The Jeffair Barracuda is a high-performance sporting monoplane that was developed in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in the 1970s and is marketed for homebuilding. Designed and built by Geoffrey Siers, the prototype won the prize for "Most Outstanding New Design" at the

EAA Fly-in EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (formerly the EAA Annual Convention and Fly-In), or just Oshkosh, is an annual air show and gathering of aviation enthusiasts held each summer at the Wittman Regional Airport and adjacent Pioneer Airport in Oshkosh, Wiscon ...

in 1976. It was a low-wing cantilever monoplane of wooden construction with retractable tricycle undercarriage and side-by-side seating for two. Around 150 sets of plans had sold by 1977.

Development

Geoffrey Siers was a former RAF pilot and engineer for

Boeing The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...

in 1967. He set out to design an aircraft that was fast, aerobatic, two place, and had range to fly long cross-country flights. The aircraft was refined after a full size cockpit mockup was made. The lightweight construction of the plywood-covered wooden

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

was the inspiration for the materials choice. The retractable landing gear came from a

Piper PA-24 Comanche The Piper PA-24 Comanche is an American single-engine, low-wing, all-metal monoplane of semimonocoque construction with tricycle Landing gear, retractable landing gear and four or six seats. The Comanche was designed and built by Piper Aircraft ...

. The wings were a three-piece design

Operational history

Test flights were performed in 1975. The aircraft takes off at and climbs at 2000 feet per minute (10.2 m/s). Full flap stalls were recorded as low as .

Specifications

References

* * * {{cite book , editor-last=Taylor , editor-first=John W. R. , editor-link=John W. R. Taylor , title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1982–83 , year=1982 , location=London , publisher=Jane's Yearbooks , isbn=0-7106-0748-2
Archived copy of Siersflight website
1970s United States sport aircraft Homebuilt aircraft Low-wing aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1975