The Dickey E-Racer, also called the Sierra Delta E-Racer, is an American

homebuilt aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

that was designed by Shirl Dickey and produced by

Shirl Dickey Enterprises Shirl is a given name, often a short form ( hypocorism) of Shirley. It may refer to: People: * Shirl Bernheim, stage name of American actress Shirley Raphael (1921–2009) * Shirl Conway, stage name of American actress Shirley Crossman (1916–2 ...

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1,608,139 residents as of 2020. It is the fifth-most populous city in the United States, and the o ...

, first flown in 1984. When it was available the aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction, with some parts available to facilitate faster construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook, Fifth Edition'', page 146. BAI Communications, 15 July 1998. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Plans Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 16, Number 1, January 1999, page 57. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851

Design and development

The aircraft is based upon the

Rutan Long-EZ The Rutan Model 61 Long-EZ is a tandem 2-seater homebuilt aircraft designed by Burt Rutan's Rutan Aircraft Factory. The Long-EZ has a canard layout, a swept wing with wingtip rudders, and a pusher engine and propeller. The tricycle landing ge ...

. It features a cantilever

mid-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 planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

canard layout with tip rudders, a two-seats-in-

side-by-side configuration Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which a team of machines, animals or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. The original use of the term in English was in ''tandem harness'', which is used for two ...

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 drastically vary; s ...

, fully retractable

tricycle landing gear Tricycle gear is a type of aircraft undercarriage, or ''landing gear'', arranged in a tricycle fashion. The tricycle arrangement has a single nose wheel in the front, and two or more main wheels slightly aft of the center of gravity. Tricycle ...

and a single engine in

pusher configuration In an aircraft with a pusher configuration (as opposed to a tractor configuration), the propeller(s) are mounted behind their respective engine(s). Since a pusher propeller is mounted behind the engine, the drive shaft is in compression in no ...

. The aircraft is made from E-glass. Its span wing has a wing area of and employs a Roncz R1145MS

airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is the cross-sectional shape of an object whose motion through a gas is capable of generating significant lift, such as a wing, a sail, or the blades of propeller, rotor, or tur ...

for the canard airfoil, and the main wing uses a modified Eppler 1230 airfoil. The standard engine used in the Mark 1 is the

Buick Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...

V-8 automotive conversion powerplant. The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of , giving a useful load of . With full fuel of the payload for pilot, passenger and baggage is . Like most canard designs the E-Racer has a long take-off and landing roll. The standard day, sea level take-off roll is . The landing roll is . At one time pre-fabricated wings and canard were available to speed construction. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied plans as 2000 hours.

Operational history

By 1998 the company reported that four aircraft were flying and six by 1999. In December 2013, 15 examples were

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 the largest transportation agency of the U.S. government and regulates all aspects of civil aviation in the country as well as over surrounding international waters. Its powers include air traffic m ...

Variants

;E-Racer Mark 1 :Initial version powered by a

V-8 automotive conversion powerplant ;E-Racer Mark 2 :Later version powered by

aircraft engine An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years ma ...

powerplants ;King Racer :Later version with a larger cockpit

Specifications (E-Racer Mark 1)

References

External links

*{{commons category-inline, E-Racer E-Racer 1980s United States sport aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Mid-wing aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Canard aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1984