The Kolb Ultrastar is an American single seat, high wing,
strut-braced, single engine,
pusher configuration,
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 ...
-equipped
ultralight aircraft that was produced in kit form by
Kolb Aircraft
Kolb may refer to:
* Kolb (surname), a German surname
* Kolb, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
* Kolb Aircraft Company, an American aircraft manufacturer
* Kolb Studio, a historic structure in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, U ...
of
Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Phoenixville is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northwest of Philadelphia at the junction of French Creek and the Schuylkill River. It is in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The population is 18,616 ...
and intended for
amateur construction.
[Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page E-21. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ]
The Ultrastar was the second design produced by
Kolb Aircraft
Kolb may refer to:
* Kolb (surname), a German surname
* Kolb, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community
* Kolb Aircraft Company, an American aircraft manufacturer
* Kolb Studio, a historic structure in Grand Canyon Village, Arizona, U ...
, was a redesigned and improved
Kolb Flyer and succeeded the Flyer in production.
Design and development
The Ultrastar features a completely open cockpit with the pilot exposed to the slipstream. Unusually for this period in aircraft history when most ultralights had two-axis control, the Ultrastar has standard three-axis controls, including full span
ailerons.
When the original Flyer was designed there were no suitable lightweight engines available, so the Flyer first fitted two
Chrysler powerplants and later two
Solo 209 engines. With the advent of better engines the Ultrastar moved to a single
Cuyuna 430 engine producing .
The design features a forward
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 aircraf ...
of welded
4130 steel tubing, mated to an
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 ha ...
tailboom. The
horizontal stabilizer,
tail fin and wings are also constructed of riveted aluminum tubing with all flying surfaces covered in doped
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 ...
. The Ultrastar introduced the trademark folding wings and tail that became a feature of future Kolb designs.
Like the Flyer, the Ultrastar's conventional landing gear consists of sprung steel tubing for the main gear but replaced the Flyer's sprung tail skid with a steerable sprung tail wheel instead.
Variants
;Ultrastar
:Original model
;Ultrastar KX430
:Improved model with simplified steel tubular pilot cage and main landing gear tubular spring suspension
Specifications (Ultrastar)
See also
References
External links
Photo of Kolb UltrastarPhoto of Kolb Ultrastar
{{Kolb Aircraft
Ultrastar
1980s United States ultralight aircraft