The ICP Savannah is a high-wing, single-engine,

ultralight Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with aile ...

with side-by-side seating for two produced in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

ICP srl ICP srl is an Italian wiring harness, automotive brake wear indicator and aircraft manufacturer founded by Tancredi (Edi) Razzano in 1980 and originally based in Piovà Massaia. The company relocated to Castelnuovo Don Bosco in Piedmont on 10 ...

. It has sold in large numbers, particularly in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The Savannah is in production, sold in both kit and ready-to-fly form.

Role

The Savannah is offered in ready-to-fly or kit form. It is commonly registered as a

light-sport aircraft A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictions on weigh ...

in the United States and as an

in some other jurisdictions and is considered a microlight aircraft in New Zealand. Manufacture (both ready to fly and kits) is done in the ICP premises located in

Castelnuovo Don Bosco Castelnuovo Don Bosco, formerly Castelnuovo d'Asti (Piedmontese: ''Castelneuv d'Ast'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Asti, on a hill near ...

(

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

), where the firm moved on September 10, 2009 from the original plant in

Piovà Massaia Piovà Massaia is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italy, Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northwest of Asti. Piovà Massaia borders the following municipalities: Capriglio, Cerreto d'Asti, ...

Zenith STOL CH 701 The Zenith STOL CH 701 and CH 750 are a family of light, two-place kit-built STOL aircraft designed by Canadian aeronautical engineer Chris Heintz through his Midland, Ontario, based company, Zenair. The CH 701 first flew in 1986 and ...

designer, the late Chris Heintz, considered the Savannah an unauthorized copy of his design. Nevertheless, ICP and Zenair began a partnership in 2012 whereby ICP assembles the ready-to-fly version of the low wing Zenair 650Ei, an evolution of the

AMD Zodiac The Zodiac is a family of Canadian all-metal, two-seat, fixed landing gear airplanes that first flew in 1984. The aircraft have been produced as kits and completed aircraft by Zenair in Canada and Zenith Aircraft Company in the US.Vanderme ...

, for the European market.

Design

The Savannah is a two-seat aircraft of conventional configuration and metal semi-monocoque construction. The high wing is braced to the fuselage by V-struts. Most variants have a constant-chord wing with combined

flaperons A flaperon (a portmanteau of ''flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufacture, ...

. Initial models were fitted with full-span

leading edge slot A leading-edge slot is a fixed aerodynamics, aerodynamic feature of the wing of some aircraft to reduce the Stall (flight), stall speed and promote good low-speed handling qualities. A leading-edge slot is a spanwise gap in each wing, allowing ai ...

s. The cabin seats two side by side under the wing. Aft, the fuselage is flat-sided, with the underside rising towards the tail. The rectangular tailplane and elevators, which use a conventional airfoil unlike that of the Zenith, are set at the top of the fuselage, with the rudder running between the elevators to the keel. Fin and rudder are straight-tapered and slightly swept. The ICP factory may supply a rudder extension as an optional extra. At the base of the wing support V-struts, the spatted mainwheels of the

tricycle undercarriage 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 ...

are mounted on cantilever legs.The Savannah can be mounted on

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s as ...

carbon fiber Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers ( Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon comp ...

floats. An alternative floatplane version, using

amphibious Amphibious means able to use either land or water. In particular it may refer to: Animals * Amphibian, a vertebrate animal of the class Amphibia (many of which live on land and breed in water) * Amphibious caterpillar * Amphibious fish, a fish ...

floats, was called the Savannah Hydro. A variety of small engines in the 35–70 kW range have been fitted. The Savannah Advanced has a shorter, tapered wing, with the wing slots replaced by

vortex generators A vortex generator (VG) is an aerodynamic device, consisting of a small vane usually attached to a lifting surface (or airfoil, such as an aircraft wing) or a rotor blade of a wind turbine. Smaller numbers fly in North America, where the agents was Skykits Co., replaced in 2011 by I.C.P. Aviation North America, LLC (ICPANA), and elsewhere. In Australia and New Zealand, the 600 kg version of the Savannah XL and Savannah S are growing in popularity. As an example, as of March 2022 there are three types of Savannahs on the New Zealand aircraft register. This includes eight VG models, two XL models and 23 S models for a total of 33 Savannah aircraft. Currently, there are another seven S models under construction in New Zealand. In Australia, the best estimate is that there are in excess of 100 completed Savannahs flying; many more are under construction. It is expected that the total number of ICP aircraft (all models, mainly Savannah and Bingo) produced exceeded 2,000 units by the end of 2011. In 2008 an order from the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

was expected.

