The American Sportscopter Ultrasport 254 is an American

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

that was designed and produced by

American Sportscopter American Sportscopter, Inc., also called American Sportscopter International, Inc., was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Newport News, Virginia. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of helicopters in the form of the U ...

and first flown in July 1993. The aircraft was produced by Light's American Sportscopter Inc from 1999. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page F-6. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Downey, Julia: ''2005 Trikes 'Chutes and Rotorcraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 22, Number 2, February 2005, page 54. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...

rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a single main rotor, an enclosed cockpit with a windshield, skid-type

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

and a twin cylinder, air-cooled,

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 ...

, single-ignition

Hirth 2703 The Hirth 2702 and 2703 are a family of in-line twin cylinder, two stroke, carburetted aircraft engines designed for use on ultralight aircraft and especially two seat ultralight trainers, single seat gyrocopters, and small homebuilts. It ...

engine. The aircraft

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

fairing is made from composites. Its diameter

main rotor A helicopter main rotor or rotor system is the combination of several rotary wings (rotor blades) with a control system, that generates the aerodynamic lift force that supports the weight of the helicopter, and the thrust that counteracts aerody ...

employs an ATI 012 (VR-7 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. ...

at the blade root, becoming an ATI 008 (VR-7 mod) at the tip. The main and

tail rotor The tail rotor is a smaller rotor mounted vertically or near-vertically at the tail of a traditional single-rotor helicopter, where it rotates to generate a propeller-like horizontal thrust in the same direction as the main rotor's rotation. The ...

blades are of honeycomb composite construction. The cyclic control is roof-mounted, hanging down into the cockpit, but is otherwise conventional. The diameter tail rotor features a shrouded tail rotor and a

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...

with end-fins. When it was available, the aircraft could be purchased as a 150-hour assembly kit or as a 60-hour quick-build kit. No plans were available.

Specifications (Ultrasport 254)

References

{{American Sportscopter aircraft Ultrasport 254 1990s United States sport aircraft 1990s United States helicopters Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined piston helicopters

Design and development

Specifications (Ultrasport 254)

See also

References