The Escapade Kid is a single-engine, single-seat,

high-wing monoplane 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 ...

, developed and built 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 ...

in the 2000s.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 46. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 47. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

Despite its name, the Kid is not a direct development of the Reality Escapade but seems to be a derivative of the Flying K Sky Raider, the predecessor of the Reality Sky Raider. Escapade took over the Kid in 2008 from Reality, whose address they share. The Kid has a welded steel frame structure, fabric covered. Its high wings have constant chord and are built around two spars, one of which also forms the wing

leading edge The leading edge is the part of the wing that first contacts the air;Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. alternatively it is the foremost edge of an airfoil sectio ...

. The wing carries balanced

ailerons 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 around ...

and flaps; they fold back for transport, remaining horizontal. Each wing is braced by a V-form pair of struts, assisted by

jury strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

ting. The

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French language, French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds Aircrew, crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an Aircraft engine, engine as wel ...

is flat sided with a narrow dorsal ridge sloping upwards from the tail to the wing

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. ...

. The single seat cabin is below the wing, its windows full-chord and the screen just forward of the leading edge. Access is via a hinged transparency and shallow hinged fuselage panel. The Kid usually has an 18 kW (24 hp)

Hirth F33 The Hirth F-33 is a single cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engine designed for use on ultralight aircraft, including powered paragliders and ultralight trikes. the engine is noted for its extremely light base weight of . It is ma ...

single cylinder

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

, though the 30 kW (40 hp) Aero 40

Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric (mechanism), eccentric Pistonless rotary engine, rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. The concept was proven by German engineer Felix Wankel, f ...

is an alternative. The Kid has its tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage, braced with V-struts from below and wire-braced to the

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. F ...

above. The fin and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, airship, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (usually air or water). On an airplane, the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw ...

are broad chord and rounded. The starboard elevator has a

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger Flight control surfaces, control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the ...

. The undercarriage is fixed and conventional, with brakeable mainwheels on faired-in V-struts hinged to the lower fuselage

longerons In engineering, a longeron or stringer is a load-bearing component of a framework. The term is commonly used in connection with aircraft fuselages and automobile chassis. Longerons are used in conjunction with stringers to form structural frame ...

, with bungee-sprung half axles mounted on a central compression frame. There is a solid tailwheel.

Operational history

The Kid made its first public appearance in November 2008 at the Sport and Leisure Aviation Show held in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

, UK. It is available either as a kit for home building or in ready to fly form. With an empty weight of 115 kg (340 lb) and a wing loading just less than the 10 kg/m² (2.05 lb/ft²), the Kid qualifies in the UK as a single seat deregulated ( SSDR) microlight, so does not require a Certificate of Airworthiness or a Permit to Fly. In spring 2012 there were three Kids on the UK civil aircraft register.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title= Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2011-12, last= Jackson , first= Paul , edition= , year=2011, publisher=IHS Jane's, location= Coulsdon, Surrey, isbn=978-0-7106-2955-5 , pages=590 http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=summary&aircrafttype=Escapade%20Kid {{cite web , url=http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=summary&aircrafttype=Escapade%20Kidl, title=CAA - Escape Kid , author= , date= , publisher= , accessdate=30 May 2012 2000s British sport aircraft High-wing aircraft