The Mathews Turnerkraft, also called the Turnercraft, is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 ultralight aircraft that was designed by Lyle Mathews in conjunction with his partners Al Petit and Kindall and Wink Turner. It was made available in the form of plans for amateur construction

Homebuilt aircraft

Also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, homebuilt aircraft are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch," from plans, or from assembly kits.-Overview:...

.

Design and development

The aircraft was designed to comply with the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules, including the category's maximum empty weight of 254 lb (115 kg). It features a biplane

Biplane

A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...

 wing configuration, a single-seat, open cockpit and a single engine.

The aircraft is made from aluminum tubing, riveted together using gussets. Its top wing features full-span aileron

Aileron

Ailerons are hinged flight control surfaces attached to the trailing edge of the wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. The ailerons are used to control the aircraft in roll, which results in a change in heading due to the tilting of the lift vector...

s. The wings and tail are covered with aircraft fabric that is glued into place, heat shrunk and then finished with latex

Latex

Latex is the stable dispersion of polymer microparticles in an aqueous medium. Latexes may be natural or synthetic.Latex as found in nature is a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants . It is a complex emulsion consisting of proteins, alkaloids, starches, sugars, oils, tannins, resins,...

 house paint, with two coats of paint on bottom surfaces and three on top to provide extra UV protection. The conventional landing gear

Conventional landing gear

thumb|The [[Piper PA-18|Piper Super Cub]] is a popular taildragger aircraft.thumb|right|A [[Cessna 150]] converted to taildragger configuration by installation of an after-market modification kit....

includes a steerable tailwheel.

Specifications (Turnerkraft)