The Rolandas Kalinauskas RK-7 Orange (also called the Muse, Fly and Bite) is a Lithuanian ultralight aircraft, designed and produced by Rolandas Kalinauskas, of

Prienai Prienai () is a city in Lithuania situated on the Nemunas River, south of Kaunas. In 2011 the city had 9,867 inhabitants. The name of the city is a derivative from a surname ''Prienas''. Pociūnai Airport is associated with the city. History ...

. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft and has been noted for its very low price.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 74. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 78. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

A simplified single-seat version of the Rolandas Kalinauskas RK-6 Magic, the RK-7 was designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules. It 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 confi ...

, a single-seat enclosed cockpit 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 pusher configuration. The aircraft 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 ...

is made from welded steel with a wooden laminate covering in the cockpit area, with the tailboom made from

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 ...

tube. The tail surfaces are built up from aluminum tubing, strut-braced, covered in

Dacron Polyethylene terephthalate (or poly(ethylene terephthalate), PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P), is the most common thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in fibres for clothing, containers for liquids and foo ...

sailcloth and protected with a small tailskid. The wings are wooden and equipped with Junkers style ailerons. Its span wing has an area of . The standard engine available is the

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. As of 2011 the Rot ...

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 ...

powerplant, although the

Rotax 447 The Rotax 447 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. Design and development ...

has also been used. The aircraft can be flown without the canopy fitted, if desired. The RK-7 has been noted for its low retail price. In 2011 it was advertised at

€ 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 ...

11,000 for an assembled, ready-to-fly aircraft and €6,500 for a kit.

Specifications (RK-7 Orange)

References

External links

* {{Rolandas Kalinauskas aircraft 2000s Lithuanian ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft