The Aircraft Technologies Acro 1 is an American
aerobatic homebuilt aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...
that was designed by Fred Meyer and produced by
Aircraft Technologies of
Lilburn, Georgia
Lilburn is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States. The population was 14,502 at the 2020 census. The estimated population was 12,810 in 2019. It is a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.
Geography
Lilburn is located in western Gw ...
. When it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit or in the form of plans for amateur construction.
[Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 109. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ] Neither plans nor kits are available anymore and the aircraft is out of production.
Design and development
Designed as a high-speed, long-range cross country and aerobatic aircraft, the Acro 1 features a cantilever
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 ...
, a single-seat enclosed cockpit under a
bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility.
The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...
, fixed
conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...
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 ...
. The aircraft is stressed to +/-15
g.
The aircraft is made from
graphite
Graphite () is a crystalline form of the element carbon. It consists of stacked layers of graphene. Graphite occurs naturally and is the most stable form of carbon under standard conditions. Synthetic and natural graphite are consumed on lar ...
and
fiberglass
Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
composites. Its span wing has a wing area of and has no
flaps. The acceptable power range is and the standard engine used is the
Lycoming IO-360
The Lycoming O-360 is a family of four-cylinder, direct-drive, horizontally opposed, air-cooled, piston aircraft engines. Engines in the O-360 series produce between 145 and 225 horsepower (109 to 168 kW), with the basic O-360 producing ...
powerplant which gives it a cruise speed of . A fuel capacity of provides a range of .
The Acro 1 has an empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload is .
The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 700 hours.
Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that one example had been flown.
In November 2014 three examples were
registered in the United States with the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic ...
.
Specifications (Acro 1)
See also
References
External links
Photo of an Acro 1
{{Aircraft Technologies aircraft
Acro 001
1990s United States sport aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft
Aerobatic aircraft