The Flitzer Z-21 or Staaken Flitzer is a British amateur-built aircraft, designed by Lynn Williams and produced by

Flitzer Sportplanes Flitzer was a steel roller coaster on the Surfside Pier in the amusement park Morey's Piers. The Flitzer was 1 of the 3 small coasters at Morey's Piers. It opened in 1983 and was manufactured by Zierer in 1969. In 2018, it was announced th ...

of Aberdare,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The aircraft is supplied as plans for amateur construction.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 103. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 108. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. In the late 1990s it was also marketed as plans and in kit form by

Bell Aeromarine A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

of Leicester, UK.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 362. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998.

Design and development

The Z-21 is a single-seat, open cockpit 1920s-style

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

with fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Ter ...

with spoked wheels and a single engine in

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. The aircraft is made from wood, with its flying surfaces covered in doped

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

. Its span wing has a combined area of and

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 t ...

on the bottom wing only. The aircraft was designed for the

Volkswagen air-cooled engine The Volkswagen air-cooled engine is an air-cooled, gasoline-fuelled, boxer engine with four horizontally opposed cast-iron cylinders, cast aluminum alloy cylinder heads and pistons, magnesium-alloy crankcase, and forged steel crankshaft and co ...

, but other variants have been developed that use a variety of engines, including the Rotec R2800

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

. Further planned developments include a

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

two seater, a four aileron version and a lighter weight version. Staaken Z21Flitzer

Operational history

In August 2014 there were eleven Flitzers registered 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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Specifications (Z-21)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.flitzerbiplane.com/ Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Welsh brands