Buccaneer XA Amphibian, Top rated ultralight aircraft of the early 1980s.

by Dan Johnson

About a decade after the first factory built ultralight aircraft appeared in American skies, seaplanes arrived. Not float-equipped land planes but boat-hulled airplanes. 

At first no one thought such a design could meet Part 103 tight empty weight limit. They didn’t count on a creative crew from the lake region of Florida.

One of the top-rated ultralight aircraft, ‘er… vehicles, of the early 1980s was the Buccaneer amphibian.

Dave wrote, “Over 40 years have passed, yet many of the aircraft — such as Buccaneer XA — introduced during this time, are still safely flying today, and being offered for sale on the used ultralight market.”

For those wondering if they should consider an older ultralight, Dave reported that to be included in his survey, all these aircraft must be supported by manufacturers that produce parts so that repair and continued airworthiness can be maintained.

Buccaneer XA is a single-seat amphibious ultralight originally offered in kit form. Designed by pioneering light aircraft designers, Jack Hutchinson and Bruce Pemberton, the Buccaneer XA was originally manufactured by HighCraft AeroMarine, then Advanced Aviation, and finally Keuthan Aircraft. 

Another standout developer of the day helping Jack and Bruce was Bobby Bailey, designer and manufacturer of the Dragonfly hang glider tow plane. Bob lent his knowledge to the early design and production of Buccaneer XA. 

In 2020. Buccaneer is supported by Aero Adventure.

First introduced in 1984, Buccaneer XA was the first amphibious single-hull ultralight to enter the market. It featured bolt-together aluminum tubing for the main frame fuselage, with a center mounted fiberglass hull bolted to it. Buccaneer’s wings, tail section, ailerons and rear fuselage were also constructed using aluminum tubing joined by gusset plates and bolt joints, then covered with slip-on, sewn-Dacron sailcloth “envelopes.”

Buccaneer’s hull and two wing sponsors are fiberglass, making the early design a genuine composite.

All but very early models used standard three-axis, stick-and-rudder controls in a taildragger, pusher configuration. The design set a standard that is emulated to this day.

Power was originally supplied by the then-popular Rotax 277, a 28-horsepower, two-stroke engine. Later models were powered by the Rotax 377, 447 and 503 engines. All these were discontinued by Rotax but many examples exist, often with rather low hours so keeping these engines flying remains possible.

The Bucc’, as it was affectionally known, uses a center-mounted stick, with a left-hand throttle.

Retracting the gear was an entirely unique task. The pilot had to grab the gear leg, pull it out of its retainer socket — it was secured by a sturdy elastic inside the tube — and hook the wheel onto a gear support bar mounted nearby. The pilot reversed the process to lower the gear. My own experience with this “retract” system showed it was not difficult unless the engine idle was too high. If so, the engine kept pushing the aircraft through the water making inserting that tube back in its retainer rather challenging.

Climb rate on the XA with a Rotax 447 engine was 750 feet per minute. Cruise leveled off at 55 to 60 miles per hour and stall speed was 25 miles per hour. All these numbers made Buccaneer quite docile for novice seaplane pilots to handle.

If you are considering purchasing a used Buccaneer Amphibian XA it is The Ultralight Flyer’s recommendation that the plane’s fabric be tested. This is a simple, non-destructive test — you do it somewhere that isn’t structural.

You should also throughly inspect the airframe, wings, landing gear, and the control systems.

If the history of the engine is unknown Dave recommends that the exhaust be removed and the pistons inspected for wear and seizure.

At the time of production of this video (April 2020), The Ultralight Flyer estimates the retail value of a used Buccaneer Amphibian XA from the 1980s to be between $5,000 and $7,500!