The Alatus-M Ultralight Sailplane

Formerly known as the AL12M, the Alatus is an evolution from Aerola's high-performance rigid hang-glider wing, the Phantom. Unlike most of its contemporaries, the Phantom uses ailerons for roll control, facilitating development into a conventional 3-axis control system. The marriage of the wings to a low-drag lightweight fuselage have improved the best L/D ratio to 27:1. Simply applying the effective flaps will reduce this to 8:1, and the slow stall speed (and wheel brakes) of the aircraft makes very short field landings possible.

The Alatus-M self-launcher motor variant of the Alatus can be flown under the Single-Seat DeRegulated category of microlights. This category allows any pilot with a microlight (fixed-wing) licence/ NPPL or full JAR Group A licence to fly the Alatus-M, and be responsible for their own inspection and maintenance, thus bringing the cost of ownership down to hang-glider levels.

The retractable motor unit uses a Corsair Black Devil engine to provide good taxying and takeoff performance, as well as in-flight electric restart.

Although not required by UK law, the Alatus has passed flight testing in Germany to the DULSV LFG design code for ultralight sailplanes, and the German LTF-UL microlight design code.

Specification:

Empty weight 110 kg

MTOW 235 kg

Wing span 13.3 m

Sail area 13 m2

Pilot weight 60-100 kg

Stall speed 39-45 km/h

VNE 140 km/h

Best glide ratio 27 at 65 km/h

Min. sink rate 0.7-0.8 m/s at 45 km/h

There is also an electric version of the Alatus in development - see this page or go to the Links section for more details.