Microlight Aircraft of New Zealand - Ultrasports Trikes

Well here goes with our early trikes.  In the date order of new types of microlight types the next type to appear, and our first registered trike was the Ultrasports Tripacer trike, the first of which was registered on 19 March 1982.  This trike was manufactured by Ultrasports of Edburton near Henfield in West Sussex in England.

For trikes I will give their weights and general performance, and for the Ultrasport Tripacer these are:  empty weight 180 pounds, MAUW 380 pounds, engine Robin EC25PS of 18 HP, maximum cruising speed 45 mph and stall speed 20 mph.

This is a photo of an Ultrasports Tripacer trike in the UK.  I have not been able to find any photos of New Zealand registered Ultrasports trikes, but we have had six of them registered (and one re-registered with a new registration), as follows:

ZK-EWN (c/n MAANZ/033) Fitted with a Shark 180 hang glider wing.  Registered on 19 Mar 1982 to Flight Sails Ltd, Takapuna, then 19 Apr 1982 G. B. Christophers, Wellington, then 7 Mar 1983 P. A. Devane, Wellington, then 15 Oct 1986 S. L. Southey, Bulls.  Cancelled 9 Mar 1992 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EXX (c/n MAANZ/022) Fitted with a Lightning 190 hang glider wing.  Registered on 23 Apr 1982 to Shaun Q. Gilbertson, Otama, later Wanaka.  Cancelled 24 Jun 1992 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-EXZ (c/n MAANZ/036) Fitted with a Shark 180 hang glider wing.  Registered on 23 Apr 1982 to G. R. Henderson, Wendon Valley, near Gore Cancelled 31 Jul 1989.

ZK-FCJ (c/n MAANZ/057) Fitted with a Moyes Meteor hang glider wing.  Registered on 13 Aug 1982 to C. F. M. Dekkers, Nelson, later Christchurch.  Cancelled 10 Oct 1994 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-FCV (c/n MAANZ/086)  Fitted with a Shark 180 hang glider wing.  Registered on 31 Aug 1982 to S. J. Askew, Waiotemarama, near Rawene, then  13 May 1987 K. R. Hoffman, Auckland.   Cancelled Dec 1999 as withdrawn from use.

ZK-FSV (c/n MAANZ/419)  Fitted with a MIG 172 hang glider wing.  Registered on 10 Mar 1989 to P. J. A. Brown, Kaiapoi, then 1 Aug 1990 A. G. Hamilton, Oamaru.  Cancelled 12 Mar 1992 as withdrawn from use.  Restored on 21 Oct 1997 to P. J. A. Brown, Kaiapoi.  Cancelled 1 Aug 2000 as withdrawn from use. 

Re-registered as ZK-TXS on 19 Nov 2002 to P. J. A. Brown, Kaiapoi.  Hit tree attempting a forced landing at Loburn 12 Apr 2003 Cancelled 24 Jul 2003 as withdrawn from use.  Restored on 7 Jan 2004 to C. B. Davis, Queenstown.  Cancelled finally!) Dec 2006 as withdrawn from use.