DTA Evolution

The DTA Evolution is a French ultralight trike, designed and produced by DTA sarl of Montélimar. The aircraft is supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.

Design and development
The aircraft was designed as a simple trike, with an exceptional payload, to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, including the category's maximum gross weight of 450 kg. The aircraft has a maximum gross weight of 400 kg. It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit without a cockpit fairing, tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft is made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its single surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its 10.30 m span DTA Dynamic 16 wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame weight-shift control bar. The powerplant is a twin cylinder, air-cooled, two-stroke, dual-ignition 50 hp Rotax 503 engine, with the liquid cooled 64 hp Rotax 582, the four cylinder, air and liquid-cooled, four-stroke, dual-ignition 80 hp Rotax 912 or 100 hp Rotax 912S engines optional.

With the Rotax 503 and the Dynamic 16 wing, the aircraft has an empty weight of 166 kg and a gross weight of 400 kg, giving a useful load of 234 kg. With full fuel of 50 L the payload is 198 kg.

A number of different wings can be fitted to the basic carriage, including the DTA Dynamic, DTA Diva and the strut-braced DTA Magic.

Operational history
In September 2003 a French flying team flew an Evolution from Paris to Dakar, making use of the aircraft's high payload to carry all needed supplies.