The Urban Air Samba is a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
designed and built light aircraft of the 1990s which incorporates
composite construction
Composite construction is a generic term to describe any building construction involving multiple dissimilar materials. Composite construction is often used in building aircraft, watercraft, and building construction. There are several reasons to ...
. It remained in series production in 2017.
[Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 43. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
Production of the
Urban Air
Urban Air was an aircraft manufacturer based in the Czech Republic.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 166. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003.
The company was a manufacturer of Light-sport air ...
's designs, including the Samba, was taken up by
Distar Air
Distar Air is a Czech aircraft manufacturer based in Ústà nad OrlicÃ. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction as well as ready-to-fly aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin ...
of
Ústà nad OrlicÃ
Ústà nad Orlicà (; ) is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 14,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monument z ...
, Czech Republic in about 2010.
[Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 41. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ]
Development
Urban Air SPO designed and built their first model, the two-seat side-by-side
Urban Air UFM-13 Lambada, which first flew in 1996. From their original model, they developed the UFM-10 Samba which was of similar overall design, using all-composite construction. The wings were reduced in span and a conventional tail unit was incorporated in place of the 'T' layout of the Lambada. The earlier tailwheel undercarriage was replaced by a fixed tricycle layout.
The Samba XXL is a further development, introduced in 2003 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 ...
microlight category, with a modified fuselage providing a larger and repositioned cockpit canopy, modified engine cowling and a more streamlined tail unit.
[Simpson, 2005, p. 301]
Variants
;Airo 5
:Licensed version produced by
Airo Aviation
Airo Aviation FZ-LLC was an Emirati aircraft manufacturer based in the Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone. The company specialized in the manufacture of ultralight aircraft in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the European Fédération Aérona ...
,
Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone,
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...
.
Specifications (Samba XXL)
References
;Notes
;Bibliography
*
External links
Official website
{{Airo aircraft
1990s Czech and Czechoslovak civil utility aircraft
Distar Air aircraft
Airo Aviation aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1999
Low-wing aircraft