The EEL ULF-2 is a German
low-wing,
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 ...
, single-seat
motor glider that was designed by
Dieter Reich and is provided in the form of plans by
Entwicklung und Erprobung von Leichtflugzeugen ( en, Development and Testing of Light Aircraft) for
amateur construction.
[Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 136. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X]
Design and development
The prototype was built in 1993 by Anton Quanz with Horst Fischer building the engine installation and electrical system. The ULF-2 first flew in October 1993.
The ULF-2 is predominantly constructed from northern
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
or
Douglas fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...
, with
spruce
A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal (taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the subfami ...
and
birch
A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech-oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 30 ...
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
and covered with
doped aircraft fabric. The engine cowling,
wing tips and
fairings are made from
fibreglass. The span wing features a Wortmann FX 63-137
airfoil
An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or turbine.
...
and top surface
spoilers. The aircraft mounts a
ballistic parachute full-aircraft recovery system. The landing gear is conventional with a steerable tailwheel. The wide
cockpit
A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft.
The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...
features a pilot seat inclined at a 33° angle.
The recommended engine is from a
Citroën Visa automobile, which consumes 4.0 L/hr (1.06 US gallon per hour) and produces . The engine retains its automobile muffler and
catalytic converter
A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usually ...
, runs on unleaded auto fuel, stored in a
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 ...
-mounted aluminium fuel tank with a capacity of . The propeller is powered via a belt reduction drive. The muffler system allows the aircraft to comply with the
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
Annex 16, Chapt. 10 noise requirements of 55 dB(A).
The aircraft's wings fold on
gimbal joints for storage or ground transportation in a trailer.
The ULF-2 received its
Certificate of Airworthiness in February 1995. As a result of his design work Reich received the OUV Hans-Becker-Prize in June 1997. The plans consists of 29 sheets of
blueprints, a 50-page construction manual and a 20-page flight manual, available in both English and German. The plans cost
€
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
350 and a completed aircraft is estimated to cost €8000.
The aircraft has very benign
stall characteristics, resulting in a controllable slow speed mush condition.
Operational history
The first ULF-2 completed by a customer was flown in 1999 and a total 15 have been finished and flown.
Specifications (ULF-2)
See also
References
External links
*
{{EEL aircraft
1990s German sailplanes
Homebuilt aircraft
Entwicklung und Erprobung von Leichtflugzeugen aircraft
Motor gliders
Aircraft first flown in 1993