The Capella XS is a family of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

high wing, tractor configuration, cabin aircraft that were produced in kit form by

Capella Aircraft Capella Aircraft Corporation was an American aircraft manufacturer based in Austin, Texas. Formed about 1988, the company specialized in the design and manufacture of light aircraft in the form of kits for amateur construction, including for t ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

and intended for amateur construction.Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 40. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 136-7. BAI Communications. Capella Aircraft went out of business in late 2007, and the series is no longer in production.

Design and development

The single seat ''SS'' model was introduced in 1988. All members of the design family were available as optionally

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

tricycle 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 ...

-equipped aircraft. The family of aircraft all share common design features, including an enclosed cabin-style

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 ...

horizontal stabilizer 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 gyroplan ...

and tail fin all constructed of welded

4130 steel 41xx steel is a family of SAE steel grades, as specified by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). Alloying elements include chromium and molybdenum, and as a result these materials are often informally referred to as chromoly steel (common ...

tubing. The wing is framed from riveted

aluminium 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. I ...

tubing with all surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. The wing includes flaps and has an optional folding system for transport and storage. The landing gear arrangement includes sprung-steel main gear and a similarly sprung steerable tail wheel or optional sprung-steel nose wheel. The single-seat SS model was developed into a line of side-by-side two seaters with different engine and fuselage designs.

Variants

;SS :Single seat cabin light aircraft with a gross weight of and powered by a Rotax 447 or a Rotax 503 engine. The fuselage incorporates a rear window. First flown in 1988. ;XS :Two seats in side-by-side configuration cabin light aircraft with a gross weight of and powered by a Rotax 582 engine. The fuselage incorporates a rear window. First flown in 1990. ;XLS :Two seats in side-by-side configuration cabin light aircraft with a gross weight of and powered by an

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

four-stroke engine. The fuselage incorporates a rear window. First flown in 1990. ;XLS Super 100 :Two seats in side-by-side configuration cabin light aircraft with a gross weight of and powered by a

Rotax 912S The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, later ...

four-stroke engine. Available in ''TR'' tricycle gear and ''TD'' taildragger models. The fuselage incorporates a rear window. ;Fastback :Two seats in side-by-side configuration cabin light aircraft with a gross weight of and powered by a

four-stroke engine. First flown in 1995. Fuselage differs from the XS in that the rear window is eliminated and replaced with a high rear

turtle deck Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tur ...

, rendering the aircraft similar in appearance to a Piper J-3 Cub,

Aeronca Champ The Aeronca Model 7 Champion, commonly known as the "Champ", or "Airknocker",Bellanca Aircraft Corp, " d: "The Champ only $4,995"" ''Flying Annual & Pilots' Guide,'' 1971 ed., pp.36–37 iff-Davis NY is a single-engine light airplane with a ...

or Taylorcraft B.

Specifications (XS)

References

{{Capella Aircraft XS 1980s United States ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft

Design and development

Variants

Specifications (XS)

See also

References