Ravin 500

The Ravin 500 is a South African amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by Ravin Aircraft of Pretoria. The aircraft first flew on 15 September 2002 and is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly aircraft.

Design and development
The Ravin 500 is based on the design of the aluminum Piper PA-24 Comanche, but rendered in composite materials and scaled down some 6–7%.

The Ravin 500 features a cantilever low-wing, a four-seat enclosed cabin, accessed by doors, retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration. The cabin is 45 in wide.

The aircraft's 35 ft span wing has an area of 157 sqft and mounts flaps as well as winglets. The aircraft's recommended engine is the 260 to 300 hp Lycoming IO-540 four-stroke powerplant. Construction time from the supplied kit is estimated as 1400 hours.

Operational history
The company reported that by December 2013 that a total of 22 aircraft or kits had been supplied and that 17 of these have been completed and flown.