The AMS-Flight Carat A is a single-seat, high performance motorglider. The sailplane was originally designed and built by Technoflug in Germany and is now manufactured by AMS-Flight in Slovenia.[1][2]
The Carat was designed by Technoflug around the wings and horizontal tail of the Schempp-Hirth Discussailplane, marrying these to a new fuselage, fin, undercarriage and engine.. Structurally the aircraft is a mixture of fibreglass and carbon fibrecomposites. The wings have PVC foam cores. In plan the wings have parallel chord inner panels and two outer sections of increasing straight taper. Winglets are an option. Schempp-Hirth type airbrakes are mounted on the upper surfaces of the inner panels, with turbulators on the underside to ensure a controlled boundary layer transition from laminar to turbulent flow without separation. The wings have 3° of dihedral.[1]
Though the Discus and the Carat share wings, they position them differently: the Discus is a mid-wing aircraft, the Carat a low-wing one. Like the Discus, the Carat has a high T-tail with separate tailplane and elevators. The tailplane, like the wings, is detachable for easy transport. The cockpit, enclosed in a large clear single piece canopy, is at the trailing edge of the wing, with the main spar under the pilot's knees. The Carat has a conventional electrically-operated inwardly retractable undercarriage. The main wheels have hydraulically operated disc brakes and there is a parking brake. The non-retractable tailwheel is steerable.[1]
The Carat is powered by an air-cooled, four cylinder, Volkswagen derived, 40 kW (54 hp) Sauer S1800 piston engine. This drives the unique feature of the Carat, its folding two blade propeller: the blades fold forward like spears to minimize drag when the engine is off. This is in contrast to other motorgliders which mostly either store the propeller inside the fuselage, or merely feather the propeller blades. The Carat's propeller is opened by the centrifugal force on the turning blades, working against a folding force provided by a gas damping spring mechanism.[1] This folding mechanism has the advantage of simplicity, but it means that the engine can not be windmill-started if the battery is flat. Because of the forward pointing blades when the engine is off, the Carat cannot be towed aloft like traditional sailplanes.[citation needed]
The first flight was made on 16 December 1997 and the first production model displayed at Aero '99 at Friedrichshafen in April 1999 as the Technoflug TFK-2 Carat. Certification was achieved in 2003, by which time marketing had been passed to AMS.[1]
Operational historyedit
Six production aircraft had been built by the end of 2003 and thirty one by September 2009. The majority of these were flying in the United States, the rest mostly in Western Europe.[1]
Carat in flight
Specificationsedit
Detail of the Carat's propeller with the engine off
Data from Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2011/12[1]
flight, carat, single, seat, high, performance, motorglider, sailplane, originally, designed, built, technoflug, germany, manufactured, flight, slovenia, carat, role, high, performance, motorglider, national, origin, germany, manufacturer, flight, ljubljana, f. The AMS Flight Carat A is a single seat high performance motorglider The sailplane was originally designed and built by Technoflug in Germany and is now manufactured by AMS Flight in Slovenia 1 2 Carat A Role High performance motorglider National origin Germany Manufacturer AMS Flight Ljubljana First flight 16 December 1997 Number built 31 by September 2009 Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Specifications 4 ReferencesDesign and development editThe Carat was designed by Technoflug around the wings and horizontal tail of the Schempp Hirth Discus sailplane marrying these to a new fuselage fin undercarriage and engine Structurally the aircraft is a mixture of fibreglass and carbon fibre composites The wings have PVC foam cores In plan the wings have parallel chord inner panels and two outer sections of increasing straight taper Winglets are an option Schempp Hirth type airbrakes are mounted on the upper surfaces of the inner panels with turbulators on the underside to ensure a controlled boundary layer transition from laminar to turbulent flow without separation The wings have 3 of dihedral 1 Though the Discus and the Carat share wings they position them differently the Discus is a mid wing aircraft the Carat a low wing one Like the Discus the Carat has a high T tail with separate tailplane and elevators The tailplane like the wings is detachable for easy transport The cockpit enclosed in a large clear single piece canopy is at the trailing edge of the wing with the main spar under the pilot s knees The Carat has a conventional electrically operated inwardly retractable undercarriage The main wheels have hydraulically operated disc brakes and there is a parking brake The non retractable tailwheel is steerable 1 The Carat is powered by an air cooled four cylinder Volkswagen derived 40 kW 54 hp Sauer S1800 piston engine This drives the unique feature of the Carat its folding two blade propeller the blades fold forward like spears to minimize drag when the engine is off This is in contrast to other motorgliders which mostly either store the propeller inside the fuselage or merely feather the propeller blades The Carat s propeller is opened by the centrifugal force on the turning blades working against a folding force provided by a gas damping spring mechanism 1 This folding mechanism has the advantage of simplicity but it means that the engine can not be windmill started if the battery is flat Because of the forward pointing blades when the engine is off the Carat cannot be towed aloft like traditional sailplanes citation needed The first flight was made on 16 December 1997 and the first production model displayed at Aero 99 at Friedrichshafen in April 1999 as the Technoflug TFK 2 Carat Certification was achieved in 2003 by which time marketing had been passed to AMS 1 Operational history editSix production aircraft had been built by the end of 2003 and thirty one by September 2009 The majority of these were flying in the United States the rest mostly in Western Europe 1 nbsp Carat in flightSpecifications edit nbsp Detail of the Carat s propeller with the engine off Data from Jane s All the World s Aircraft 2011 12 1 General characteristicsCrew 1 Length 6 21 m 20 ft 4 in Wingspan 15 00 m 49 ft 3 in Wing area 10 58 m2 113 9 sq ft gross Aspect ratio 21 3 Empty weight 341 kg 752 lb Max takeoff weight 490 kg 1 080 lb Fuel capacity 52 L 13 7 US gal 11 4 Imp gal usable Powerplant 1 Sauer 1800 1 ES1C 1754cc 109 8 cu in 4 cylinder 4 stroke air cooled Max power 44kW 60 HP at 3000 rpm Max continuous power 40kW 54 HP Propellers 2 bladed AMS AM KS F3 1A 140 1 fixed pitch With engine off blades fold forward held by gas damping springs 1 40 m 4 ft 7 in diameter Performance Cruise speed 214 km h 133 mph 116 kn normal at 75 power Stall speed 77 km h 48 mph 42 kn powered 80 km h 50 mph 44 kn unpowered Never exceed speed 250 km h 160 mph 130 kn Range 1 026 km 638 mi 554 nmi maximum fuel 30 min reserves g limits 5 3 2 65 3 Maximum glide ratio 35 1 3 Rate of climb 2 9 m s 570 ft min maximum continuous power 3 Rate of sink 0 75 m s 148 ft min minimumReferences edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to AMS Carat a b c d e f g Jackson Paul 2011 Jane s All the World s Aircraft 2011 12 Coulsdon Surrey IHS Jane s p 534 ISBN 978 0 7106 2955 5 Bayerl Robby Martin Berkemeier et al World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011 12 page 141 WDLA UK Lancaster UK 2011 ISSN 1368 485X a b c AMS Flight website Retrieved 2011 11 23 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title AMS Flight Carat amp oldid 993828107, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
