First U.S. Flight Awaiting the FAA Green-Light

The Atec 212 Solo made its debut with the U.S. market at the 2024 Midwest Aviation Expo. It garnered significant interest from attendees, with the first U.S. model less than a month away from its Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) inspection.

Manufactured in the Czech Republic, the Solo is a single-seater, cantilever low-wing aircraft. It is built primarily from carbon fiber with fiberglass supporting ribs. One of its standout features is the spoileron, constructed from carbon fiber-wrapped birch wood for additional flexibility.

The Solo is meant for tight performance and agility, with a positive G limit of 6 and a negative G limit of 4. It also has a 388-pound dry weight with a 700 nautical mile range from two 10-gallon tanks.

“It was built to be a toy,” commented Robert Harris, an RT Aviation certified mechanic and sales team member. “If you breathe it, it flies it,”

RT Aviation is the aircraft’s exclusive U.S. dealer.

The Solo is customizable to suit buyer preferences. Customers can choose between a taildragger or tricycle model, along with switching out wheels, brakes, rims, fuel tanks, and instruments. The tricycle variation, which is less common, is featured on the European Red Bull Racing team.

The Atec 212 was a focal point at the Expo. The Atec team began construction of the kit less than a month prior to the event after spending half a year tracking it down. It was originally shipped to the U.S. in 2018 and eventually ended up in Clearwater, Florida, where the company picked it up and got straight to work on assembling it.

‘We still think there’s a market for this here in the U.S., and this show just proves it,” Harris continued. “We’ve had hundreds of people come up and ask about it, they really seem to gravitate towards it.”

RT Aviation and Atec have yet to share their plans to celebrate the aircraft’s upcoming first flight; however, they expect to fly it into Lakeland for next year’s Sun ‘n Fun Expo.

FMI: www.atecaircraft.eu, www.rtaviationllc.com