"AEROS new Profi TL wing with winglets and trimmer. New electrical trimmer system"
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In spring 2010 I have bought a hangar at the closest to my home Saint-Lazare airport. Now I spend about 30 minutes from my home to takeoff. Unfortunately it is only about 34ft large so I had to remove my favourite high aspect ratio X-14 wings
from trikes and used more low wing span wings, X-155 and Profi. I would like to attract your attention to Profi TL, the last and (my opinion) most interesting Aeros wing. It has teardrop shaped
struts, carbon fiber finned wingtips and electrical trimmer mechanism as an option.
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I fly this wing on RW-50 trike with large wheels, 100HP G13BB 4-stroke Suzuki engine, KOOLprop 69 and electro trimmer.
Without finned wingtips this wing is very closed to X-14. It is very light in pitch and stable, not heavy but inertial in roll, nice and not easy to go from its direction in low-middle turbulence, very predictable and pleasant. The slow hands off speed (back position of the trimmer) is about 50MPH at about 3800 engine RPM. I just have fun flying around airport at this regime.
When I move the hang block ahead, the control bar goes to my chest and the wing flies faster hands off, up to 77-79MPH front trim position with around 4500RPM horizontal flight.
When I put wingtips on, it becomes more stable in roll and yaw, but no negative feeling. It easy changes the roll angle, and stays at the same angle hands off. The gliding ratio becomes definitely higher. Slow speed with wingtips is 6-8 MPH faster. The most interesting is hands off high cruise speed. It is 84-86 MPH with around 5000RPM steady horizontal flight. The trike flies very stable, like an arrow sending from a bow, and can fly this way for hours without efforts from the pilot. Of course you can cruise like this only with a reliable 90-100 HP engine, 912S or Suzuki G13
Some words about a new trim system. It makes wing tuning, X-country flights in a group and fast cruising much easier. I used Aeros trimmers for my wings before and was 100% happy, but its quite high price (more than 1000$) pushed me to find an alternative. I used LINAK servomechanisms before, but they were bulky and heavy. I had to make something smaller, lighter but still high force. I ordered and tested a prototype, and now I’m ready to supply new electric trimmers with 3-position switches to anybody who wants to get easier speed tuning and more speed range from his wing.
All trikers around are welcome to see this wing, my trike and trimmer system, and try it flying at Saint-Lazare airport with me.
"Apogee 16 and 14 wings"
General Information.
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Apogee 16 is a high efficiency and gliding ratio double-surface trike wing. It was designed by well known Russian HG and trike wing designer, successful
sportsman-pilot Vlad Mysenko. 400+ wings has been produced in cooperation with "Rotor" design bureau at Kamov helicopter plant. Used with many trikes. In production
as a part of Ural-Apogee trike and trike kit. Its unique feature - it comes
in a short package (about 7') so its overseas delivery is not so expensive as for other European wings. Used materials - German Polyant dacron and trilam,
certified aviation hard anodised tubing, cables and hardware. Teardrop shaped A-frame and kingpost is a standard. It is the best quality/price ratio wing at the
market. Can be used for light float trikes. I tested Ural with Apogee 16 and can say - this is a very good flyer.
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Every wing is ASSEMBLED AT THE FACTORY, TESTED IN FLIGHT then disassembled in 7” long package for overseas delivery. All you need is a set of wrenches
to assemble it. If you build an Experimental-Amateur Built trike, the wing building will be credited to your 51% work. If wou want, you even can order a partially finished kit,
for example without battens and (or) cables. There are WING STRUCTURE and WING SAIL DRAWINGS
Builder's help in any form. Another good feature of this wing - it can be transported inside your car, minivan or track. It is very easy to store this wing,
it takes almost no space. Look at some pictures of this wing:
This are the pictures of my first Apogee 16 wing assembling-flying (standard tests made by the factory test pilot)
There is a step-by-step manual with pictures how to assemble this wing from 7 feet kit to ready-to-fly form,
and then from ready-to-fly to 20 feet transportation bag
Specifications.
| Area | 16 (14) sq.m /(174) 152 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.2 (9.9) m / 31 (30) ft |
| Transport Package (Down tube) Length | 6.0m (20ft), 2.2m (7ft) shopt pack |
| Noze Angle | 127 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 23 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 10 |
| Wing Weight | 45kg / 99 lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 380kg / 836 lb |
| Max G-Force | +6 / -4 |
| Max Speed | 120km/h / 74mph |
| Min Speed | 50km/h / 31mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 9.5 |
"X-wings"
General Information.
