Air Sylphe Bi 582
# Air Sylphe Bi 582

The Air Sylphe Bi 582 is a French powered parachute that was designed and produced by Air Sylphe of Villereau, Nord. Now out of production, when it was available the aircraft was supplied as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.

The company seems to have gone out of business in the end of 2007 and production ended by that date.

## Design and development

An improved version of their previous two seat design, the Bi 582 was introduced in 2004 and designed to comply with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight category, including the category's maximum gross weight of 450 kg (992 lb). The aircraft has a maximum gross weight of 330 kg (728 lb). It features a 45 $m^2$ (480 sq ft) parachute-style wing designed by Xavier Demoury, two-seats-in-tandem accommodation, tricycle landing gear and a single 64 hp (48 kW) Rotax 582 engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft carriage is built from metal tubing with a ducted fan derived from an industrial air ventilation system. The main landing gear incorporates spring rod suspension. There is also a special version of the aircraft to accommodate wheelchair aviators.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 130 kg (287 lb) and a gross weight of 330 kg (728 lb), giving a useful load of 200 kg (441 lb). With full fuel of 30 litres (6.6 imp gal; 7.9 US gal) the payload for crew and baggage is 178 kg (392 lb).

## Specifications (Bi 582)

Data from Bertrand

General characteristics

* Crew: one
* Capacity: one passenger
* Wingspan: 15 m (49 ft 3 in)
* Wing area: 45 $m^2$ (480 sq ft)
* Aspect ratio: 5:1
* Empty weight: 130 kg (287 lb)
* Gross weight: 330 kg (728 lb)
* Fuel capacity: 30 litres (6.6 imp gal; 7.9 US gal)
* Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 582 twin cylinder, two-stroke, liquid-cooled aircraft engine, 48 kW (64 hp)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 48 km/h (30 mph, 26 kn)
* Stall speed: 20 km/h (12 mph, 11 kn)
* Rate of climb: 2.5 m/s (490 ft/min)
* Wing loading: 7.3 $kg/m^2$ (1.5 lb/sq ft)
