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The story goes back to an earlier registration: ZK-SBI, a Steelworks Skyboard which was registered as a Class 1 microlight to Skyboard International Ltd of Temuka on 22/2/05. I never took much notice of this but I found the above photo of it on the Skyboard website: http://www.skyboard.co.nz/ It turns out to be "a one person glider that offers a highly manoeuverable alternative to skydiving" that was manufactured by Steelworks Engineering of Temuka which is owned by Bob Harris. There is a link to a Youtube video of it testing and test flying on the website and also at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_XMg9non9o and it turns out to be a 2.3 metre long capsule with extendable wings that weighs 24 Kg and can glide for about 10 minutes when dropped from a helicopter or aircraft from 12,000 feet, travelling at up to 300 kph. This has apparently been very successful.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJLhxqRN_QwZADq1q-xgjH-dNq30qTyOJja46AWg8Hj2DI5ikH0d_zoSpA_C1_360Ck0xbpzHTZ2u1I3FcfN1upnMYy_tMQUG9dZff13bPgMEVzy2R5C0BVuFaMpEH3COtN6MvPM1T-p0/s400/BLUR%2520copy_resize.jpg)
I guess these aircraft have been a challenge to CAA as to what to register them as they must be pushing the bounds of what an aircraft is! Otherwise why would ZK-SBI be a Class 1 microlight? (surely the wing loading must be more than a microlight?), and then why is ZK-SBW registered as a glider but not with a G registration?
Can anyone out there add any more information to this story?
>> surely the wing loading must be more than a microlight
ReplyDeleteThere's no wing-loading restriction on microlights.
But a microlight must have a stall speed of 45kts or less, which may be difficult with a high wing loading.
It does seem strange to register a glider as a microlight, but there seems to be no requirement for a microlight to be powered.
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ReplyDeleteIt seems that a youtube video has emerged:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_XMg9non9o
(Previous comment deleted due to a bad link).