Update 8/17/17: See our video interview at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 on this aircraft (at bottom). —DJ The aircraft you see in the photos is called “A Tribute to Alberto Santos Dumont.” Do you know who that is? In my conversations with a few other pilots, almost everyone knew the name (“vaguely”) but not one remembered what that person did. Since the 24 Bis (that’s what they call the example you see in the images) is a tribute to Alberto, let’s take a second to recall his history. Santos Dumont was a prolific aircraft designer working from 1898 to 1920. The first year was when he made his first balloon ascension, in Paris, on July 4th. Only six years later, not even three years after the Wright Brothers’ famous Kitty Hawk flight, Alberto flew his 14 Bis on November 12th, 1906. This flight won him the accolade “first person to fly in Europe.” His first production aircraft weighed in at 242 pounds.
Skonkwerks …an Ultralight Aircraft Tribute to an Aviation Pioneer
The Plane that Never Was
- Weight — 240 pounds
- Wing Span — 32 feet
- Wing Area — 192 square feet
- Never Exceed Speed — 45-50 mph
- Stall Speed — 14-16
- Engine — Rotax 447
- Build Time — December 21, 2014 through June 21, 2015
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