| STANDARD DATA: Gross wt. 1,400. Empty wt. 850. Fuel capacity 12. Wingspan 24′. Length 20′. Engine 130-hp Continental. PERFORMANCE: Top mph 138. Cruise mph 128. Stall mph 55. Climb rate 800. Takeoff roll 750. Landing roll 800. |
The Sprite was designed to the United Kingdom’s semi-aerobatic certification category with a positive load factor of 4.5 Gs and allowing legal spins and maneuvers past 60 degrees of banking. To go fully aerobatic would be self-defeating, adding extra weight not needed for training, touring, or sport flying. Metal was selected instead of wood because it offered a better potential for mass-production kits. Sprite builders start off making the wings based upon a strong main spar of thick webbing, capped on the top and bottom with standard-size extrusion and backing plates. Wing ribs come from a single jig. The fuselage sides are bowed to prevent drumming of flat panels. Many parts of Sprites can be borrowed from other types of commercial aircraft: gear legs, brakes, wheels, fuel tanks, and the like. The standard powerplant is the Rolls-Royce 130-hp Continental driving a fixed-pitch two-blade prop.
