The Airdrome Dream Classic is a

minimalist In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

, high wing, single seat, single engine

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 ...

inspired by the 1908

Santos-Dumont Demoiselle The Santos-Dumont ''Demoiselle'' was a series of aircraft built in France by world aviation pioneer Alberto Santos-Dumont. They were light-weight monoplanes with a wire-braced wing mounted above an open-framework fuselage built from bamboo. The ...

and produced in kit form by

Airdrome Aeroplanes Airdrome Aeroplanes is an American aircraft manufacturer, founded by Robert Baslee, that offers a large selection of kit aircraft for amateur construction. The company is based in Holden, Missouri.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's ...

Holden, Missouri Holden is a city in western Johnson County, Missouri, Johnson County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,252 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. History Holden was laid out in 1857. It was named for Major Nathaniel Holden, a ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-14. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 110. BAI Communications. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 35. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 38. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Vandermeullen, Richard: ''2011 Kit Aircraft Buyer's Guide'', Kitplanes, Volume 28, Number 12, December 2011, page 39. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851 The aircraft is intended for the US FAR 103 ''Ultralight Vehicles'' category.

Development

The Dream Classic was designed as a low-cost and very basic ultralight. 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 ...

is open and constructed from pop-riveted

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 has ...

tubing. The wing is covered with

aircraft fabric Aircraft fabric covering is a term used for both the material used and the process of covering aircraft open structures. It is also used for reinforcing closed plywood structures. The de Havilland Mosquito is an example of this technique, as are ...

and is wire-braced utilizing a

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 fro ...

to support the ground loads or optionally

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

-braced. The wings can be removed in 20 minutes for trailering. Controls are conventional three-axis, with the

elevator An elevator or lift is a wire rope, cable-assisted, hydraulic cylinder-assisted, or roller-track assisted machine that vertically transports people or freight between floors, levels, or deck (building), decks of a building, watercraft, ...

and

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 ...

operated by a

side stick __NOTOC__ A side-stick or sidestick controller is an aircraft control stick that is located on the side console of the pilot, usually on the righthand side, or outboard on a two-seat flightdeck. Typically this is found in aircraft that are equip ...

. Two different wings are available, a ''standard'' wing of

span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan ester ...

and 122 sq ft (11.35 sq m) area and a ''speed'' wing of span and 86 sq ft (8.00 sq m) area. The ''speed'' wing restricts the aircraft's useful load to , while the ''standard'' wing allows . The standard engine is the

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 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. Design and development ...

, although engines of can be used. The manufacturer estimates that a builder will take 100–120 hours to complete this aircraft from the kit. In 2009 the airframe-only kit for the wire-braced version cost

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

3495 and US$3995 for the strut-braced version. A completed airframe is also available for an additional US$2000. By the fall of 2007, 48 wired braced and one strut-braced Dream Classics were flying.

Variants

;Dream Classic Standard :Single seat ultralight with wingspan and 122 sq ft (11.35 sq m) wing area, standard engine

;Dream Classic Speed :Single seat ultralight with wingspan and 86 sq ft (8.00 sq m) wing area, standard engine

Specifications (Dream Classic Speed)

References

External links

* {{Airdrome Aeroplanes 1990s United States ultralight aircraft

Development

Variants

Specifications (Dream Classic Speed)

See also

References

External links