Cloudbuster Ultralights Cloudbuster Explained

The Cloudbuster Ultralights Cloudbuster is an American ultralight aircraft that was designed and produced by the Cloudbuster Ultralights Company of Sarasota, Florida in the early 1980s. The aircraft was supplied as a kit for amateur construction.[1] [2]

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of 2540NaN0. The Cloudbuster has a standard empty weight of 2480NaN0. It features a strut-braced high-wing, a single-seat, open cockpit, tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage structure is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with a tubular keel supporting the tail, wing mounts and the engine at the front. The standard factory supplied powerplant was the Zenoah G-25B of 200NaN0. Its 371NaN1 span wing is braced with a single lift strut per side. The wing is of exotic mixed construction, with aluminum tubular spars, urethane foam and fibreglass wing ribs, the leading edge is vinyl-covered and the trailing edge is sheet aluminum and the whole wing finished in doped aircraft fabric covering. The pilot sits on an open seat that is not equipped with a windshield. The landing gear features main wheel suspension and a steerable nosewheel. The airframe was proof tested to +4.5/-2.25 g.

The complex wing does give the aircraft good gliding performance, achieving a 13:1 glide ratio and a minimum sink speed of 260 ft/min (1.3 m/s).However the complexity of the wing construction lead to the commercial failure of the aircraft design and few were produced.

Notes and References

  1. Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page E-10. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.
  2. Web site: Where Are They Now?. 5 November 2011. Perkins. Scott, Vintage Ultralight Association. 2004. https://web.archive.org/web/20130311194750/http://vula.org/where_are_they_now.html. 11 March 2013. dead.