Variants

''Data from'' Jane's All the World's Aircraft 2010/11 ;Savannah MXP-740 "Classic" with leading edge slats :Introduced in 1997. Production of the "Classic" model has ceased because leading edge slats are inefficient due additional drag; this aircraft is no longer available from ICP. This leaves the following Savannah variants in production in December 2020: ;Bingo 503:37 kW (50 hp) two cylinder in line, two-stroke

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke engine, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by Rotax, BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catalog'', pp. 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1 ...

engine. ;Super Bingo:First flown 19 October 2001. 68 kW (92 hp) two cylinder in line, geared

Simonini Victor 2 The Simonini Victor 2 is an Italian aircraft engine, designed and produced by Simonini Racing of San Dalmazio di Serramazzoni for use in ultralight aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011- ...

engine. ;Bingo 4T:Introduced 2003. 45 kW (60 hp) two cylinder horizontally opposed four-stroke

HKS 700E The HKS 700E is a twin-cylinder, horizontally opposed, four stroke, carburetted aircraft engine, designed for use on ultralight aircraft, powered parachutes and ultralight trikes. The engine is manufactured by HKS, a Japanese company noted for ...

engine. ;

Vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also menti ...

:Introduced 2006. Current production, 2011. Optimised for

STOL A short takeoff and landing (STOL) aircraft is a fixed-wing aircraft that can takeoff/land on short runways. Many STOL-designed aircraft can operate on airstrips with harsh conditions (such as high altitude or ice). STOL aircraft, including tho ...

performance, with the Savannah ADV wing with double-slotted Fowler flaps, leading edge slats, single bracing struts and a slimmer fuselage. Powered by the )

Rotax 912 ULS The Rotax 912 is a horizontally-opposed four-cylinder, naturally-aspirated, four-stroke aircraft engine with a reduction gearbox. It features liquid-cooled cylinder heads and air-cooled cylinders. Originally equipped with carburetors, late ...

four-stroke engine. It is marketed in North America as the ''Rampage''. ;Savannah ADV :Model with redesigned tapered wing of span and area, with full-span

flaperon A flaperon (a portmanteau of '' flap'' and ''aileron'') on an aircraft's wing is a type of control surface that combines the functions of both flaps and ailerons. Some smaller kitplanes have flaperons for reasons of simplicity of manufactur ...

s. Top speed of ;Savannah VG :Introduced 2004. This is essentially the "Classic" but with leading edge slats replaced by vortex generators and a slightly different wing profile introduced to gain a faster cruise with very little sacrifice to the stall speed which now 50 km/h (31 mph). Engine choices: 74 kW (99 hp)

flat four; 60 kW (80 hp)

Jabiru 2200 The Jabiru 2200 is a lightweight naturally aspirated, pushrod four-stroke, flat four, air-cooled aircraft engine produced by Jabiru Aircraft. Design and development The conventional direct-drive engine is fitted with an alternator, silencers, ...

flat four; or the 60 kW (80 hp) Suzuki G10 three cylinder inline. ;Savannah XL :Introduced in 2009. As Savannah VG but with cabin width increased to 1,130 mm by bulged, transparent doors; a transparent cabin roof was also introduced for flight safety; this model received a windscreen with a more aerodynamic slope and revised cowling lines. The XL was the first to be installed with rudder pedals that can be adjusted up to 100 mm. The XL model is known in North America as the Savannah VGW. ;Savannah S :New model introduced in 2010, with rounded tail fuselage corners. The S is derived from XL (and therefore retains the 1,130 mm cabin width, fully transparent doors; the safer, transparent cabin roof, adjustable rudder pedals, the more aerodynamic, raked windscreen and the XL's integrated cowling lines). This model also does not have the 'corrugated' fuselage sides found on all the previous Savannah models. The Savannah S is the flagship model of the range. Engines used in the Savannah S model include the Austrian manufactured Rotax 912, the Honda-based Viking 130 and the Suzuki-based Aeromomentum AM13 and AM15 engines. Savannah T :

Taildragger Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

model, introduced in 2013.

Specifications (XL - Jabiru engine)

References

External links

ICP official website

ICP North America official website
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