Quad City Ultralight Aircraft Challenger II
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 Challenger II is a two-seat tandem ultralight-style aircraft from Quad City Ultralight Aircraft of Moline, Illinois, built from aluminium tube with fabric covering, offered open or enclosed, and powered by a two-stroke Rotax 447, 503 or 582 of roughly 40 to 65 hp. With the 50 hp Rotax 503 it cruises at about 56 knots, climbs at 450 fpm with two aboard and stalls at 30 knots; the factory's 300 lb empty and 500 lb useful load at an 800 lb gross weight are quoted for the 447.
This is flying at its cheapest and slowest: a basic kit was about $18,000 and a fully equipped one under $35,000 in 2019, and the aircraft burns up to 6 gallons an hour, with two-stroke oil in or injected into the fuel, to go not very far. The Rotax two-strokes carry a 300-hour recommended overhaul interval, the 503 is out of production with only vendor support, and the engine's history matters as much as the airframe's. It is light and slow, so the wind on the day decides whether it flies. Because it is a kit, examples differ in engine, wing (the 31.5 ft standard, the 26 ft clip-wing Special and the later Light Sport XS and XL variants have different spans and gross weights), covering and age of fabric, and many were two-seat ultralight trainers brought onto the register as experimental light sport before the January 2008 deadline, which changes who may inspect them: an A&P, or the owner after a 16-hour course. Under amateur-built registration the owner may do all maintenance, an A&P without an IA or the original builder-repairman signs the annual condition inspection, and a sport pilot certificate on a driver's licence is sufficient to fly it.
Variants of the Quad City Challenger II
- Challenger II · 636 active · this page
Also consider
- Piper J3C-65SNo overall score · 2 seats · 57 kt
- Aeronca C-3No overall score · 2 seats · 56 kt
- Piper J4A-SNo overall score · 2 seats · 70 kt
Compare with…
Put Quad City Ultralight Aircraft Challenger II side by side with up to three other models.
- Quad City Ultralight Aircraft Challenger II
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tricycle |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Rotax 503 (447 std, 503 or 582 optional) |
| Horsepower | 50 hp |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 56 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | — |
| Service ceiling | — |
| Climb rate | 450 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 30 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 500 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 800 lb |
| Empty weight | 300 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 6 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $18,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $35,000 |
| Prices as of | 2019 |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 1,313 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 636 |
| Median year built | 2004.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 26 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 40.881 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 34.592 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 131 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 20.63 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 636 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 636 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 636 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 4.2 of 101 |
| Severity | 4.6 of 102 |
| Access | 8.4 of 103 |
| Support | 9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 5.3 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 31.5 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 31.56 · 197 models in class.
- Severity: class median 10.
- Access: class median 1,000.75.
- Support: class median 89.
- Liquidity: class median 19.74.
- 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 6 · scores Sep 30