The first new type of sport aircraft to be registered in New Zealand in 2016 was the tiny Spacek Minisport. I have posted on it before but I include it here with different photos, for completeness:
The Spacek SD-1 Minisport is a very small single seat aircraft. It was designed by Igor Spacek of the Czech Republic and it is manufactured by Spacek SRO at Hodonin ( just South of Brno) either as a kit or as a completely built up aircraft. Paul Edgar bought his aircraft as a kit and he said that the quality of the woodwork was excellent. The Minisport is of all wooden construction. with the main spar being made from composites with foam ribs, and all surfaces are covered with very thin plywood. Areas that need high strength are reinforced by carbon fibre. The dimensions are: length 4.35 metres (14 feet 3 inches), wingspan 6.00 metres (19 feet 8 inches) and the wing area is 65 square feet. The wing is fitted with full span flaperons. It is also a very light aircraft with a design empty weight of 110 Kg (243 pounds) and a MAUW of 240 Kg (529 pounds). And the empty weight includes a ballistic recovery parachute! Paul's aircraft is powered by a horizontally opposed twin cylinder 4 stroke Verner JCV-360 engine of 360cc displacement that weighs only 30.5 Kg (67 pounds). A reduction belt drive is fitted and the engine runs very smoothly. The engine produces 35 HP at 7800 rpm and this gives a cruise speed of around 100 mph while burning 5 litres per hour! Stall speed is quoted as 39 mph.
The Minisport can be built as a taildragger or as a tri-gear aircraft. The wings are easily detachable for storage and transport and each wing only weighs 12 Kg! As of November 2015 around 40 of them were flying worldwide.
Paul Edgar registered his Minisport SD-1 (c/n 105) as ZK-DDM2 on 27/1/16, and it is photo'd above at North Shore on 30/9/16.
I do not think it has flown yet and the last time I talked to Paul at North Shore he was making some modifications to the engine ancilliaries but he has recently moved to Taupo which should provide a good runway for it. I really hope he can get it flying successfully as we don't have many types of small single seat homebuilts left as the original old ones are a dying breed.
Here is a link to a pilot report on flying the Spacek SD 1 by Dave Unwin in Pilot magazine, who concludes by stating the Spacek Minisport "could well be described as a 21st Century (Jodel) D 9" - high praise indeed! https://www.pilotweb.aero/features/flight-tests/flight-test-spacek-sd-1-minisport-1-5350149
The Spacek SD-1 Minisport is a very small single seat aircraft. It was designed by Igor Spacek of the Czech Republic and it is manufactured by Spacek SRO at Hodonin ( just South of Brno) either as a kit or as a completely built up aircraft. Paul Edgar bought his aircraft as a kit and he said that the quality of the woodwork was excellent. The Minisport is of all wooden construction. with the main spar being made from composites with foam ribs, and all surfaces are covered with very thin plywood. Areas that need high strength are reinforced by carbon fibre. The dimensions are: length 4.35 metres (14 feet 3 inches), wingspan 6.00 metres (19 feet 8 inches) and the wing area is 65 square feet. The wing is fitted with full span flaperons. It is also a very light aircraft with a design empty weight of 110 Kg (243 pounds) and a MAUW of 240 Kg (529 pounds). And the empty weight includes a ballistic recovery parachute! Paul's aircraft is powered by a horizontally opposed twin cylinder 4 stroke Verner JCV-360 engine of 360cc displacement that weighs only 30.5 Kg (67 pounds). A reduction belt drive is fitted and the engine runs very smoothly. The engine produces 35 HP at 7800 rpm and this gives a cruise speed of around 100 mph while burning 5 litres per hour! Stall speed is quoted as 39 mph.
The Minisport can be built as a taildragger or as a tri-gear aircraft. The wings are easily detachable for storage and transport and each wing only weighs 12 Kg! As of November 2015 around 40 of them were flying worldwide.
Here is a link to a pilot report on flying the Spacek SD 1 by Dave Unwin in Pilot magazine, who concludes by stating the Spacek Minisport "could well be described as a 21st Century (Jodel) D 9" - high praise indeed! https://www.pilotweb.aero/features/flight-tests/flight-test-spacek-sd-1-minisport-1-5350149
Hi. Is it possible to get in contact with Paul? I’m quite interested in this plane and I would lie to get in contact with him. Dino.
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