The St-Just Cyclone, also called the St-Just Cyclone 180, is a Canadian

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed and produced by St-Just Aviation of

Mirabel, Quebec Mirabel is a suburb of Montreal, located on the North Shore in southern Quebec. Mirabel is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional county municipality (TE) and census division (CD) of Quebec, coextensive with the city of Mirabel. It ...

. The company has since moved to Boucherville, Quebec. While it was available the aircraft was supplied as a kit and in the form of plans for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 126. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. The Cyclone was later developed into the higher gross weight () St-Just Super-Cyclone, which superseded it in production.

Design and development

The Cyclone is a replica of the Cessna 180 that incorporates modifications and improvements, such as an extended wing span, greater wing area and vertically hinged doors. 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 co ...

, a four-seat enclosed cabin accessed via doors, fixed

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 ...

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 sheet

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 ...

, with the kit airframe parts preformed with pilot holes to allow construction without the use of

jigs The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...

. Its span wing employs a NACA 2412 airfoil, mounts flaps and has a wing area of . The acceptable power range is and the standard engine used is the

Continental O-470 The Continental O-470 engine is a family of carbureted and fuel-injected six-cylinder, horizontally opposed, air-cooled aircraft engines that was developed especially for use in light aircraft by Continental Motors. Engines designated "IO" ...

. The Cyclone has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . The manufacturer estimated the construction time from the supplied kit as 2000 hours.

Operational history

In December 2013, 23 examples were registered in Canada with

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

and three in the United States with 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 ...

Specifications (Cyclone)

References

{{St-Just Aviation aircraft Cyclone 1990s Canadian civil utility aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft High-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1992