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.
