Evektor VUT100 Cobra

The Evektor VUT100 Cobra (also called the VUT 100 and VUT-100) is a Czech light aircraft under development by Evektor-Aerotechnik, of Kunovice. The aircraft is intended to be supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.

As of 2017 the manufacturer lists the aircraft as "in development".

Design and development
Around 1990, Czech company Moravan Otrokovice started a project to modernise its Zlín Z 42/Z 43 family of light aircraft. The redesign proved so complete that the company treated it as a new project with the designation Z 90 and displayed a mockup of it at the 1991 Paris Air Show. However, market conditions at the time were unfavourable, and work on the Z 90 halted without the aircraft entering production. Some work that had been done on the Z 90 was used in the Kappa 77 KP 2U-SOVA ultralight design, which allowed aspects of the design to be proven in practice.

By 2001, the market for general aviation aircraft had recovered sufficiently for the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade to sponsor a new project to continue development of the Z 90 under the name VUT100. This project would be a collaboration between different Czech aviation manufacturing companies and the Institute of Aerospace Engineering at the Brno University of Technology.

The aircraft features a cantilever low-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The VUT100 is a hybrid construction of metallic and composite materials. Its 10.2 m span wing has an area of 13.11 m2 and mounts flaps. The engines fitted vary, depending on the model and the cabin is 1.22 m in width. The VUT100 is stressed for +3.8/-1.52g in the normal category and +4.4/-1.76g in the utility category.

Although designed to European CS-23 and American FAR-23 certification standards, the VUT100 does not currently have a type certificate issued by the European Aviation Safety Agency or the Federal Aviation Administration.

Variants

 * Zlín Z 90
 * Original design from 1990; not built


 * Evektor VUT100-120i Cobra
 * Base model with a 200 hp Lycoming IO-360-A1B6 four-stroke powerplant, an empty weight of 830 kg and a gross weight of 1330 kg, giving a useful load of 500 kg.


 * Evektor VUT100-131i SuperCobra
 * Higher powered model with a 315 hp Lycoming IO-580-B1A four-stroke powerplant, an empty weight of 880 kg and a gross weight of 1450 kg, giving a useful load of 570 kg.