The Air Creation GT and Clipper are a series of French two-seat flying wing

ultralight trike An ultralight trike is a type of powered hang glider where flight control is by weight-shift. These aircraft have a fabric flex-wing from which is suspended a tricycle fuselage pod driven by a pusher propeller. The pod accommodates either a ...

s that was designed and produced by Air Creation.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page C-3. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.

Design and development

The GT series features a cable-braced

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame cover ...

-style

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 ...

, weight-shift controls, a

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 ...

-seat, open cockpit,

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 pusher configuration. The aircraft is made from bolted-together

aluminum 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. It ha ...

tubing, with its double-surface wing covered in Trilam sailcloth. Its area wing is supported by a single tube-type

kingpost A king post (or king-post or kingpost) is a central vertical post used in architectural or bridge designs, working in tension to support a beam below from a truss apex above (whereas a crown post, though visually similar, supports items above f ...

and uses an "A" frame control bar. A variety of wings and engines has been fitted to the GT carriage, to form new variants. When equipped with a cockpit fairing, the aircraft is called the Clipper.Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', pages 91-92. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X The GT series can be fitted with the later-designed Air Creation NuviX wing.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 200. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X The GT was replaced in production by the Air Creation Skypper.

Variants

;GT-BI :Version with XP-15 wing,

center of gravity In physics, the center of mass of a distribution of mass in space (sometimes referred to as the balance point) is the unique point where the weighted relative position of the distributed mass sums to zero. This is the point to which a force ma ...

adjustable sliding keel, pneumatic suspension of all three

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...

wheels and a steerable nose wheel equipped with a drum brake. The engine is a

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. As of 2011 the Rot ...

of ;Kiss 400 GTE 582 :Version with the Kiss 400 wing, rated for and

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-certified aircraft operating ...

engine of ;Kiss 450 GTE 582 :Version with the Kiss 450 wing, rated for and

engine of ;Mild GTE 582 Float :Version with the Mild wing and

engine of and dual floats for water operations. ;XP-12 Buggy 582 SL :Version with the XP-12 wing and

engine of and float for water operations. ;MILD-GTE 503 SL :Version with the MILD wing of and

engine of Downey, Julia: ''2000 Trike and 'Chute Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 17, Number 2, February 2000, pages 44-45. Kitplanes Acquisition Company. ISSN 0891-1851 ;MILD-GTE 582 :Version with the MILD wing of and

engine of Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 102. BAI Communications. ;XP-GTE 582 SL :Version with the XP wing and

engine of ;XP-Buggy :Version with the XP wing and

engine of ;iXess Clipper 582 :Version with a fairing, the iXess wing and

engine of . ;XP-17 Clipper 912 :Version with a fairing, the XP-17 wing and Rotax 912

four stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directi ...

engine of .

Specifications (MILD-GTE 503 SL)

References

External links

{{Air Creation aircraft 1990s French ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Ultralight trikes GT