The Airmotive EOS 001 is an American

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed and produced by Airmotive Engineers of

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction, but is no longer available.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', page 140. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977.

Design and development

The aircraft features a cantilever low-wing, a single-seat, enclosed open cockpit under a bubble canopy, retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle g ...

and a single engine in tractor configuration. The aircraft is made from bonded and

pop rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched o ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

sheet and has a span wing. Optimized for simplicity of construction, the design has no compound curves and requires no

jig The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts o ...

s or special tools. The standard engine intended to be supplied with the kit was the

two-stroke 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 (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

Hirth 2702 powerplant with a reduction gearbox that allowed the propeller to operate at lower tip speeds. This engine permits the EOS 001 to cruise at and achieve a top level speed of . The prototype was equipped with a

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 ...

. The aircraft has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is . In 1978 the claimed completion cost was

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

2,000, not counting labor.

Operational history

The prototype EOS 001 was registered in the United States with the

Federal Aviation Administration The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

(FAA) in 1978. By October 2013 two examples, including the prototype, had been at one time registered in the United States with the FAA, but both registrations were later canceled and it is likely that no examples of this type exist today.

Specifications (version)

References

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External links

Photo of an EOS 001
EOS 001 1970s United States sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Low-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft