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Winds Italia

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Winds Italia
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryAerospace
Foundedc. 2001
FounderRandy Haney
Defunctc. 2008
Headquarters,
ProductsParamotors

Winds Italia (English: Italian Winds) was an Italian aircraft manufacturer based in Bologna that was founded by Canadian hang glider champion pilot Randy Haney. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of paramotors and powered hang glider harnesses in the form of ready-to-fly aircraft for the US FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles rules and the European microlight category.[1]

The company seems to have been founded about 2001 and gone out of business in 2008, when production of its two models was passed to Flugsport Vetterl GmbH und Co. KG of Schwarzenfeld, Germany.[2][3]

Winds Italia built a powered hang glider harness, the Raven, employing the single cylinder Radne Raket 120 engine of 15 hp (11 kW). The company produced the Airwalker paramotor and later the Orbiter series, introduced in 2003 and which replaced the Airwalker in production. The Orbiter offered both the Raket engine and the higher-powered Orbiter XP model with a 24 hp (18 kW) Cors'Air M21Y engine.[1]

Aircraft

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Summary of aircraft built by Winds Italia
Model name First flight Number built Type
Winds Italia Raven 2001 powered hang glider harness
Winds Italia Airwalker 2001 paramotor
Winds Italia Orbiter 2003 paramotor

References

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  1. ^ a b Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04, page 77. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster UK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X
  2. ^ "Powerplanes". Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  3. ^ "The Raven and Orbiter XP are now being produced in Germany". powerplanes.com. Archived from the original on 20 April 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
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