The Ravin 500 is a South African amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by Ravin Aircraft of Pretoria. The aircraft first flew on 15 September 2002 and is supplied as a kit for amateur construction or as a complete ready-to-fly aircraft.[1][2]
Design and development
The Ravin 500 is based on the design of the aluminumPiper PA-24 Comanche, but rendered in composite materials and scaled down some 6–7%.[3]
The aircraft's 35 ft (10.7 m) span wing has an area of 157 sq ft (14.6 m2) and mounts flaps as well as winglets. The aircraft's recommended engine is the 260 to 300 hp (194 to 224 kW) Lycoming IO-540four-stroke powerplant. Construction time from the supplied kit is estimated as 1400 hours.[1]
Operational history
The company reported that by December 2013 that a total of 22 aircraft or kits had been supplied and that 17 of these have been completed and flown.[4]