The Corvus Racer 312 is a Chinese

ultralight 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 aile ...

and light-sport aircraft under development by Corvus Aerospace (Suzhou) of Suzhou and first flown 1 November 2013. The aircraft is to be supplied complete and ready-to-fly.Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 40. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The Racer 312 was designed as a smaller version of the Corvus Racer 540, to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules and US light-sport aircraft rules. It was designed and the prototype built over a period of 13 months in 2012–13. The Racer 312 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 ...

, two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration 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 ...

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

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

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 made from

composite material A composite material (also called a composition material or shortened to composite, which is the common name) is a material which is produced from two or more constituent materials. These constituent materials have notably dissimilar chemical or ...

and its span wing employs split flaps. The standard engine fitted is the

Rotax 912ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, later ...

four-stroke powerplant. With this engine the cruise speed is anticipated to be . As of February 2017, the design does not appear on 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 ...

's list of approved special light-sport aircraft.

Specifications (Racer 312)

References

External links

* {{Corvus Aircraft Racer 312 2010s Chinese ultralight aircraft Light-sport aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft