The Midwest Questar Arrowstar is an American
ultralight aircraft that was designed and produced by
Midwest Engineering of
Overland Park, Kansas
Overland Park ( ) is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas. Located in Johnson County, Kansas, it is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area and the most populous suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As ...
. When it was available the aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for
amateur construction, but the plans were withdrawn on 29 June 2000.
[Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 208. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. ]
Design and development
The Questar Arrowstar was designed to comply with 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, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of .
The aircraft features 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 co ...
, a single-seat open cockpit without a windshield, 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 ...
without
wheel pants
An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...
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 Questar Arrowstar is made from bolted-together
6061-T6 aluminum
6061 ( Unified Numbering System (UNS) designation A96061) is a precipitation-hardened aluminium alloy, containing magnesium and silicon as its major alloying elements. Originally called "Alloy 61S", it was developed in 1935. It has good mechani ...
tubing, with its 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 ...
. Its span wing has a wing area of , is supported by "V" struts and the wing can be detached in ten minutes for ground transport or storage. The acceptable power range is and the standard engines used are small
two-stroke
A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...
powerplants.
The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for the pilot and baggage is .
The standard day, sea level, no wind, take off distance with a engine is and the landing roll is .
The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied plans as 80 hours.
Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that 170 sets of plans had been sold and that 60 aircraft were completed and flying.
Specifications (Questar Arrowstar)
References
External links
*
Three view drawing of the Midwest Questar Arrowstar{{Midwest aircraft
Questar Arrowstar
1990s United States sport aircraft
1990s United States ultralight aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
High-wing aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft