The Ekolot KR-030 Topaz is a Polish ultralight aircraft, designed and produced by Ekolot of

Krosno Krosno (in full ''The Royal Free City of Krosno'', pl, Królewskie Wolne Miasto Krosno) is a historical town and county in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in southeastern Poland. The estimated population of the town is 47,140 inhabitants as of ...

. It was certified in Poland in February 2010. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 44. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 45. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The Topaz is a development of the

Ekolot JK-05L Junior The Ekolot JK-05L Junior is a Polish ultralight aircraft, designed and produced by Ekolot of Krosno. It was certified in Poland in February 2010. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly aircraf ...

and was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules. It 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 confi ...

in place of the Junior's strut-braced wing, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

enclosed cockpit, 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

tractor configuration In aviation, the term tractor configuration refers to an aircraft constructed in the standard configuration with its engine mounted with the propeller in front of it so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. Oppositely, the pusher co ...

. Like the Junior, the Topaz is made from composites. Its span wing employs an NN-1817 airfoil, has an area of and flaps. Dual fuel tanks are located behind the seats. A

ballistic parachute A ballistic parachute, ballistic reserve parachute, or emergency ballistic reserve parachute, is a parachute ejected from its casing by a small explosion, much like that used in an ejection seat. The advantage of the ballistic parachute over a co ...

is an available option. The standard engine available is the

Rotax 912UL 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, l ...

four-stroke powerplant. The use of a one-piece wing without struts gives the Topaz a higher cruise speed than the Junior, while resulting in the same empty weight. The Topaz has been accepted by the US

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 ...

as a light-sport aircraft.

Specifications (KR-030 Topaz)

References

External links

* {{Ekolot aircraft 2010s Polish ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Ekolot aircraft