X-family of trike wings was created by a famous Ukrainian trike pilot, wing designer, and aerospace
engineer Alex Homic. He manufactures them at his factory in Ukraine. At a huge former USSR
market X-wings are very popular. At least four Russian and Ukrainian trike
producers (RedWing, Cruise, Bimans-UL and KLASS) and a lot of amateur trike
designers use these wings. Read feedbacks from some American X-wing owners HERE.
These 75-90% double surface wings have high
flight performances, proven safety record, excellent control and stability. They are comfortable to
fly in winter and summer seasons, on wheels, floats and skis. Many pilots have learned to
fly trikes with these wings from basic to advanced level. Top quality and
reasonable prices make them very attractive. There
are 5 models in modern X-line of wings, ranging from 10 to 17 sq. m. You will find X-wing prices in Air Trikes pricelist HERE.
Air Trikes Enterprises is looking for X-wing dealers.
X-14
The most popular of X-Wings is X-14. This wing is also in production in
Russia under license from Alex Homich. Hundreds of
X-14 wings have been made since 1995. These wings are used for patrolling,
crop spraying, training, and flying for fun, solo
or with a passenger as well as sport flying. As a matter of fact, in my opinion
this is one of the best wings for sport and "cross-country" flying.
Some Russian trikes with X-14
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| RedWing MD-30 |
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BIMAN-Spark |
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"Cruise" |
In summer 2001, when I visited Russia, I met Alex Homic at the aviation
salon MAKS (Moscow Airspace Salon). I told him that his X-14 looks very nice.
Its big wingspan, good shape, and a lot of battens should give high flight
characteristics. Because of the elastic dampers on the lower surface it must be
easy to control and comfortable even in the midday thermals. He smiled and
invited me to Kharkov to test my impression in flight. I accepted his
invitation and bought his wing after a 20-minute solo flight. My first
impression was completely confirmed! I operate as a distributor
of these wings in North America as I see these wings made with high quality materials and technology,
have excellent performances and very competitive prices.
Specifications.
| Area | 14 sq. m / 150 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.6 m / 35.3 ft |
| Transport Package (Down tube) Length | 6.0m (20ft), 4.2m (14ft) without the last tube |
| Noze Angle | 125 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 29 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 10 |
| Wing Weight | 52kg / 115 lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 450kg / 990 lb |
| Max G-Force (400kg/882lb gross trike weight) | +6 / -4 |
| Balanced Speed | 65-95km/h / 40.5-60mph |
| Max Speed | 130km/h / 81mph |
| Min Speed | 50km/h / 31mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 9.5 |
The First X-14 in North America
The frame is made of high-strength aluminum anodized tubes. The top mast and
the control bar side downtubes have a teardrop shape and electro-
coating (option). The wing skin is made of high quality isomorphic Dacron
fabric.
The color design is customer selected. Customer can choose the lower surface,
leading edge and kile pocket colors. The upper surface is white to reduce the influence of
sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays.
Well-designed set of skin re-enforcement and battens helps extend the life of
the wing sail and keeps its geometry optimum throughout a wide range of speed.
Upper and lower surfaces are supported by a number of battens to reduce deviation
of airfoil sections under changing aerodynamic loads.
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The modern aluminum adjustable hang block allows to install the wing easy. Two plastic films (upper and lower), which are put into the
leading edge, make its surface ideal. A soft long wing pocket, 2 batten pockets and some small safety covers for transportation are included.
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My first (in North America) X-14 test flights were done at Rou-Air ultralight school
(Richelieu airport). The wing was tested with two kinds of trikes: "Cosmos
Phase 2" and my "Frigate". You can see the "report" and pictures below:
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| X-14 + Cosmos Phase 2 |
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X-14 + Frigate |
The take-off is smooth and nice. There is almost no pitch change (swing of
pendulum) just after the take-off. The acceleration is very powerful. It
reveals low aerodynamic drag of the wing even at high angles of attack. The
climbing is classical. The cruise speed with one pilot was adjusted to be about
85km/h (53mph). The trike flies easy and acceptably even in thermal turbulence.
The wing is very stable and at the same time very sensitive to the control bar
movements. The control bar is unusually (after the Cosmos wing) "light" for
pitch and roll moving at cruising speed range. I easily got 130km/h (81MPH)
speed even with my not very aerodynamic "Frigate". During forced dive (control bar pulled to to the chest) there is
some roll swing that stops with the increase in angle of attack. It is normal
for a majority of trike wings. The wing is easily controllable at coordinated
control (pitch-roll) and a little inert at non-coordinated one (roll only) at
high speeds. In near-stall mode the wing continues steady flight and has good
controllability. It was difficult to get it to stall on my trike. Stall
recovery is smooth, with slowly pulling the nose down, without rolling. The
wing goes out of stall just after release of the control bar, gaining speed
quickly. The gliding and landing approach are without particular qualities. The
trike flew over a runway longer than usually because of the high aerodynamic
quality (low drag) of the wing and keeps perfect stability and controllability until the moment of contact. I really enjoyed high speed range, perfect gliding ratio, balanced stability and controllability of my X-14 wing.
