by Aeroprakt. The A-20 was introduced into the North American market at Ai ...

known locally as the ''Chervonets'', the first prototype of which was finished in August 1991. As a result of the design and the political situation at the time, the club became the Kyiv division of Lada-Mononor, a joint Soviet-Finnish venture that was headquartered in

Tolyatti Tolyatti or Togliatti ( , ; , ), known before 1964 as Stavropol, is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Samara Oblast, Russia. It is the largest city in Russia which is neither the administrative center of a federal subjects of Rus ...

, Russia. Yuri Yakovlev was named the Chief Designer and Oleg Litovchenko became its director. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 the company became an independent entity and the A-20 entered production, with the first production aircraft delivered in July, 1993. November 1996 saw the introduction of the A-22 Foxbat, known locally as the ''Sharik'' () and the twin-engined A-26 Vulcan as well. The company has continued to develop new aircraft based on the A-20 concept, including the A-28 Victor and the A-36 Vulcan. In 2014 the A-32 Vixxen, a development of the A-22, was introduced.

Aircraft

Summary of aircraft built by Aeroprakt. A-6, A-8, and all the odd numbered are built Kuybyshev, USSR and Samara, Russia; while all of the rest (most even numbered) built in Kyiv, Ukraine:

Aircraft by SDB Aeroprakt, now Aeroprakt-Samara (Kuybyshev, USSR, now Samara, Russia)

* Aeroprakt A-6 White *

Aeroprakt A-8 Aeroprakt Ltd. (ТОВ «Аеропракт») is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer based in Kyiv and founded in 1991 by . The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft, homebuilt aircraft and ultralights in the for ...

* Aeroprakt A-11M Hamlet * Aeroprakt A-15 * Aeroprakt A-19 * Aeroprakt A-21 Solo * Aeroprakt A-23 Dragon * Aeroprakt A-25 Breeze * Aeroprakt A-27 * Aeroprakt A-33 Dragon * Aeroprakt A-37 * Aeroprakt A-41

Aircraft by Aeroprakt Ltd. (Kyiv, Ukraine, formerly Kyiv SDB)

Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat The Aeroprakt A-22 Foxbat is a Ukrainian two-seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight aircraft that was designed by Yuri Yakovlev and is manufactured by Aeroprakt. In the United States the A-22 is referred to as the ''Valor'', while ...

Aeroprakt A-24 Viking The Aeroprakt A-24 Viking is a Ukrainian three-seat light-sport amphibian designed for home building and marketed in kit form by Aeroprakt.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 20. WDLA UK ...

Aeroprakt A-26 Vulcan The Aeroprakt A-26 Vulcan is a light twin engine aircraft developed from a modified Aeroprakt A-20 light single aircraft. Some models imported to the United States are registered as Spectrum Aircraft SA-26 Vulcan. Design and development The A ...

Aeroprakt A-28 Victor The Aeroprakt A-28 Victor is a Ukrainian light aircraft, designed and produced by Aeroprakt of Kyiv. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2 ...

* Aeroprakt A-30 Vista Speedster * Aeroprakt A-32 Vixxen * Aeroprakt A-36 Super Vulcan

References

External links

* {{Aeroprakt aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of Ukraine Manufacturing companies based in Kyiv Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft