SkyCraft Ready To Fly, Expanding In Utah

SkyCraft Airplanes said this week it has completed its SD-1 Minisport S-LSA design, and is awaiting an official FAA audit before deliveries can start. The FAA has told the company it will complete the audit in September. Meanwhile, the company has bought a factory and hangar at Provo Municipal Airport in Utah, and will be displaying a flying aircraft publicly for the first time later this month at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. The small single-seater, which will sell for about $55,000, is based on a Czech experimental design, with a 50-hp Hirth F-23 two-stroke fuel-injected engine made in Germany.

SkyCraft said it has made several upgrades and refinements to the design over the last year, including replacing the original mechanical brakes with a hydraulic brake system that will shorten the landing distance and improve taxi operations. The little airplane, which weighs less than 300 pounds empty, burns less than 2.5 gallons of fuel per hour while cruising at about 100 knots. It's available with either a tailwheel or tricycle gear, and a ballistic parachute is optional. AVweb's editorial director Paul Bertorelli took a brief tour of the airplane last summer at AirVenture, where it was on static display; click here for the video.