The biggest advantage and disadvantage I have found:
Advantage- the wing, adjusted for high speed, flies quickly, controlled with
small control bar movements, always predictable, its light control does not tire a pilot
in turbulence. At the same time, the feedback becomes "classical" for low
(takeoff, landing) and close to max. Speed. It makes the wing comfortable and
acceptable even for not very experienced pilots.
Disadvantage- I understand I have lost so much fun because I began to enjoy
X-14 only in summer 2001!
A lot of time passed from my first X-14 flights. In fall 2002 this wing was installed and successfully tested on a KLASS-Cruise
trike with GEO-Metro 1liter converted engine. Now this wing is stanard for KLASS-GEO. You can read a feedback from one of KLASS-GEO owners HERE. I flew X-14 in very different conditions, from cold severe Canadian winter to even more severe midday turbulence in Florida. X-14 means safety and comfort for me. This wing becomes more and more popular in the US and Canada. I sell it with Eagle trike. Our clients installed and fly them with Airborne, Air Creation, Cosmos and homebuild trikes. X-14 has 4 standard A-frame dimensions and can be fitted to any type of trikes. In 2004 the first cordless tip batten wing came to North America. It keeps the same highest performances and has even more attractive appearance. The wing can be ordered with Trilam leading edje. I always try to keep one-two wings in stock in Montreal so you can get X-14 very quickly...if the color is not very important for you. Anyway, the delivery time is about 6-8 weeks, not too long. Look some pictures below, you can see different color X-14 wings installed on different trikes and enlarge some of them.
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| Winter 2004, Canada. I have just got my next distributor's package of 5 wings. Most of them are already sold. | | Ready-to-fly trikes with X-14 wings. |
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| The first trike registered in the US under SLA rules. | | Sun n'Fun 2005 Cordless TE X-14 on KLASS. |
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| One of KLASS X-14 trikes sold in Canada. | | Sun n'Fun 2005 Standard X-14 on Eagle-GEO. |
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| X-14 on Eagle-503 | | Eagle-GEO flying with cordless TE X-14. Look at the ideal distribution of twist along the windspan. |
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Some pictures made by pilots flying with tourists in Nepal. Altitude up to 5 km (16000feet). They fly for more than 10 years.
Avia Club's specially trained, professional pilots have flown over 8000 tourist flights. Russian trikes
with X-14 wings and KOOLprops are used. If you want to know more about Nepal Air Club, click here
X-155
This wing is ordered to design for Air Trikes Ent. in 2004 especially for North America market and heavy trikes regarding US Sport Light Aircraft and Canadia Basic Ultralight rules.
It is based on proven and modern X-17 design but has smaller wingspan and 15.5 sq.m surface. I wanted to get the same Max. takeoff weight (1100lbs), higher Max. speed,
lighter roll control than X-17 and better handling in turbulence.
The wing is tested on new Tourist trike with GEO G13BB engine. I couldn't expect better results.
The wing is definitely lighter in roll than X-17. It doesn't change its performances with changing trike weight.
Handling is nice in calm conditions and in turbulence, wing is 100% predictable. Hands off speed was trimmed as 55MPH, this
is really good for quite large surface wing. Takeoff was short, climbing about 1300FPM. Very difficult to get stall,
it is smooth with quick recovery. X-155 has lower aspect ratio so lower gliding ratio than X-14. I could feel it (after highest ratio of X-14) during
final approaches and dives with low throttle but I can't estimate it as a disadvantage. It is easy to land a trike with this
wing on a short field.
X-155 is not a soaring wing or wing
for light trikes with small engines. This wing is designed for heavy trikes and powerful engines, and fine for them.
This wing can be recommended for
banner towing, floats, crop spraying, flying with floats - everywhere you need high takeoff weight, short takeoff-landind, easy
handling and modern wing flying performances. You can see some pictures of X-155 wings supplied and flying in the US and Canada below.
