| Skyleader a.s. | |
| Type: | Private joint stock company |
| Hq Location City: | Jihlava |
| Hq Location Country: | Czech Republic |
| Industry: | Aerospace |
| Products: | Microlight aircraft Aerospace manufacturing subcontracting |
| Owner: | Zair Aerospace |
Skyleader a.s. is a Chinese-owned aircraft manufacturer based in Jihlava, Czech Republic. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of ultralight aircraft in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight and American light-sport aircraft categories.[1] [2]
The company was formed as a successor to the bankrupt Kappa 77, s.r.o., in March 2005 as Jihlavan Airplanes, s.r.o., named for the town in which it is located. Skyleader owns 100% of Jihlavan Airplanes and operates it as a subsidiary.[3]
The company works with the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at Brno University of Technology on aircraft design, having jointly developed the Kappa 77 KP 2U-SOVA into the Skyleader 100 to 600 series of microlight and light-sport aircraft.[3] The Skyleader GP One was developed as a new high-wing design and introduced at the AERO Friedrichshafen show in 2010.[1] [2] Skyleader also does aerospace manufacturing subcontract work and produced the doors for the Airbus A320 airliner.[3]
The Bulgarian company ACS started producing the Skyleader 600 at the state owned TEREM-Letets aircraft factory in Sofia in July 2015 under a licence agreement.[4]
In 2017, Skyleader was purchased by the Chinese firm Zair Aerospace, which is headquartered in Wuhan.[5] Zair set up a local production line in Hubei to manufacture the Zair JA600 that received Chinese state certification in 2019. The JA600 is a development of the Skyleader 600.[6]
| + align=center style="background:#BFD7FF" | Summary of aircraft built by Skyleader | ||
| Model name | First flight | Number built | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skyleader 100 | 2011 | Two seat low wing microlight | |
| Skyleader 150 | Two seat low wing microlight | ||
| Skyleader 200 UL | 1996 | Two seat low wing microlight | |
| Skyleader 400 | Two seat low wing microlight | ||
| Skyleader 500 LSA | Two seat low wing light-sport aircraft | ||
| Skyleader 600 | 2010 | Two seat low wing light-sport aircraft | |
| Skyleader GP One | 2010 | Two seat high wing microlight | |