The Cosmos Phase II and Phase III are a series of French two-seat

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 trike An ultralight trike or paratrike is a type of powered hang glider where flight control is by weight-shift control, weight-shift. These light-sport aircraft, aircraft have a fabric Rogallo wing, flex-wing from which is suspended a tricycle fusel ...

s that were produced by Cosmos ULM of

Fontaine-lès-Dijon Fontaine-lès-Dijon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department in eastern France. It is known for the Couvent et Basilique Saint-Bernard, a collection of buildings on the site of the birthplace of Sai ...

and now by Cosmos Ultralight of

Puente de Ixtla Puente de Ixtla is a city in the Mexican state of Morelos. It stands at . The city serves as the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name. The municipality reported 66,435 inhabitants in the year 2015 census. The town get ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The aircraft are supplied as factory completed aircraft and are not available as

kits KITS (105.3 FM broadcasting, FM, "Live 105") is a commercial radio, commercial radio station in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock radio format known as "Live 105". The studios ...

.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, page C-9. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 142. BAI Communications. Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', pages 97-98. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485XBayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011-12'', page 208. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485X

Design and development

The series was developed from the earlier Cosmos Bison, adding larger seats,

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for taxiing, takeoff or landing. For aircraft, it is generally needed for all three of these. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, s ...

suspension and a new engine mounting system to reduce vibration. It was designed to comply with European

Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The World Air Sports Federation (; FAI) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintains worl ...

microlight 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 ...

classification. It features a cable-braced

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

-style

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 wings. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...

, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

open cockpit,

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...

and a single engine in

pusher configuration In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, wh ...

. The aircraft wing is made from bolted-together

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

tubing, with its single, or optionally double-surface, wing covered in Trilam sailcloth. The wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame control bar. A variety of wings and engines can be fitted, each with a different model designation. When equipped with a

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke engine, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pp. 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1 ...

Rotax 582 The Rotax 582 is a two-stroke cycle, two-stroke, two-cylinder, rotary intake valve, oil-in-fuel or oil injection pump, liquid-cooled, gear reduction-drive aircraft engine manufactured by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG. It is for use in non-ce ...

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 of the piston, one up and one down, in one revolution of the crankshaft in contrast to a four-stroke engine which re ...

engine, the aircraft is designated as a ''Phase II'', and when equipped with a

Rotax 912 The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, la ...

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

engine, it is designated as a ''Phase III''. Wings used include the double surface Top 12.9, Top 14.9, Chronos 16, and the single surface Zoom 19. The wing designation reflects the area in square metres. The landing gear features gas-filled

shock absorber A shock absorber or damper is a mechanical or hydraulics, hydraulic device designed to absorb and Damping ratio, damp shock (mechanics), shock impulses. It does this by converting the kinetic energy of the shock into another form of energy (typic ...

suspension on all three wheels, nose wheel steering and a nose wheel-mounted

drum brake A drum brake is a brake that uses friction caused by a set of Brake shoe, shoes or Brake pad, pads that press outward against a rotating bowl-shaped part called a brake drum. The term ''drum brake'' usually means a brake in which shoes press o ...

, as well as a parking brake. The aircraft can be disassembled for storage or ground transportation, taking half an hour for set-up. The series has a wide range of options, including a glider

aero-tow Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word ''soaring'' is ...

kit, floats, salt-water protection,

ballistic parachute A ballistic parachute, ballistic reserve parachute, or emergency ballistic reserve parachute, is a parachute ejected from its casing by a small explosion, much like that used in an ejection seat. The advantage of the ballistic parachute over a co ...

and dual controls for

flight training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

Variants

The models in the line reflect combinations of wings and engines fitted. Documented versions include: ;Phase II 503 Chronos 16 :Equipped with a

powerplant and a Chronos 16 double surface wing. Cruise speed . ;Phase II 582 Top 12.9 :Equipped with a

powerplant and a Top 12.9 double surface wing. Cruise speed . ;Phase III 912 Top 14.9 :Equipped with a

powerplant and a Top 14.9 double surface wing. Cruise speed .

Specifications (Phase II)

References

External links

* {{Cosmos ULM aircraft 1990s French ultralight aircraft 1990s Mexican ultralight aircraft 1990s French sport aircraft 1990s Mexican sport aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Ultralight trikes