Antares 582

Antares qualifies as the first 51%-rule trike kit.
These days, hangar talk in the sport flying community seems to be focused on the FAA’s not-yet-final sport pilot rule [we have labeled it SportPlanes™—Ed]. If you are thinking of building a new airplane, you will want to know the rules that may affect your use of it.
As we wait a year or two for SportPlanes™ to prove its worth to the flying crowd, some things remain as they were. Aviation’s simplest rule defining aircraft and pilots, FAR Part 103 (ultralights) will not change. In presentation sessions, FAA officials worked to convince enthusiasts that the agency has no plans to alter this rule. Therefore, you may still fly one of the single-seat ultralights that qualify.

Long Live 51%
For many KITPLANES® readers, a primary interest is the amateur-built regulation commonly referred to as the 51% rule. As the magazine’s annual December-through-February three-part directory shows, pilots are fortunate to have hundreds of choices among attractive aircraft of every description.
The FAA has confirmed that no change to the amateur-built rule is planned; the thousands of kits under construction and the 20,000 completed homebuilts will be unaffected.
New to the Ranks
In recent months, another name was added to the list of aircraft that can fly under the amateur-built concept. With international roots, an Anchorage Alaska-based venture has produced another 51%-rule kit for your consideration.
The Antares represents the first trike ultralight to find FAA approval under the amateur-built regulation. “Why a trike kit?” you ask. “Aren’t they ultralight vehicles?”
Under the SportPlanes™ proposal, two-place ultralights would be phased out as trainers over a three-year window after the rule becomes law. What does this mean, and why is the Antares important?
Full Citizen
Under the exemption to Part 103, two-place ultralights may be operated without an FAA license if use is limited to instruction. Years ago, the FAA realized that regular flight instructors (CFIs) using Cessna 150s wouldn’t be able to provide relevant instruction to those wanting to fly weight-shift ultralights. Therefore, the exemption was created.
It has worked well. Accidents have been relatively few, comparable to instruction in other aircraft. But the exemption to Part 103 hasn’t addressed all needs. Pilots wanting to fly a trike ultralight other than for instruction have had few choices. Trikes are usually delivered fully built (or as simple kits that can’t qualify for the 51% rule), so amateur-built status can’t be used. And pilots who don’t want to give a lesson every time they fly aren’t permitted to use the Part 103 exemption.
Now, thanks to Antares LLC and its partner, Arctic Sparrow Aircraft, you can build a trike under the 51% rule and fly it with your FAA pilot’s license. This means that you can be afforded first-class citizenship among aircraft. You can carry a non-student passenger. You can land at any airport. You can fly over populations (within Part 91 rules). Insurance is available, and all of this is because your Antares kitbuilt aircraft is not an ultralight.
Antares and Arctic Sparrow are operated by Sergey Zozulya (so-ZOO-lee-ah) and longtime trike leader Mike Jacober. These two men, with assistance from several others, have invested to remake Antares trike models so they can pass FAA’s multi-page test of the 51% eligibility.
Now Antares offers its trike kit with a selection of Aeros wings for different performance and handling. The partners observe that Antares “is the only flex-wing trike on the FAA 51% homebuilt kit list.”
Motivated Businessmen
Zozulya comes from Ukraine. He once flew thousands of miles from Russia to Alaska over the Bering Strait—a flight many wouldn’t try in a certified twin-engine airplane, much less an open-cockpit, two-stroke-powered ultralight. Once he got to Alaska, Zozulya linked up with Mike Jacober, and the two have established a solid business relationship.
Jacober is another adventurous pilot. By flying on oxygen over the soaring peaks of Mt. McKinley at an altitude of 20,500 feet in May 1993, Jacober went on record as the first to fly over America’s tallest mountain in an ultralight, the Antares MA-31.
The top-of-the-line MA-33M that I’ve flown for a pilot report uses a 64-hp Rotax 582 with dual carburetors and dual ignition mated to a two-, three- or six-blade propeller.
Fitted with the Stranger II wing built in Kiev, Ukraine, Antares handles well and can achieve a 60-mph cruise speed. Stalls are mild. In flight or taxiing on rough ground, Antares feels solidly built and up to the rigors of bush-type flying.
Build a Kit?
The Antares kit includes the builder’s choice of the Aeros Still, Stranger II, Stranger IIM, or Stream wing; trike; wheelpants; cockpit fairing; 10-gallon fuel tank; and a full airframe kit with all aircraft-grade hardware and lots of titanium. Builders will not need to sew the wing—an effort requiring great skill—although they will build spars and shape the tubing wingribs.
Antares trikes feature dual controls, dual foot throttles, titanium front steering forks, aluminum wheels, a disk brake, and a stout-looking spring composite main landing gear. All tubing is powder coated.
With its triangular engineering, distinctive fairing, and sturdy landing gear, Antares is durable and capable of flying on wheels, tundra tires, skis or floats. It also breaks down to a package that can be carried on a pickup truck easily.
Today more than 250 Antares trikes are flying. Currently a number of 51%-rule Antares trike kits are adding to the total. The emergence of SportPlanes™ should help Antares by offering pilots a faster path to an FAA ticket that allows new privileges.           KP
FOR MORE INFORMATION, contact Antares Aircraft LLC at 20748 Birchwood Spur Road, Chugiak, AK 99567; call 907/688-7001; fax 907/688-7002; e-mail antares-us@ak.net; web www.antares-us.com.