__NOTOC__ The Spratt Controlwing 107 was an unorthodox controlwing

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

designed 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 1960s and marketed for

home building Home construction or residential construction is the process of constructing a house, apartment building, or similar residential building generally referred to as a 'home' when giving consideration to the people who might now or someday reside t ...

in the 1970s. The aircraft featured a flat, speedboat-likeSpratt 1962, p.25 hull with a square bow and with tailfins blended into each side.Taylor 1977, p.565Markowski 1979, p.384 The fins were angled to form a butterfly tail and included no moving surfaces.Taylor 1977, p.564 The wings were mounted on struts, parasol-style, and also contained no moving surfaces.Taylor 1989, p.839Markowski 1979, p.380 Rather, each of the two wings could pivot independently to vary their

angle of attack In fluid dynamics, angle of attack (AOA, α, or \alpha) is the angle between a Airfoil#Airfoil terminology, reference line on a body (often the chord (aircraft), chord line of an airfoil) and the vector (geometry), vector representing the relat ...

. The pilot and a single passenger sat side by side in an open cockpit with a converted marine outboard motor mounted behind them that drove a

pusher propeller In aeronautical and naval engineering, pusher configuration is the term used to describe a drivetrain of air- or watercraft with propulsion device(s) after the engine(s). This is in contrast to the more conventional tractor configuration, whic ...

. The flight controls consisted of a helicopter-style collective that varied the angle of attack of both wings simultaneously, and a control wheel that varied their angles of attack in relation to one another. The hull was constructed from

polyurethane foam Polyurethane foam is a solid polymeric foam based on polyurethane chemistry. As a specialist synthetic fibre, synthetic material with highly diverse applications, polyurethane foams are primarily used for thermal insulation and as a cushioning mat ...

and covered with

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is a common type of fibre-reinforced plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened i ...

, and the wing panels were fiberglass throughout. Designer George Spratt claimed that the Model 107 could not stall or spin, and that it was 75% less affected by turbulence than a conventional airplane design. With friend Elliot Dalland, Spratt began construction of the prototype (registered ''N2236'') in 1962. During the 1970s, Spratt marketed plans for the Model 107 to homebuilders.Gunston 1993, p.290

Specifications (Controlwing 107)

Notes

References

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External links

AerofilesSpratt "Wingdinghy"
in ''Popular Mechanics'', June 1962 {{Spratt aircraft 1970s United States sport aircraft Flying boats Homebuilt aircraft Spratt aircraft V-tail aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1967