Kolb Aircraft Mark III / TwinStar Mk III
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 Kolb Mark III is Homer Kolb's two-seat side-by-side pusher: a folding-wing, strut-braced high-wing of 30 ft with the engine behind the cabin and a tailwheel, sold as a kit since the late 1980s and now as the TwinStar Mk III Xtra. With a 64 hp two-stroke Rotax 582 the original cruised at about 75 mph, stalled at 33, climbed at 950 fpm and carried 550 lb on 1,000 lb gross.
This is an ultralight that grew a second seat and a registration, and it should be bought as one: a 65 knot local aeroplane that folds up and trailers home, with a two-stroke engine (or a 912 on later and re-engined examples) whose care decides whether it is reliable, and a fabric-and-tube structure that wants to live indoors. Mark III, Classic, Xtra and TwinStar are different generations with different weights and engines, and the registry string rarely says which, so identify the aircraft first and read its own weight-and-balance; the figures here are the original Mark III's from an encyclopaedia and the current Xtra is heavier and better powered. Amateur-built or light-sport depending on the example. Kolb Aircraft is in business in Kentucky with parts and support. No asking price was found.
Variants of the Kolb Mark III / TwinStar
- Mark III / TwinStar Mk III · 144 active · this page
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TAILFAX SCORE
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 582 (reference; 912 on Mark III Xtra) |
| Horsepower | 64 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 65 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 113 nm |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 950 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 29 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 550 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,000 lb |
| Empty weight | 450 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
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 | 361 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 144 |
| Median year built | 2000 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 4 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 1 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 27.781 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 13.892 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 37 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 25.693 |
| Airworthiness directives | 1 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 144 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 144 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 144 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 5.1 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 1.6 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 9.1 of 103 |
| Support | 7.2 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 7.6 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 30.6 out of 506 |
- 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 7 · scores Sep 30