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| Click for video of the Vampire in our series of “Product Minutes” from AirVenture |
“The idea was to be elegantly simple,” Sadler Aircraft Co. co-owner David Littlejohn told AVweb this week at AirVenture Oshkosh, as he talked about the neat folding-wing design on the company’s new Vampire LSA. “You just remove the bolts, fold once, then fold again. One person can do it.” (To see the folding-up in action, click here for a minute-long video with AVweb‘s Jeff Van West.) The company, based in Oregon, has worked for three years to bring their LSA design to market, and now they are hoping that ASTM certification is just a few weeks away. The Vampire is built on a scaled-back air-to-ground fighter plane airframe, stressed to more than plus-or-minus 6 g’s. The Jabiru 120 hp engine turns a pusher prop that sits between twin tail booms. Wide gullwing cabin doors allow for easy entry and egress, and a 50-pound baggage compartment in the nose has an easy topside access port. Littlejohn said the company is taking orders now, with a base price of $96,900.
When folded, the wing is about 8 feet high. Some of the available options include glass-panel avionics, a custom trailering system, and a ballistic parachute.
