The Aero East Europe Sila (English: ''force, power'' or ''strength'' and also short for ''Serbian industry light aircraft'') is a family of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

ultralight 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 aile ...

and

light aircraft A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997. Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft co ...

, designed and produced by Aero East Europe of

Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar River, Ibar, in the geographical region of � ...

and later of

Jagodina ) , image_shield = Jagodina-grb.png , image_flag = FLAG Jagodina.png , image_skyline = , image_caption = , image_map = File:Municipalities of Serbia Jagodina.png , map_caption = Location of Jagodina w ...

, introduced at the

AERO Friedrichshafen AERO Friedrichshafen is a trade show dedicated to European general aviation. It is held yearly in April on the shores of Lake Constance at the exhibition center of Friedrichshafen, Germany right next to Friedrichshafen Airport Friedrichshaf ...

show in 2013. The design is supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 14. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The Sila 450 C was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules, while the larger aircraft in the family fit into the EASA CS-VLA category. All feature a V- strut-braced

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 co ...

, an enclosed cabin, 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 ...

Operational history

Reviewer Marino Boric described the design in a 2015 review as "very robust".

Variants

;Sila 450 C :Two seat "Cruiser" model, with a

semi-monocoque The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among ot ...

structure made from

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 ...

sheet and a maximum take-off weight of . Its span wing employs a NACA 5417 airfoil, has an area of and flaps. Standard engines available are 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 ...

Rotax 912ULS 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 ...

and the

Rotax 914 The Rotax 914 is a turbo-charged, four-stroke, four-cylinder, horizontally opposed aircraft engine with air-cooled cylinders and water-cooled cylinder heads. It is designed and built by the Austrian company BRP-Powertrain, owned by Bombardier ...

four-stroke powerplants. German LTF-UL and Serbian ultralight certified. ;Sila 750 C :Two seat "Cruiser" model, with a semi-monocoque structure made from aluminium sheet and a maximum take-off weight of . Its span wing employs a NACA 5417 airfoil, has an area of and flaps. Standard engines available are the

, the

and the

Lycoming O-320 The Lycoming O-320 is a large family of naturally aspirated, air-cooled, four-cylinder, direct-drive engines produced by Lycoming Engines. They are commonly used on light aircraft such as the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee. Different variants ...

four-stroke powerplants. The aircraft is undergoing EASA CS-VLA and Serbian certification. ;Sila 750 S :Two seat STOL model with full-span Junkers

flaperon A flaperon (a portmanteau of flap and aileron) on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufacture, while ...

s and a maximum take-off weight of . ;Sila 750 MT :Three seat Medical Transport model, with a semi-monocoque structure made from aluminium sheet and steel tubing and a maximum take-off weight of . Its span wing employs a NACA 65-018 airfoil, full-span Junkers flaperons, has an area of . Standard engines available are the

, the

and the

four-stroke powerplants. The aircraft is undergoing EASA VLA and Serbian certification. ;Sila 950 :Four seat model, with a maximum take-off weight of . Standard engines available are the

and the

four-stroke powerplants. The aircraft is no longer advertised on the company website.

Specifications (Sila 450 C)

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.aeroeast.net/ Aero East Europe aircraft 2010s Serbian ultralight aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft