TechProAviation Merlin 100

The TechProAviation Merlin HV 100 is a Czech amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by TechProAviation of Olomouc. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.

Design and development
The Merlin 100 features a cantilever high-wing, a single-seat enclosed cockpit accessed via a single door on the fuselage righthand side, fixed tricycle landing gear with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft is made from matched-hole drilled sheet aluminum. Its 7.8 m span wing has an area of 7.05 m2 and mounts flaps. The standard engine used is the 35 hp Verner JCV 360 twin cylinder four-stroke powerplant. Alternative engines include the 60 hp HKS 700E four-stroke, 50 hp Hirth F-23 and 64 hp Rotax 582 two-stroke powerplants. The aircraft will be marketed as a kit only.

By mid-2011 only the prototype had flown, logging 100 hours of testing, These tests led to modifications; by November 2012 the prototype had gained a fin fillet and the mainwheel legs were slightly forward raked.

Operational history
By 2013 ten Merlins had been built. Flyaway prices, without tax, are engine dependent; the cheapest is the Verner-engined variant at €15,500 in 2015.

Variants
These are in production in late 2015:
 * Merlin 100 UL
 * Version for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight class, specification below. A tailwheel version was flown in April 2012 and is available.


 * Merlin 100 ML
 * Lightened version for the German 120 kg class It has reduced dimensions, with a span of 6.40 m and length of 5.12 m, a tailwhell undercarriage and is powered by a Polini motorcycle engine. It first flew in late March 2014.


 * Merlin Mikro
 * Version with conventional landing gear for the European 120 kg class. Equipped with a Thor 200 powerplant.


 * Rotax
 * As 100UL but with a Rotax 582 engine which gives it a speed of 240 km/h. An amphibious floatplane version is planned.