The Euro-ALA Jet Fox is an Italian single-engine ultralight aircraft, seating two 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 ...

.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 138. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X Production began in the early 1990s, with 280 sold by 2010.

Design and development

The Jet Fox is a

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 ...

aircraft, its deep side-by-side cabin and relatively slender rear fuselage giving it a pod-and-boom appearance. The parallel chord, fabric covered wing, mounted over the cabin is braced with a pair of narrow, V-form lift struts from the lower forward fuselage. The wings fold for transport. The fuselage has a tubular metal structure within a carbon fibre shell. The cabin is fully enclosed, with two large transparent doors. The Jet Fox has a short legged

tricycle undercarriage 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 ge ...

, with spatted mainwheels on

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

legs fixed to the fuselage at the same point as the lift struts; it sits quite tail high on the ground. Tail surfaces are conventional, with a swept, straight tapered

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

and

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

. The Rotax engine is tractor mounted above and forward of the wing, projecting over the cabin. Two engine choices are available, a 64 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 or an 80 hp (60 kW)

Rotax 912 UL 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 ...

. The original Jet Fox 91 first flew in 1991, with 140 sold by 1993. It was followed by the Jet Fox 97, which first flew on 10 March 1997 and had a fully cowled engine. Later improvements included better soundproofing. By 2010, 280 examples of all models had been sold. A proposed version with aluminium skinned wings,

Fowler flap A flap is a high-lift device used to reduce the stalling speed of an aircraft wing at a given weight. Flaps are usually mounted on the wing trailing edges of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps are used to reduce the take-off distance and the landing ...

s and with easier access to a wider cabin was not proceeded with. An

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

version appeared at Sun 'n' Fun 2006, fitted with a 100 hp (75 kW) Rotax 912S engine. In 2010 a deal between Euro-ALA and Aircraft Holdings, a

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

n company, formed Euroala Industries Sdn Bhd to acquire all production and design right and to move Jet Fox production to a site near

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

where labour costs are lower than in Italy.

Aircraft on display

A Jet Fox 91D is on display in the Auto und Technik Museum, Sinsheim, Germany.

Variants

''Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft ;Jet Fox 91 :Initial 1991 version. 140 built. ;Jet Fox 97 :Improved (engine cowling, sound proofing) introduced 1997. 140 built, including current versions. ''Current versions, based on Jet Fox 97'' ;Jet Fox Amphib :US amphibian version with 73.5 kW (98.6 hp)

Rotax 912 ULS 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 ...

. Maximum take off eight 622 kg (1,373 lb). ;Jet Fox GT :Powered by a 73.5 kW (98.6 hp)

. ; Airo 1 :Sold by Airo Aviation (United Arab Emirates). Some small specification changes, e.g. span reduced by 335 mm (13 in), fuel capacity increased. ;Airo 1F :Floatplane version of Airo 1.

Specifications (Jet Fox 97, Rotax 912)

References

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation 1990s Italian sport aircraft 1990s Italian ultralight aircraft