TL Ultralights TL 3000 Siriuses of New Zealand

TL Ultralight s.r.o. is an sport aircraft manufacturer based at Hradec Kralove in the Czech Republic.  It was formed in 1989 producing trikes.  It produces the TL 2000 Sting and the TL 3000 Sirius (and the tandem Stream which we have not seen in New Zealand to date).

The high wing TL 3000 Sirius was first announced at Aero Friedricshafen in 2007 and the prototype first flew on 21/5/08.  It has a carbon fibre wing and a glass and carbon fibre fuselage and it shares some components with its low wing TL 2000 stablemate.

The Sirius's length is 6.97 metres (21 feet x inches), wingspan is 9.40 metres (30 feet x inches) and the wing area is 120 square feet. Empty weight is around 297 Kg (655 pounds) depending on the fit out and MAUW is 544 Kg (1,200 pounds) for a Class 2 microlight in New Zealand, although this can be increased to 600 Kg for an LSA.  Standard power is a 100 HP Rotax 912iS but the 912ULS and 914 engines can also be fitted.  Cruising speed varies between 110 and 130 mph depending on the engine.

The local agents are Sport Aircraft Ltd of North Shore.  They have a good website www.sportaircraft.co.nz  which has a nice video of their Sirius on take off and climb out from Tauranga past the Mount.

We have had four TL 3000 Siriuses in New Zealand to date, as follows:

Our first Sirius was ZK-SPR (c/n 10 SI 12) was first registered to Sport Aircraft Ltd on 17/5/10 and it first flew on 19/5/10.  It is photo'd above during test flying at North Shore airfield on 22/5/10.

It was used by Sport Aircraft Ltd as a demonstrator and later the registration letters were modified, as photo'd above at Paul Hopper's airstrip at Silverdale on 29/6/14.

On 20/6/14 it was sold to V C M Sutherland of the ACT in Australia.  It is photo'd above on 29/6/14 at North Shore being dismantled for shipping to Australia.  It was cancelled from the New Zealand civil register on 21/6/16.

ZK-SUS (c/n 10 SI 13) arrived in the same container as ZK-SPR and it was also registered to Sport Aircraft Ltd on 17/5/10.  It is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 22/5/10 just prior to its first flight in New Zealand (not its first flight as the aircraft are test flown in the Czech Republic).

It was sold to E B (Bruce) Gordon of Marton on 29/5/10 and he re-registered it with his initials as ZK-EBG2 on 6/7/10.  It is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 5/6/14.

Bruce Gordon re-registered his Sirius as ZK-KKQ on 26/1/17 (to allow the registration ZK-EBG3 to be used on his Cessna 182R), and it was sold to David P Hayes of Masterton on 7/4/17.  It is photo'd above at Waipukurau on 1/1/19.

ZK-RNK (c/n 14 SI 95) was registered to Skyward Escapes Ltd of Christchurch (Roger and Kim Read, hence the rego), on 13/5/14.  It is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 21/6/14 just prior to its first flight in New Zealand.

And our final Sirius to date is ZK-SRZ (c/n 15 SI 107) which was registered to Sport Aircraft Ltd on 27/3/15 and it first flew here on 16/5/15.  It is photo'd above at North Shore airfield on 18/5/15.  Sport Aircraft Ltd use the aircraft as a demonstrator and it is very active around the airfields in the Northern part of the country, with co-owner Bruce Reynolds posting lots of videos of his flights on You Tube.