Belite Aircraft was an American

aircraft manufacturer An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, or spacecraft. Aerospace is a high technology industry. ...

based in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397,532. The Wichita metro area had ...

and founded by James and Kathy Wiebe in 2009. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

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 ...

in the form of kits for amateur construction and ready-to-fly complete aircraft under the US

FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles Ultralight aircraft in the United States are much smaller and lighter than ultralight aircraft as defined by all other countries. In the United States, ultralights are described as "ultralight vehicles" and not as aircraft. They are not requ ...

rules."Flight Review: Return of the Ultralight"
(Belite aircraft reviewed), February 11, 2011, ''Kitplanes,'' retrieved August 17, 2022Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 32. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 34. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. The company was formed to produce the

Belite Aircraft Superlite The Belite Superlite, originally the product of Belite Aircraft, is a single-seat, high-wing, single-engine ultralight aircraft developed from the Kitfox Lite aircraft especially for the United States FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles category.

, a derivative of the

Kitfox Lite The Denney Kitfox is a series of small side-by-side, two-seat, high-wing, single engine homebuilt aircraft, kit aircraft, designed and originally manufactured by Dan Denney and his company Denney Aerocraft of Boise, Idaho. The aircraft i ...

single-seat ultralight design. Belite extensively redesigned the aircraft to incorporate carbon fibre wings, struts, spars and ribs, lowering the empty weight to . They "...acquired the production rights to a previously designed aircraft, the Kitfox Lite" and they "...acquired the tooling, existing parts and manufacturing rights to the aircraft in March of 2009. As a condition of the transaction, they agreed to rebrand the airplane to prevent any confusion with the larger, two-place light sport Kitfox"."Belite Tricycle Gear And Superlite Models To Debut At Sebring,"
January 19, 2010 '' Aero-News Network,'' retrieved February 29, 2020 In January 2010, at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in

Sebring, Florida Sebring ( ) is a city in the south-central Florida and is the county seat of Highlands County, Florida, United States, nicknamed "The City on the Circle", in reference to Circle Drive, the center of the Sebring Downtown Historic District. As of t ...

, the company debuted two variants of the company's initial Belite 254: its "easy-to-land" tricycle-geared

Trike Trike may refer to: Vehicles with three wheels and seated * Drift trike, a type of recreational tricycle with no pedals * Electric trike * Motorized tricycle * Three-wheeler * Tricycle (non-motorized) * Ultralight trike, a type of powered hang g ...

, and its "higher performance" Superlite, a lighter-weight, higher-powered "STOL" (

short takeoff and landing A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a conventional fixed-wing aircraft that has short runway requirements for takeoff and landing. Many STOL-designed aircraft also feature various arrangements for use on airstrips with harsh condition ...

) version.McMillin, Molly
"Belite to unveil two ultralight aircraft,"
January 19, 2010, ''

Wichita Eagle ''The Wichita Eagle'' is a daily newspaper published in Wichita, Kansas, United States. It is owned by The McClatchy Company and is the largest newspaper in Wichita and the surrounding area. History Origins In 1870, ''The Vidette'' was the fi ...

'' retrieved February 29, 2020 In 2013 the company flew the

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

version of its new Belite Ultra Cub design, designated the Belite Sealite. On 6 June 2019, the Belite facility was destroyed by fire and the company ceased operating.

Aircraft

References

External links

Official website archives
on

Archive.org The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

{{Belite Aircraft Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft