LightSportAircraft

Sadler Vampire Light Sport Aircraft

Filed under: Wings

Vampires seem to be everywhere these days in the media from books to media to television. But here is a Vampire you can fly. Sadler Aircraft Company is planning to announce its next-generation Vampire Light Sport Aircraft at EAA Airventure 2009. The Vampire is built on a scaled back air-to-ground fighter plane airframe. It is designed so that the prop is behind you, as is the engine and twin tail-booms. Also the wings double-fold vertically a la an aircraft carrier-based WWII bomber so it can be easily trailered. The low-slung plane has wide cabin doors and a low entry point so it's more like getting into a sedan than an airplane.

This plane is a new and improved model compared to the original Sadler Vampire Ultralight designed by Bill Sadler in 1981. The Sadler Vampire LSA is an upgraded aircraft that incorporates many of the design elements Bill developed during his work with Turkish Aerospace Industries throughout the 1990s. The tiny two-seater has a maximum speed of 138 miles per hour. It has a range of 500 nautical miles at its cruising speed of 125 miles per hour. The base model starts at $92,995.

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Tags: light sport aircraft, LightSportAircraft, lsa, sadler aircraft, SadlerAircraft

Cirrus Begins Plane Production Again

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

It's nice to see a little good news in the aviation sector. Cirrus Design has announced the restart of its assembly lines, putting most of the employees that were laid off a month ago back to work today. The company will still be producing light sport aircraft at a reduced rate, about eight planes a week, to keep pace with current demand. Some of the several hundred workers laid off last fall may also be called back in as production increases. Suppliers of the various components in Cirrus planes are also rejoicing in the good news. Northstar Aerospace, a manufacturer of Cirrus components plans to restore 20 percent of its work force now and may ramp that up to 30 or 40 percent over the next couple months. Eclipse Aviation ,which is still restructuring after filing Chapter 11 may also resume production in February.

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Tags: cirrus, cirrus design, CirrusDesign, light sport aircraft, LightSportAircraft, planes

Fractional Program For Light Sport Aircraft Launches

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Flight Design USA announced last week the creation of the CT Partners program. The program is believed to be the first fractional ownership program for light-sport aircraft (LSA) and is designed to help owners share the rising costs of plane ownership. CT Partners will allow up to 10 people to share a new fully loaded CTLS, a light two-seater plane. Each owner will get 50 hours of use per year including 10 overnights per person and contributes about $15,000 to own the airplane with no debt. The CT Partners management company handles the logistics of scheduling, 100-hour maintenance inspections, annuals and will pay the insurance for $350 per month. Light Sport Aircraft also weigh less than most aircraft which means they require less fuel to operate.

CT Partners program developer Robert Mann plans to lease the airplane to New England Flight Services, LLC in order to secure insurance for multiple owners. They will provide flight instruction to make sure each partner is competent in the aircraft. The first fractional ownership program will begin at the Danielson airport in Danielson, CT but Mann is hoping to spread the concept across the country and create a network among independent groups that could share planes.

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Tags: ct partners, ctls, light sport aircraft, LightSportAircraft