The Escapade Kid is a single-engine, single-seat, high-wing monoplane, developed and built in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the 2000s.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 46. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 47. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

Despite its name, the Kid is not a direct development of the Reality Escapade but seems to be a derivative of the

Flying K Sky Raider The Flying K Sky Raider is a family of American, high wing, strut-braced, single engine, conventional landing gear ultralight aircraft that was designed by Ken Schrader and produced by Flying K Enterprises and later Sky Raider LLC of Cal ...

, the predecessor of the Reality Sky Raider. Escapade took over the Kid in 2008 from Reality, whose address they share. The Kid has a welded steel frame structure, fabric covered. Its high wings have constant chord and are built around two spars, one of which also forms the wing

leading edge The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...

. The wing carries balanced

ailerons An aileron (French for "little wing" or "fin") is a hinged flight control surface usually forming part of the trailing edge of each wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Ailerons are used in pairs to control the aircraft in roll (or movement around ...

and flaps; they fold back for transport, remaining horizontal. Each wing is braced by a V-form pair of struts, assisted by

jury strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of strut, which act in ...

ting. The

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 aircraf ...

is flat sided with a narrow dorsal ridge sloping upwards from the tail to the wing

trailing edge The trailing edge of an aerodynamic surface such as a wing is its rear edge, where the airflow separated by the leading edge meets.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 521. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 199 ...

. The single seat cabin is below the wing, its windows full-chord and the screen just forward of the leading edge. Access is via a hinged transparency and shallow hinged fuselage panel. The Kid usually has an 18 kW (24 hp) Hirth F33 single cylinder

two-stroke engine 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 ...

, though the 30 kW (40 hp) Aero 40

Wankel engine The Wankel engine (, ) is a type of internal combustion engine using an eccentric rotary design to convert pressure into rotating motion. It was invented by German engineer Felix Wankel, and designed by German engineer Hanns-Dieter Paschke. ...

is an alternative. The Kid has its tailplane mounted on top of the fuselage, braced with V-struts from below and wire-braced to the

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 ...

above. The 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 air or water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adve ...

are broad chord and rounded. The starboard elevator has a

trim tab Trim tabs are small surfaces connected to the trailing edge of a larger control surface on a boat or aircraft, used to control the trim of the controls, i.e. to counteract hydro- or aerodynamic forces and stabilise the boat or aircraft in a pa ...

. The undercarriage is fixed and conventional, with brakeable mainwheels on faired-in V-struts hinged to the lower fuselage longerons, with bungee-sprung half axles mounted on a central compression frame. There is a solid tailwheel.

Operational history

The Kid made its first public appearance in November 2008 at the Sport and Leisure Aviation Show held in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, UK. It is available either as a kit for home building or in ready to fly form. With an empty weight of 115 kg (340 lb) and a wing loading just less than the 10 kg/m² (2.05 lb/ft²), the Kid qualifies in the UK as a single seat deregulated ( SSDR) microlight, so does not require a Certificate of Airworthiness or a Permit to Fly. In spring 2012 there were three Kids on the UK civil aircraft register.

Specifications

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite book , title= Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2011-12, last= Jackson , first= Paul , edition= , year=2011, publisher=IHS Jane's, location= Coulsdon, Surrey, isbn=978-0-7106-2955-5 , pages=590 http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=summary&aircrafttype=Escapade%20Kid {{cite web , url=http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=60&pagetype=65&appid=1&mode=summary&aircrafttype=Escapade%20Kidl, title=CAA - Escape Kid , author= , date= , publisher= , accessdate=30 May 2012 2000s British sport aircraft High-wing aircraft