Capella Aircraft Corporation 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 indust ...

based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Formed about 1988, the company specialized in the design and manufacture of

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 ...

in the form of kits for amateur construction, including for 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 req ...

rules. The company went out of business about 2007.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page B-33, B-105. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 40. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 135-137 & 347. BAI Communications. Capella produced a number of aircraft designs, all of a 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 confi ...

configuration. The first series were all enclosed cockpit designs, starting with the Capella SS, a single seat model introduced in 1988. In 1990 the Capella XS two-seat

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 ...

model followed, along with a

tricycle 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 ...

model, the Capella XLS. The Capella Fastback was introduced in 1995. In 1998 the open cockpit single-seat Capella Javelin I was introduced as a FAR 103 ultralight. This was followed by the Capella Javelin II the same year and finally the Capella T-Raptor, all variants of the basic Javelin design.

Aircraft

References

{{Capella Aircraft Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United States Ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft