Welcome to Saberwing, an affordable composite kit from 
Introduced ten years ago at Sun ’n Fun 2015, this low-wing EAB is "designed to address challenges in the kit aircraft market, emphasizing a simplicity to the kit's components with fast assembly (500-1,000 hours)." For comparison, RVs often take more than 3,000 hours.
Construction is a composite-foam sandwich with wood wing spars and ribs. Saberwing was designed with a low parts count to simplify assembly. Bill's elegantly simple wing is composed of two skins, six ribs, and a spar. The kit can be configured with tricycle or taildragger landing gear with optional wheel pants as shown in the nearby images.
At 43-inches wide (four inches wider than a Cessna 172), Saberwing has fixed seats but adjustable rudder pedals. It has been shown to accommodate pilots up to 6 foot 6 with ample legroom and headroom.
In the light aircraft space, few companies attempt both airframe and engine. In so doing, Saberwing joins Sonex and Jabiru who offer both. Saberwing's standard engine is a 100 horsepower Spyder Corvair conversion of the air-cooled, flat-six automotive engine. A turbocharged version, as shown nearby, outputs 120 horsepower and allows higher elevation operation.
Saberwing kit contains airframe structural components, controls and linkages, composite parts (cowling, canopy), motor mount, fuel tank hardware, pumps, pedal assembly, wheels, brakes, and nose gear or tailwheel kit.
Bill Clapp likes to mention Maximum Visual Progress for his kit. The design can sit on its wheels in a week of work and builders can sit in the fuselage within a few more days. Bill believes this helps keep motivation high and encourages first-time builders.
Anything you build will require maintenance and Saberwing has one great design element to ease a mechanic's effort. Not only does the cowl fully uncover the engine but just aft a removable forward deck allows stand-up (not lay-on-your-back) access to all the avionics connections and control linkages in that area.
At Sun 'n Fun 2025, Bill quoted a base Saberwing kit price at $35,000. When I asked about completed in-the-air cost, Bill said a basic VFR model with his 100 horsepower Spyder could get airborne for $55,000, of course not including the builder's time. In 2025, this qualifies as a bargain, a genuine "affordable" aircraft selling for the price of a new pickup truck.
Helping contain the airborne price, Azalea's Spyder Corvair engine conversion with some specialized elements sells for $10,500 (100 hp) or $12,995 for the turbocharged version (120 hp),
Multiple kits have been sold, with eight aircraft signed off and flying as of this year's Sun 'n Fun, Bill confirmed.
A fatal 2018 crash brought safety questions although an NTSB investigation did not highlight design flaws.
While some have spoken about two fatal accidents (see below), the Saberwing and Spyder have advocates as presented via comments to the video below.
After one video commenter alleged problems with aircraft and engine, another reader responded. Both are public comments openly offered to the video (and you can see them for yourself). I chose to present the following given the qualifications of the responder, his role investigating accidents, and the fact that he had conversations with both pilots who lost their lives. I present this not to stir controversy but to add depth to these most unfortunate losses. I only edited to split paragraphs to make reading easier. The commenter's words are unaltered.
YouTube commenter @boldasthelion6496 replied, "[If] you knew the two pilots who were killed you would know the back stories. NEITHER fatal mishap is attributable to a problem or defect in the Saberwing airframe or the power plants involved.
"The first fatality was due to a pilot attempting aerobatics he was not trained for. He had zero experience in this realm. That lack of experience cost him his life.
"The NTSB report will not come out on the second mishap (the one involving the aircraft featured in the video below) for some time, but it has the hallmarks of a pilot putting himself in a bad situation by pushing his physical limits. He did this despite having discussions just prior to flight cautioning him of the risks involved in pushing too hard.
"For reasons unknown to anyone but the pilot, he pressed ahead anyway. I did not 'know' either of these pilots other than to have talked to them each once or twice on the phone. In both cases, they exceeded their limits, NOT the limits of the mishap aircraft.
"Aviation is not like driving a car. It is not forgiving. It is not a game. One can find himself in a bad situation with no way out quickly. Sometimes the best solution is not to fly.
"I am an experienced Aviation Mishap Investigator. It was my job to piece aircraft together after they crashed and determine the causes.
"With this background, I choose to fly the Saberwing myself. The aircraft is safe. The Corvair engine is proven. I minimize risk factors every time I fly because I have grandchildren and wish to still be around to enjoy my great grandchildren.
https://youtu.be/ELf6aJQ9SI8?si=TFv0x1xWTbw5XZaw
After taking an airshow sabbatical during all of 2024, I was pleased to discover an aircraft at Sun ‘n Fun 2025 that I had never reviewed. Welcome to Saberwing, an affordable composite kit from Azalea Aviation, which distinguishes itself by also providing an engine to fit the aircraft. Oh, and it’s affordable! Let’s discover more. Saberwing and Spyder Based in Quitman, Georgia, Azalea’s Saberwing was designed for amateur builders seeking a speedy two seater in the LSA description. It has not qualified as a Special LSA but designer and company CEO Bill Clapp said he will consider meeting Mosaic LSA standards when released later this year. Introduced ten years ago at Sun ’n Fun 2015, this low-wing EAB is “designed to address challenges in the kit aircraft market, emphasizing a simplicity to the kit’s components with fast assembly (500-1,000 hours).” For comparison, RVs often take more than 3,000 hours.