Challenger II Performance



Canada's Favourite Advanced Ultralight

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Herein are the older Challenger II 447 Legacy, 503 Deluxe, 582 Premium which have been replaced by new 582 powered Challenger Light Sport models.

Rotax stopped selling new 447 and 503 engines some years ago because the
582 "Blue Head" has substantially better power, fuel economy and reliability.

The venerable Challenger II 582 Premium in 2005 pioneered the use of the 582.
It has been replaced by the Challenger Light Sport E Series EL-65 and ES-65
which have much improved handling plus enhanced accessibility and comfort,
all at the same cost. The new Light Sport X Series kicks it up another notch!

Click here for the new Challenger Light Sport models.

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Big Picture

How can a Challenger with a 50 hp engine get you off the ground in less than 100 feet? And get you back on in crosswinds a 172 needs to avoid! How can it stall at only 24 mph yet cruise at 85? How can that 50 hp Challenger loft you rapidly all the way to 14,000 feet? Or, engine off, lower you gently like a glider?

The answer is: employ a wing with a huge lifting surface and pay fanatical attention to keeping weight and drag to an absolute minimum. This means you don't need more powerful (and therefore heavier and thirstier) engines to drag dead weight around the sky! Less power is less expensive, by a lot!

The Challenger with the 50 hp Rotax 503 delivers to its owners the same or better performance as airplanes requiring the 80 hp Rotax 912. The 912 is a fine engine, but it costs $20,000 to acquire, 50% more per hour to operate, and you'll have to set aside twice as much per hour towards overhaul costs. Plus the extra weight of the 912 itself is like carrying around another ten gallons of gas, except that you can't use the gas!

And to turn the Challenger 503 "wow!" into "WOW!" upgrade to the new 582! The 582 has quickly become the de facto standard for floats, heavy loads and operation at high density altitudes - ie high elevations and/or temperatures.

Prose is not the most efficient way to communicate numbers on speed, takeoff, climb, fuel consumption and other important attributes of an airplane. For all this data on both the long wing and clip wing click to the Performance Table.


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