The Pop's Props Cloudster is a single seat, open-cockpit, parasol wing, single-engine monoplane, that was first flown in 1995. The aircraft was produced by Pop's Props of Cooksville, Illinois and made available as plans or in kit form. The company is no longer in business and kit production has been transferred to Simplex Aeroplanes of Old Saybrook, Connecticut.[1] [2] [3] [4]
The aircraft was designed for the FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles category, including the category's 2540NaN0 empty weight limit. The standard empty weight of the Cloudster is 2500NaN0.
The aircraft was designed for safe low and slow flying from unimproved surfaces.
The Cloudster is constructed of wood and covered in aircraft fabric. The landing gear is conventional with sprung main gear and a tailwheel. The wing is strut-braced with two parallel main struts and jury struts per side. Available engines include the liquid-cooled engine Kawasaki 340-LC of 350NaN0, the Half VW of 450NaN0 as well as several Rotax and Cuyuna engines. The designer recommended power range is 28to.
Due to the laborious wood and fabric construction, builder completion time is estimated at 400 man-hours from the kit. The kit can be ordered as one kit or as several sub-kits.
The Cloudster was later developed into the Zing.