The Bilsam Ultra Cruiser is a family of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

microlight 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 ...

designed and produced by Bilsam Aviation of

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint Joh ...

, introduced in the 2000s. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft, as a kit and in the form of plans for amateur construction.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 130. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X The manufacturer's website is non-functional and has been so since about 2008, so it is not clear if the company is still in business.

Design and development

The Ultra Cruiser was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale

microlight 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 conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

category, including the category's maximum gross weight of and 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 req ...

rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The Ultra Cruiser I features a cantilever

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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...

, fixed

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 pusher configuration. The aircraft is made from

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

. Its span wing has a wing area of . The standard engines used are the Hirth F-33

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

or the Bilsam TNA 650 Suzuki automotive conversion powerplant. The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for pilot and baggage is .

Variants

;Ultra Cruiser I :Single-seat version ;Ultra Cruiser II :Two-seat version

Specifications (Ultra Cruiser I)

References

External links

* {{Bilsam aircraft Ultra Cruiser 2000s Polish sport aircraft 2000s Polish ultralight aircraft 2000s Polish civil utility aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft High-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft