AMS Flight
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AMS flight is a glider, motorglider and ultralight aircraft manufacturer based in Begunje na Gorenjskem, Slovenia.
History
In 1978 the first DG-100 ELAN, a single-seat sailplane, rolled through the production line, built by a team of Elan employees at the German company Glaser-Dirks in Bruchsal, Germany. Long term cooperation with Glaser Dirks and later on DG Flugzeugbau continued. In the ELAN factory at Begunje glider models DG-100 Elan, DG-300 Elan, DG-500 Elan and DG-1000 AMS were designed and manufactured.
The company named AMS – FLIGHT, d.o.o. was established in 1999 to continue the existing aircraft production and took over the entire ELAN FLIGHT Division of Elan, as of 1 September that year.
The company’s manufacturing facilities are located at Begunje (in the Elan plant), in the northwest part of Slovenia, close to the borders with Austria and Italy.
On 14 November 2001 AMS took over from Technoflug GmbH the production of the Carat motorglider. The Carat is a single-seat, powered glider with the engine in the nose. The Carat was designed in Germany for long range cruising flights and for soaring, as "two in one". The Carat has electro-hydraulic landing gear and a folding "beak" propeller. The Magnus, a two-seat, side by side "Carat" is under development by AMS.
The AMS product range expanded with the acquisition of the Apis ULA / Sport Class motor-glider program of the Slovenian company Albastar, at 30 July 2003. Manufacturing of the Apis continued in AMS till the serial number 52.
In 2005/06 AMS took over responsibility for the German-designed sailplane models, LS4 and LS6. These types and their planned developments replaced the manufacture of the DG-300 and DG-500, which was being run down.
In 2007 production of the Apis and Bee gliders was transferred to Pipistrel.
Aircraft produced
To July 2008, Elan and AMS had built the following gliders and aircraft parts:
- DG-100 ELAN: 58 sailplanes
- DG-101 ELAN: 164 sailplanes
- DG-300 ELAN: 444 sailplanes
- DG-303 ELAN: 67 sailplanes
- DG-500 ELAN: 139 gliders
- DG-505 ELAN: 121 gliders
- DG-1000S, DG-1000T: 48 sailplanes (AMS works: fuselage lamination and complete sailplane: rough assembly, surfaces finish and final assembly)
- Carat A: 26 motor-gliders
- Apis, Bee: 40 gliders
- LS4-b: 2 sailplanes
- Composite components: wings, tailplanes, rudders: over 230 sets for Sky Arrow 450, Sky Arrow 650TC/TCN, Sinus, Virus
Production line
AMS is the sole owner and manufacturer of the Carat. A family of light aircraft and motor gliders are under development with the names of Magnus, Mingus and Maxus. AMS is continuing to supply spare parts to the DG-300, DG-500 and Apis.