The Ultralight Engineering Astra () is an American

high-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 ...

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 ...

, cable-braced, single-seat, open cockpit, single engine in

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

ultralight aircraft 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 Aircraft flight control system, conventional three-a ...

that was designed and produced by Ultralight Engineering in the 1980s. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page E-2. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft exist outside of the United States. In most countries, ultralights are a class of aircraft. A completely different legal concept is valid within the USA. The FAA makes explicitly clear that ultralight vehicles are not air ...

rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The Astra's standard empty weight is . Like many ultralights of the early 1980s, it was derived from the Eipper Quicksilver and generally resembles that aircraft. The Astra primarily improved upon the Quicksilver in its main landing gear design, which is suspended by

coil spring A tension coil spring A coil spring is a mechanical device that typically is used to store energy and subsequently release it, to absorb shock, or to maintain a force between contacting surfaces. It is made of an elastic material formed into the ...

s to reduce the chances of damage during rough landings. The

airframe The mechanical structure of an aircraft is known as the airframe. This structure is typically considered to include the fuselage, undercarriage, empennage and wings, and excludes the propulsion system. Airframe design is a field of aeros ...

is made from bolted-together

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

tubing and covered in

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foods ...

sailcloth. The span wing is braced by cables from a kingpost. The controls are three-axis, with roll controlled by three small spoilers mounted on each wing. The standard factory supplied engine was the

Rotax 377 The Rotax 377 is a , twin-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, that was built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Development Th ...

of and it is mounted on the

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. ...

of the wing, with the propeller in between the four tailboom tubes. The aircraft can be assembled or disassembled for storage or ground transportation by two people in fifteen minutes. Ultralight Engineering went out of business after the fatal crash of a prototype of another design and production of the Astra ended at the same time.

Specifications (Astra)

References

{{reflist 1980s United States ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft