The Striplin FLAC (''Foot Launched Air Cycle'') is an American

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

ultralight aircraft Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...

that was designed by Ken Striplin in 1977, first flying in October 1978. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page E-15 Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. ''Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1980-81'', Jane's, 1980. pp. 552-3.

Design and development

The aircraft preceded 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 requ ...

rules, but fits into the category, including FAR 103's maximum empty weight of . The aircraft has a standard empty weight of . It features a cantilever high-wing, a single-seat, partially enclosed cockpit, tricycle landing gear and twin Soarmaster engines powering a single propeller in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in nor ...

. Twin go-cart engines have also been employed. The aircraft is made from aluminum tubing, foam, fiberglass, with the wings finished in doped

aircraft fabric covering 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 ar ...

. Its span wing features a

laminar-flow 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. A ...

, 50%-span elevons and wing tip rudders that can both be deployed simultaneously for use as air brakes. The aircraft has a 22:1 glide ratio. The FLAC has laminated fiberglass main landing gear legs and a nose wheel that is steerable. The aircraft was also designed to be at least nominally foot-launchable to comply with the informal US requirements for ultralights of that period that they be able to do so. Foot launching was carried out by opening a hinged door in the fuselage floor. In flight the aircraft has been described as unstable, particularly in pitch and at least one accident was attributed to its instability.

Specifications (FLAC)

References

External links

Photo of a Striplin FLAC
{{Ken Striplin aircraft 1970s United States ultralight aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Twin-engined single-prop pusher aircraft

FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...

High-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1978