Excalibur
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Excalibur is a Florida-built tandem two-seat high-wing pusher kit in the Challenger mould, an aluminium-tube and fabric aeroplane with a 31 ft 6 in wing, bungee-sprung gear, 450 lb empty and 650 lb useful on a 55 hp Hirth 3202 or a Rotax 503/582, which the factory quotes at 90 mph cruise, a 30-35 mph stall and 700 fpm two-up; some two thousand of all versions had flown by 2011.
The Excalibur is bought as a quick-to-build, cheap-to-fly two-seater - the factory quotes 100-200 hours of assembly - and it should be judged as the ultralight-derived aeroplane it is: a two-stroke engine in most examples, with that engine's care and overhaul life, a fabric covering with a finite life in sun, and a 90 mph cruise on 2-4 gallons an hour. The factory's own figures and Wikipedia's disagree on gross weight by 150 lb, so the individual aircraft's weight-and-balance governs what it may carry. Welded or bolted tube, fabric and the bungee gear are the inspection; the builder's work varies. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate; Excalibur Aircraft is in business and still completes aircraft at the factory.
Variants of the Excalibur
- Excalibur · 56 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Partial: 11.7 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
Compare with…
Put Excalibur side by side with up to three other models.
- Excalibur
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Hirth 3202 (55 hp standard; Rotax 503/582, HKS 700E and Jabiru 2200 options) |
| Horsepower | 55 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | 78 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | — |
| Service ceiling | 12,500 ft |
| Climb rate | 700 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 30 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 650 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | — |
| Empty weight | 450 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 2.3 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 75 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 56 |
| Median year built | 2013 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 0 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 35.71 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 35.71 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 12 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 21.43 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 56 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 56 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 56 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 2 of 103 |
| Support | 3.8 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.9 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | Partial: 11.7 out of 30 (safety not scored, too few records)6 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30