Horizontec Halcón

The Horizontec Halcón is a light-sport aircraft (LSA) developed and manufactured in Mexico by Horizontec, the Universidad Aeronáutica de Querétaro (UNAQ) and the Centro Nacional de Tecnología Aeronáuticas (CENTA).

Halcón
Halcón II at 2024 Sun 'n Fun
Role	Light-sport aircraft
National origin	Mexico
Manufacturer	Horizontec IK Aerospace
Designer	Giovani Angelucci
First flight	September 30, 2017
Status	In development
Number built	2 (until 2019)

Design and development

The design was conceived in Italy by Giovani Angelucci, who later moved to Mexico City to create the first prototype, and the company Horizontec was born in 2014.^[1][2] In 2015 CONACYT and the Ministry of Economy granted financial support for 5 million pesos (around $312,000 US dollars) to support the project, which would be incubated a year later by CENTA and UNAQ.^[3][4]

The first prototype was built with aircraft grade wood, fiberglass, epoxy resin and other light materials, it included a 100 horsepower Rotax 912 ULS engine and its first flight was made on September 30, 2017.^[5][6]

Its seating configuration is side by side, with fixed tricycle landing gear. The aircraft is designed to carry out tasks such as surveillance, reconnaissance, exhibition, research and development.^[7][8] In 2016 SEDENA presented the model of a military trainer plane called "Proyecto Azteca A01", which received strong criticism for its similarities with the Halcón H1.^[9]

The Halcón H1 will be used as the basis for the development of the Horizontec Halcón H2, which will be assembled in composite materials by IK Aerospace, it will have a 141-horsepower Rotax 915 iS engine and Garmin 3GX avionics.^[10]

Accidents and incidents

• On April 15, 2021, a Halcón H1 aircraft with registration XB-PMZ that was conducting touch and go landings at Querétaro Airport had to make a forced landing in the Municipality of Colón, severely damaging the aircraft and leaving its two crew members injured.^[11][12][13]

Specifications

Data from ^[14][15][16]

General characteristics

• Crew: one
• Capacity: one passenger
• Length: 6.1 m (20 ft 2 in)
• Wingspan: 9.4 m (30 ft 10 in)
• Height: 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in)
• Max takeoff weight: 600 kg (1,323 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 912 ULS four cylinder, horizontally-opposed, liquid and air-cooled engine, 75 kW (100 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 300 km/h (186 mph, 162 kn)
• Cruise speed: 252 km/h (157 mph, 136 kn)
• Stall speed: 75 km/h (47 mph, 40 kn)
• Range: 1,800 km (1,118 mi, 972 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 4,572 m (15,000 ft)