Specifications.
| Area | 15.5 sq. m / 166 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.0 m / 33.3 ft |
| Transport Package (Down tube) Length | 5.7m (19ft), 4.0m (13ft) without the last tube |
| Noze Angle | 120 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 25 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 10 |
| Wing Weight | 54kg / 118 lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 500kg / 1100 lb |
| Max G-Force (470kg/1050lb gross trike weight) | +6 / -4 |
| Balanced Speed | 70-100km/h / 45-65mph |
| Max Speed | 135km/h / 84mph |
| Min Speed | 50km/h / 31mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 8.5 |
X-17
This wing was designed especially for heavy trikes (3-place trikes, trikes with
converted auto engines and floats, for chemical crop spraying etc.) It allows
average pilots to fly these trikes as classical ones up to 450 kg (1000 lb) max
weight and keep all advantages of X-14. It was tested up to 500kg (1100lb) max
weight and has good characteristics of control and stability even for this
weight.
Specifications.
| Area | 17 sq. m / 182 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.6 m / 35.3 ft |
| Transport Package Length | 6.0m (20ft), 4.2m (14ft) without the last tube |
| Noze Angle | 120 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 25 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 10 |
| Wing Weight | 57kg / 125 lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 500kg / 1100 lb |
| Max G-Force (450kg/1000lb gross trike weight) | +6 / -4 |
| Balanced Speed | 70-100km/h / 45-65mph |
| Max Speed | 130km/h / 81mph |
| Min Speed | 50km/h / 31mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 9.0 |
This wing has been produced since 2000. I started flying X-17 in the summer of
2002. It was installed on KLASS-Cruise trike with a GEO-Metro 1 liter converted
engine. The trike with this wing has good performance in terms of stability and
controllability, which are equal for solo as well as with a passenger. Flying
heavy trike with this wing is not difficult even for inexperienced pilots. It
is more stable in longitudinal direction than the X-14, which makes it slightly
more comfortable for long cross-country cruising. In spite of its big surface
the wing is easy to handle and has excellent speed range. X-17 was installed at KLASS-GEO trike with 4-cyl. 16 valves Suzuki.
You can read how this (not very light) trike flys with not very light (275lbs) owner + instructor and then solo HERE.
X-12(12-400)
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This wing was designed in two variants: solo (takeoff weight up to 600lbs) and 2-place (up to 880lbs) trikes.
It has excellent speed performances and highest gliding ratio. If you want aerodynamically perfect wing with Vmax up to 90mph long level flying - this is your wing. For example, X-12-400 is used in Russia for oil pipeline monitoring. Has very reasonable (as all X-serie wings) price.
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Specifications.
| Area | 12 sq. m / 130 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.0 m / 33 ft |
| Transport Package (Down tube) Length | 6.0m (20ft), 4.5m (15ft) without the last tube |
| Noze Angle | 128 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 23 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 10 |
| Wing Weight (400) | 49 (52)kg / 108(114) lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 270 (400)kg / 600(880) lb |
| Max G-Force (400kg/882lb gross trike weight) | +6 / -4 |
| Balanced Speed | 70-120km/h / 45-75mph |
| Max Level Speed | 145km/h / 90mph |
| Stall Speed (400) | 45 (55)km/h / 28 (34)mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 10.0 |
"Aeros wings"
In summer 2005 Air Trikes Ent. became a dealer of Aeros company for the US and Canada. We are ready to order any of four Aeros wings for you
and help you to fit it correctly to your trike. Visit our AEROS page for more info.
"RW-17 wing"
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In summer 2005 Air Trikes became a North American distributor of Russian "Red Wings" company. We are happy to introduce RW-17 trike wing. Designed in 1993 year, this wing is still in production. 60% double surface.
Well proven as stabe and comfortable wing. Not very quick but with excellent short takeoff-landing characteristics. Can be recommended for beginners, open draggy trikes with big wheels, trike schools, floats, hangglider towing.
Can be ordered with different A-frame dimensions and variable control bar position to fit to different trikes. Very reasonably priced. Quick delivery.
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Specifications.
| Area | 16.7 sq. m / 180 sq.ft |
| Wing Span | 10.6 m / 33 ft |
| Transport Package (Down tube) Length | 6.0m (20ft), 4.5m (15ft) without the last tube |
| Noze Angle | 120 deg. |
| Number of Upper Battens | 23 |
| Number of Lower Battens | 6 |
| Wing Weight | 52kg / 114 lb |
| Max Trike Take-Off Weight | 410kg / 900 lb |
| Max G-Force | +6 / -4 |
| Max Level Speed | 115km/h / 72mph |
| Min Speed | 50km/h / 31mph |
| Fineness (Gliding ratio) | 9.0 |
For additional information and order E-mail: info@airtrikes.net, taravas@mail.ru Use both addresses. Even if there are temporary problems with one, we will get your E-mail anyway.
Air Trikes pricelist is HERE.
Address: Air Trikes Enterprises 6043 Clark st. Pierrefonds PQ Canada, H8Z 2G3
Phone:(514) 685-2856
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