The Aero Designs Pulsar is an American two-seat, low wing, ultralight and homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Mark Brown and first produced by

Aero Designs Aero Designs was an American aircraft manufacturer based in San Antonio, Texas. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of composite kit aircraft.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 253 ...

of San Antonio, Texas, introduced in 1985. When it was available the Pulsar was supplied as a ready-to-fly aircraft and as a kitplane for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 253. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The aircraft was later produced by

Skystar Aircraft Skystar or SkyStar may refer to: *Skyfly S-34 Skystar, a Swiss ultralight aircraft *Skystar 300, an Israeli surveillance blimp *SkyStar Movies, is a Bollywood based movies channel * SkyStar Aircraft, a defunct American aircraft manufacturer that ope ...

of Nampa, Idaho and then by

Pulsar Aircraft A pulsar (from ''pulsating radio source'') is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Ea ...

of El Monte, California. Each subsequent manufacturer introduced new variants.

Design and development

The Pulsar was a development of the Star-Lite Aircraft Star Lite and features a cantilever low-wing, a two-seats-in- side-by-side configuration open cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed tricycle landing gear or optionally conventional landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from composites. Its span wing employs a NASA MS(1)-0313 mod

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine. ...

, mounts flaps and has a wing area of . The cabin width is . The acceptable power range is and the standard engines used are the Rotax 532 two-stroke, the

BMW R1100S The BMW R1100S is a sports motorcycle that was manufactured by BMW Motorrad between 1998 and 2005. Introduced some 25 years after the R90S, the company's first sports bike, the R1100S was the first BMW bike having clip-on handlebars, rearset footr ...

or the Rotax 912ULS or the Rotax 914

turbocharged In an internal combustion engine, a turbocharger (often called a turbo) is a forced induction device that is powered by the flow of exhaust gases. It uses this energy to compress the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to pro ...

powerplant. The Pulsar Series II has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passengers and baggage is . The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off with a engine is and the landing roll is . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 1000 hours.

Operational history

In March 2014 130 examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of 195 had been registered at one time. In March 2014 five were registered with Transport Canada and 29 with the

CAA CAA may refer to: Law * Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 of India ** Citizenship Amendment Act protests, Protests regarding the Citizenship (Amendment) Act * Copyright transfer agreement, Copyright assignment agreement, to transfer copyright to ...

in the United Kingdom.

Variants

;Pulsar :Original model, powered by a Rotax 532 two-stroke powerplant and introduced in 1985 by Aero Designs. ;Pulsar XP (also called the XP912) :Improved model, with higher gross weight, powered by an Rotax 912UL

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

powerplant and introduced in 1992 by Aero Designs. ;Pulsar Series II :Improved model, powered by a Rotax 912ULS

or Rotax 914

powerplant and produced by SkyStar Aircraft. ;Pulsar III :Improved model, powered by a Rotax 912UL

or Jabiru 2200 powerplant, tricycle landing gear or conventional landing gear and produced by Pulsar Aircraft starting in 1989. A total of 500 kits were claimed to have been delivered by 2005. ;Pulsar SP100 :Super Pulsar introduced in 2001, powered by an Rotax 912UL

or Jabiru 3300 powerplant, Continental or Lycoming engines, produced by Pulsar Aircraft.

Specifications (Pulsar Series II)

References

External links

{{Commons category, Aero Designs Pulsar

Pulsar A pulsar (from ''pulsating radio source'') is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles. This radiation can be observed only when a beam of emission is pointing toward Ea ...

1980s United States sport aircraft 1980s United States ultralight aircraft 1980s United States civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft