The Comet really is an 'eyecatcher' a beautiful little biplane. It gives the impression of being more like a Pitts aerobatic aircraft than a 'simple' microlight. The front fuselage and cockpit section consists of a robust welded steel tube frame covered by a smooth fibreglass shell, while the rear section is an aluminium tube framework covered with Ceconite. Unusually, the aircraft rescue system is in the engine bay, as the engine is placed far enough in front of the firewall to give sufficient space to house the BRS unit. The upper and lower cowling halves can be easily removed by undoing their Camlock screws to check the engine, additionally there is a hatch in the upper cowling enabling the pilot to check the oil and cooling liquid level.
The Comet's main undercarriage is a simple, strong carbon fibre bow with the hydraulic disc brakes operated by a motorbike-like lever in front of the control stick. These can only be applied simultaneously. The tail unit is also cloth covered, with the horizontal tailplane halves strut-braced down towards the fuselage bottom. The small, steerable tailwheel underneath is directly connected to the rudder by a bar. It can be disconnected by pulling out a bolt, which makes hangaring easier as the tailwheel is then fully castoring.

The backwards-swept wings are made from carbon fibre composite material, with a D-box leading edge in front of the main spar and a Ceconite cloth-covered rib behind. With this design, just one strut between the wings and simple bracing with wires (of an airfoil-shaped cross-section) are enough to give the biplane far more than the required strength for a microlight. The lower pair of wings is fitted directly to the bottom fuselage edges, while the upper wings are connected to a small 'parasol type' centrepiece mounted on struts above the fuselage. All four wings are equipped with large aluminium flaperons, which reach from the inner wing connections to near the wingtip. The Comet airfoil originates from the gliding scene, and the '0' position on the flap lever sets the flaps 10° up, the '+1' position is neutral while the '+2' position produces a +10° deflection. The upper flaperons carry mass balance weights below their outer tips, and they are connected to the lower ones by a steel tube.

Although wire-braced wings are usually quite difficult to derig, Peter has developed a brilliant system for folding the wings backwards for space saving in the hangar or transportation in a special trailer offered by B&F. First, the two safety pins holding the trailing edge end of the parasol centre section are pulled out and this is then folded upwards onto the centrepiece. Then you have to open the 'bomb door'-like lids at the fuselage bottom edges by undoing some Camlock screws. This makes space for the lower trailing edges to disappear into the fuselage. Next, you remove the aileron pushrod connection bolts inside the fuselage bottom, beside the front seat, and finally, the four main front bolts are unlocked using a tool which is pushed onto the aluminium levers below the trailing edge of each wing. These levers secure the bolts automatically by snapping behind a hook when being locked. Each pair of wings can now be rotated backwards around its rear hinge points. Small steel tubes with ball connections at both ends between the lower wingtips and the fuselage hold the wings safely in position. This is sufficient for hangaring, for transportation, additional struts between the inner leading edges of the wings (with wire bracing towards the fuselage) take the load off the rear hinges. With the wings folded back, the total width of the aircraft is reduced from 22ft to 8ft.

As on most light aircraft with tandem seats, the P1 seat is the rear one, behind the centre of gravity. There are three canopy versions available: two simple windshields constitutes one option, while a closed bubble canopy for the rear seat with a windscreen for the front seat or a closed cover for solo flying is another. The third and most comfortable option is the big canopy for both seats, such as the one fitted to this demonstrator. All the canopies are mounted to a basic frame covering both cockpits and swinging open towards the right side.
The instrument panel for the rear seat forms a bridge between the canopy frame sides and swings open together with the canopy. Because the parasol wing is too low above the cockpit to allow the big closed canopy to swing open without hitting it, Peter developed a simple, but efficient system. By swinging a lever (spring-locked onto a pin) fixed to a bar between the upper canopy frame, this part is unlocked from the lower (instrument panel carrying) section and can be slipped backwards for about a foot. Now it cannot touch the parasol's trailing edge when the lower frame is unlocked and swung open using the spring-loaded double hook at the left canopy frame. The front cockpit's instrument panel is only equipped with an ASI and altimeter, it also forms the lid of a useful baggage compartment reaching forwards to the firewall. This can carry up to 40lb. Below it, between the non-adjustable rudder pedals, is the 9.2 (optional 12.7) gallon transparent polyethylene fuel tank with markings. Another one or two four-gallon wing tanks, which can be filled with an electric pump, are options for those who want to fly much greater distances.

The front seat is equipped only with a stick, pedals and throttle, as this aircraft is not intended to be a basic trainer. By using cushions, the comfortably upholstered shell-style seat can be adjusted to suit your preferred seating position as required, and they offer plenty of space even for tall or large people. The rear seat has adjustable rudder pedals and the cockpit is well equipped. The throttle is placed just where your left hand rests, behind the big three-position flap lever on the left sidewall. Underneath this, is the knob for the Flettner trim tab. A panel in front of the stick, above the cockpit floor, holds the radio and transponder, and above from left to right the knobs for choke cabin heating and fuel cock. Right beside this panel is the handle to fire the BRS aircraft rescue system, and a snap-in holder at the right sidewall serves to take a GPS.

The main instrument panel in the canopy bridge is accessible from below when the canopy is open. It offers enough space for a good set of flight and engine instruments, including the 'MIP' digital engine-monitoring instrument in the centre and the engine switches and fuses panel at the left side. A feature I particularly liked is the red lamp fitted in the instrument panel indicating 'low fuel'. Although nearly every modern car has such a warning, too many aircraft don't and running out of fuel still causes aircraft accidents... In the empty fuselage space behind the pilot's headrest, another baggage bay may be fitted, although if this is used, care must be taken not to put the C of G too far aft!

One of the most interesting features of a microlight aircraft is, of course, its weight. With the legal upper limit of 992lb in this category, the payload is often quite limited. B&F's detailed price list not only costs out all the available optional extras, but also includes their weight. This enables the customer to ensure his personal specification does not make his aircraft too heavy. The basic empty weight of an 80hp FK-12 with open (windshield) canopy and without rescue system is 582lb (the 100hp version weighs 586lb) light enough to legally fly with two average people and around seven gallons of fuel on board. Equipped with several extras like this demonstrator was the empty weight increases to over 660lb. With my 174lb and 44lb of fuel aboard, there are only 110lb remaining to legally accommodate a (fairly lightweight) passenger.

Because the pilot's seat is behind the CG, the maximum weight in the rear seat is limited to 220lb. The calculated maximum take-off weight of the Comet is 1,146lb, and this is an attractive feature for anyone who builds the kit B&F offers to homebuilders and then certifies the aircraft in the 'Experimental' category. Then the FK-12 will outclass the payload of many commercially-manufactured two-seat aircraft!

Entering the cockpit is easy via the spring-loaded footstep in the sidewall, although I did miss not having a handle at the centre of the parasol wing to assist me while sitting down. With two cushions underneath me, I found the seating position to be about right. Before closing the canopy, I checked the amount of fuel in the tank, which is equipped with two scales indicating the remaining amount of fuel on the ground and in flight, and transfer this amount to the digital MIP instrument, which counts it down according to the fuel flow. For taxying I left the upper canopy in the rear position some fresh air is always welcome in hot weather. Although my eye position was still a bit below the highest point of the cowling, it required only a slight zigzag route during taxying to see the taxiway in front of me.

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