The Millennium Master is a

low 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 ...

, single engine,

tandem 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 ...

two-seat

ultralight 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 conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

, constructed chiefly of carbon fibre. Designed and built in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, it flew for the first time in 2006.

Design and development

The design of the Millennium Master stemmed from that of an earlier, wooden Asso X kit built aircraft but the structure has been entirely transformed into prepreg carbon fibre by Millennium Aircraft. The structural design was done by the Department of Aerostructures at the

University of Turin The University of Turin (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Torino'', UNITO) is a public research university in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe and continues to play an impo ...

and the aerodynamics were investigated by Alenia. The Master has a low set, trapezoidal wing, though that plan is modified by an extended wing root fairing or

glove A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves usually have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb. If there is an opening but no (or a short) covering sheath for each finger they are called fingerless gloves. Fingerless glov ...

, plus

wing tips A wing tip (or wingtip) is the part of the wing that is most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. Because the wing tip shape influences the size and drag of the wingtip vortices, tip design has produced a diversity of sha ...

of the Küchemann type with curved leading edges. Flaps occupy the whole trailing edge inboard of the

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 Flight dynamics, roll (or ...

and have four settings. These flaps are slotted and are each in two spanwise parts, the break placed at the wing fold hinge line. A single piece canopy covers the tandem seats, with the rear seat higher than the other. Behind the cockpit 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 aircraft t ...

line falls to the tail. The tailplane is straight edged with rounded tips and carries marked anhedral. The fin and rudder are also straight edged but swept; there is a small additional

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek language, Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. Th ...

fin. Elevator has trim tabs. The Master has a

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 ...

, the nosewheel retracting rearwards and the main legs inwards into the wings. The track is 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in). The Master is powered by a

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 ...

ULS 100 HP (74 kW). It drives a two blade propeller with variable pitch in flight. The Master first flew on 27 May 2006 and appeared in public for the first time at Aero '07 at

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''Kre ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 2007. A second prototype flew in December 2007. Production was planned to start in October 2007, beginning with complete aircraft before commencing kit production. The company went bankrupt before production of the Master was started and the design was later acquired by Blackshape of

Monopoli Monopoli (; Monopolitano: ) is a town and municipality in Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari and region of Apulia. The town is roughly in area and lies on the Adriatic Sea about southeast of Bari. It has a population of 49,246 ...

and developed into the

Blackshape Prime The Blackshape Prime is an Italian ultralight aircraft, produced by Blackshape srl, the company founded in Monopoli by Luciano Belviso and Angelo Petrosillo. The aircraft first flew in 2007 and was introduced at the Aero show held in Friedric ...

. The design was also developed into the

Pelegrin Tarragon The Pelegrin Tarragon is a Latvian ultralight aircraft that is produced by Pelegrin Limited of Ādaži, introduced in 2010. The aircraft is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviati ...

by Pelegrin Limited in conjunction with CFM Air.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 33. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 72. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Specifications (912 ULS engine)

References

{{Portal bar, Italy, Companies, Aviation 2000s Italian sport aircraft Low-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2006