Hiperlight SN 8 ultralight aircraft, Thunderbird Aviation, Ultralight Aircraft Magazine.
Hiperlight SN 8 Ultralight
Ultralight Aircraft Magazine - The Sorrel Hiperlight SN 8, (Sorrel Negative Stagger) Bi-Plane is a single place part 103 legal ultralight aircraft produced by Thunderbird Aviation in Michigan. The original design by Sorrel Aviation entered the market in the early 1980's.
The Hiperlight SN8 features a two piece welded steel fuselage, mated to a ladder style aluminum tube construction wing, covered in Dacron sail cloth. Building times are reported to be in the 100 to 150 hour range.
The original design was powered by the single cylinder Rotax 28 HP aircraft engine with a 2.58 to 1 gear reduction drive, in a tractor configuration. Controls on the SN8 are standard stick and rudder with a steerable tail wheel. The Hiperlight SN8 has full span ailerons on the lower wing, which acts as flaps when the stick is pull all the way back.
Hiperlight SN 8 Bi Plane
Hiperlight SN8 ultralight is a very nice flying aircraft. When flown with the 28 HP Rotax the craft gets off the ground in about 300 feet, climb rate is an honest 500 t0 600 feet per minute, cruise comes in at around 60 mph.
Hiperlight SN 8 Ultalight Aircraft Specifications And Images
Hiperlight SN8 Ultralight
Length: 15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Wingspan: 22 ft 0 in (6.71 m)
Height: 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)
Wing area: 140 sq ft (13 m2)
Empty weight: 247 lb (112 kg)
Gross weight: 500 lb (227 kg)
Fuel capacity: 5 US gallons (19 litres)
Powerplant: 1 × Rotax 277 single cylinder two stroke piston aircraft engine, 28 hp (21 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 98 mph (158 km/h; 85 kn)
Cruise speed: 60 mph (52 kn; 97 km/h)
Stall speed: 27 mph (23 kn; 43 km/h)
Range: 180 mi (156 nmi; 290 km)
Rate of climb: 600 ft/min (3.0 m/s)
Hiperlight SN8 by Thunderbird Aviation
The Sorrell Hiperlight may be one of the cutest ultralights ever built... if not the most ingenious. This negative stagger ultralight is a honey of a taildragger and an obedient flyer.
When powered by the single-cylinder Rotax 277, the SNS-8 has been proven to be a legal Part 103 ultralight.
The 247-lb Hiperlight has a single enclosed seat with a throw-over canopy and conventional center stick control.
A novel flaperon mechanism lowers the flaperons anytime serious positive pitch is pulled and serves nicely to ameliorate stall characteristics.
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