Solo Wings Windlass

The Solo Wings Windlass is a South African ultralight trike designed and produced by Solo Wings of Gillitts, KwaZulu-Natal. The aircraft was also sold in the United States by Bateleur Sky Sports of Palm Coast, Florida in the early 2000s, under their own name.

Design and development
The aircraft was designed 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 350 kg. It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a two-seats-in-tandem open cockpit, tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft is made from tubing, with its wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its 34 ft span wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame control bar. The landing gear includes suspension on all three wheels and a steerable nose wheel. The aircraft has been used for flight training and for this role has dual controls, including dual ground steering. The standard engine supplied is the Rotax 503 50 hp twin cylinder, two-stroke, air-cooled aircraft engine. Wings used include the Aquilla 150 sqft and 177 sqft.

In the early 2000s the company had planned to phase the Windlass out, but customer demand has kept the model in production through 2012.

Operational history
The aircraft placed well in a number of European microlight competitions and was used to set an altitude record of 25200 ft in 1987.