Silverwing AEROPRAKT A22 FOXBAT, Manual

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Page 3 - © SilverWing Aviation, 2005
Introduction to the Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat
The prototype A22 was conceived during 1996 on the drawing board of
Antonov Design Bureau engineer Yuri Yakovlev - purely as an easy-to-fly
450-525 kg aircraft with excellent pilot and passenger comfort and
competitive all-round performance. It was intended that pilots of average
ability would be able to operate the A22 in safety from the typically short
ultralight airstrips found around the world.
The design is aimed squarely at the growing ultralight market in Western
Europe and the USA although examples are also operating in UAE, Malaysia
and Eastern Europe. In Germany the A22 has achieved certification to the
stringent BFU-95 requirements. Approval in UK to BCAR'S' via PFA
engineering was achieved in late 2001. Standard engine is the 100 bhp
Rotax 912ULS, with the 80 bhp 912UL available as an option.
Known in Australia South Africa and the UK as the ‘Foxbat’, the A22 is a
quality-engineered aircraft with no aerodynamic vices. The airframe is in
riveted aluminium with part Ceconite type fabric-covered wings and control
surfaces. It retains adequate control response in all axes at speeds down to
30 kts and provides the unthreatening STOL capability of a genuine
ultralight. Yet it can cruise at 85-90kts on 14ltrs/hr and has a range of more
than 500 miles. The cockpit is very roomy with excellent visibility and
plenty of luggage space in a container behind the seats.
This aircraft is an excellent choice for pilots of either ultralights or GA light
aircraft. Equally at home on short ultralight airstrips or GA bitumen the
Foxbat is a plane that can introduce light aircraft pilots to a much wider
choice of destinations, and give ultralight pilots a level of speed and, in
particular comfort, previously unavailable within the weight limit.
Building the Foxbat
Although the Foxbat is a modern aircraft in concept it uses a very
conventional method of construction in riveted Alclad aluminium. The kit is
supplied with some of the fuselage, much of the wings, tailplane, fin and
control surfaces pre-riveted. The builder’s riveting (using ‘pop’ rivets)
consists of fitting the cabin floor-pan (which is partly pre-drilled), finishing
and riveting the wing and fin tips, securing the fin itself and various
mounting brackets and webs to the bare fuselage monocoque. Final riveting
includes all the glazing, including the windscreen.
The A22 Build Manual is illustrated with around 100 exploded-view drawings
that cover each step of the assembly process together with easy-to follow