The Azalea Saberwing, named for the
species of hummingbird, is an American
amateur-built aircraft, designed and produced by
Azalea Aviation of
Adel, Georgia
Adel () is a city in and the county seat of Cook County, Georgia, United States, located southeast of Albany. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 5,571.
History
The original name of the city was Puddleville.Krakow, Kenneth K. ...
, introduced at
Sun 'n Fun
Sun ’n Fun Aerospace Expo (officially styled SUN 'n FUN) is a nonprofit organization in Lakeland, Florida dedicated to the promotion of aviation education. It is best known for the annual week-long fly-in and airshow at Lakeland Linder Intern ...
in 2015. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction.
[Tacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015-16'', page 101. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015. ]
Design and development
The Saberwing features a cantilever
low-wing
A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple wings.
A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing config ...
, a two-seats-in-
side-by-side configuration
Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...
enclosed cockpit under a
bubble canopy
A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility.
The designs of bubble canopies can vary drastically; so ...
, fixed
conventional landing gear
Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft Landing gear, undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the Center of gravity of an aircraft, center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail ...
or optionally
tricycle landing gear
Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', that is arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has one or more nose wheels in a single front undercarriage and two or more main wheels slightly aft of th ...
, with
wheel pants
An aircraft fairing is a structure whose primary function is to produce a smooth outline and reduce drag.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, Third Edition'', page 206. Aviation Supplies & Academics Inc, Newcastle Washington, 1997. ...
and a single engine in
tractor configuration
In aviation, a tractor configuration is a propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft with its engine mounted with the propeller in front, so that the aircraft is "pulled" through the air. This is the usual configuration; the pusher configuration ...
.
The aircraft is made from a
composite
Composite or compositing may refer to:
Materials
* Composite material, a material that is made from several different substances
** Metal matrix composite, composed of metal and other parts
** Cermet, a composite of ceramic and metallic material ...
-foam sandwich with the
wing spar
In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles (or thereabouts depending on wing sweep) to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on ...
s and
wing rib
In an aircraft, ribs are forming elements of the airframe structure of a wing, especially in traditional construction.
By analogy with the anatomical definition of "rib", the ribs attach to the main spar, and by being repeated at frequent inter ...
s made from a wood-composite sandwich. The design has been optimized for a low parts-count to simplify construction. Its span wing, has an area of and mounts
flaps. The cabin is in width. The standard engine used is the in-house developed Spyder
Corvair automotive conversion four-stroke
A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...
powerplant.
The manufacturer estimates that building the aircraft from the supplied kit requires 500-1,000 hours of labor at a total completion cost of
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
40,000-50,000.
Operational history
Reviewers Roy Beisswenger and Marino Boric described the design in a 2015 review as "sleek" and "elegant".
By September 2020, four examples had been
registered
Registered may refer to:
* Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody
* Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
in the United States with the
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government agency within the United States Department of Transportation, U.S. Department of Transportation that regulates civil aviation in t ...
.
Specifications (Saberwing)
See also
*
List of aerobatic aircraft
An aerobatic aircraft is an aerodyne (a heavier-than-air aircraft) used in aerobatics, both for flight exhibitions and aerobatic competitions.
Most fall into one of two categories, aircraft used for training and by flight demonstration teams, whi ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, http://www.azaleaaviation.com/
Photo of the prototype Saberwing
Saberwing
2010s United States sport aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Homebuilt aircraft