The Mountaineer Trikes Mite-Lite is a family of American flying wing ultralight trikes that was designed and produced by Mountaineer Trikes. The aircraft were supplied as a kit for amateur construction.Cliche, Andre: Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide 8th Edition, page E-48. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001.
Design and development The Mite-Lite was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of . The Mite-Lite has a standard empty weight of . It features a cable-braced hang glider-style high-wing, weight-shift controls, a single-seat, open cockpit, tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.
The Mite-Lite is very minimalist lightweight trike, made from bolted-together aluminum tubing, with its single surface wing covered in Dacron sailcloth. Its wing is supported by a single tube-type kingpost and uses an "A" frame control bar. The wing is a large area and is suitable for power-off soaring flight. The aircraft can be disassembled by one person in 45 minutes for ground transportation on a car top or for storage. The factory standard powerplant supplied with the Mite-Lite was the Rotax 277 single cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine.
Production of all models ended when the company went out of business in 1998.
Variants Mite-Lite Initial model, Rotax 277 engine Solo 175 Improved model, Rotax 503 engine. 25 reported as flying by 1998.Purdy, Don: AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition, page 210. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Dual 175 A Solo 175 with a second seat fitted, Rotax 503 engine. Ten reported flying by 1998.
Specifications (Mite-Lite)
References