I consistently promote that this website focuses on "affordable" aircraft. I used quotes because affordable literally means something different to every single individual. None of us has the same budget and our financial picture can change tomorrow. At AirVenture 2021, I interviewed Ron Jones of Thunderbird Aviation about a two-seat Hiperlight he displayed in the Fun Fly Zone. The design by the Sorrell brothers has been around for decades but not until now has it been available as a ready-to-fly SLSA. In truth, it's still not available but Ron said, "It's coming" and it could arrive in time for the 2022 recreational flying season.

Thunderbird Aviation Line of Models

Back in the '80s, the Sorrells set out to create Hiperlight as high-performance aircraft using relative low horsepower. Thunderbird Aviation was established officially in 2002 when Ron reports being "lucky enough to stumble across a tiny ad in one of the aviation trade journals. They were advertising the sale of the tooling and rights for the Hiperlight." He went for it. A decade later, in 2013, Ron continued, "Rights and tooling became available for the Hiperbipe, which was originally designed in 1975 as a fully-aerobatic, cabin-class biplane. It filled out our product line." The Part 103 vehicle entry, SNS-8, works well on only 28 horsepower to carry 500 pounds gross weight. "It meets the requirements of Part 103 to be a legal ultralight vehicle," said the company. An SNS-9 two-place Hiperlight was designed to accommodate a 65 horsepower engine, which "provides excellent short field performance, while at the same time making it a viable cross county machine." Finally, "the SNS-7 Hiperbipe is the fire-breathing big brother of the SNS-9," said Thunderbird, adding that SNS-7 was designed to compete in the sport aerobatic class, while at the same time being a comfortable weekend or cross country aircraft. Observe that the relative position of Hiperlight’s two wings is different than most biplanes. Most designers have placed the upper wing forward of the lower wing. Contrarily, "SNS" stands for Sorrell Negative Stagger. As you can see in these images, negative stagger certainly aids forward visibility while requiring less structure to attach landing gear, among other benefits. Other than the number of seats, all SNS models bear a remarkable resemblance incorporating as they do a "lifting body" fuselage. The nearby aft view highlights this visually. The two-seat SNS-9 is presently available in basic kit form, which requires the builder to do 51% of the assembly. This has been the case during all of Ron's two decades of representing this design. "Soon we will be offering them fully assembled and ready to fly," he added on the company website. A basic kit starts at $35,900 but it gets much more interesting.

Prepare to Be Amazed

In the interview, as you can hear for yourself, Ron is suggesting that Hiperlight as a Special LSA for (that is, fully-factory-built) could sell for a target of about $65,000. To fully appreciate that number, let me take you back in time. In 2004 as the rule was announced, speculation was high that special Light-Sport Aircraft could or should sell for $50-60,000. Today, I hear people lament all the time that such a price cannot be found. In truth, that's incorrect today. You can find aircraft that sell for that number or less but what you find at that price may not be what you want. I'm thinking of several weight-shift trikes or powered parachutes that sell for roughly those numbers ready-to-fly. However, fixed wing choices are also available and a growing market of used LSA are much more affordable. However, we cannot ignore what has happened to the purchasing power of your dollars in the past 17 years. Let me do the caluculations for you. Assuming you accept the government's CPI as an accurate gauge of inflation, what $60,000 bought you in 2004 will take $81,000 today. Essentially, for you to go buy things you want, you'll spend 35% more dollars to buy the same items. You know this from your own daily purchases. Simply put, a LSA selling for $81,000 in 2021 is priced the same (in purchasing power) as $60,000 was in 2004 when the SP/LSA rule was announced at Oshkosh that year. Therefore, Hiperlight, if it truly comes to market at $65,000, is actually cheaper than we expected in 2004… quite a bit less, actually. I find that amazing even as I acknowledge that $65,000 may not be "affordable" for everyone.

SNS-9 Hiperlight Thunderbird Aviation (Michigan) TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Wing Span — 23 feet 4 inches
• Length — 18 feet
• Height — 5 feet 4 inches
• Wing Area — 148 square feet
• Engine (planned for SLSA) — Jabiru 2200, 81 horsepower, four cylinders
• Fuel Capacity — 12 gallons (15 gallons planned for SLSA model)
• Empty Weight — 380 pounds (some change may occur with SLSA model)
• Gross Weight — 875 pounds (some change may occur with SLSA model)
• Maximum Speed — 113 miles per hour
• Maximum Cruise — 85 miles per hour
• Range — 260 miles
• Stall Speed — 39 miles per hour
• Take of Distance — 300 feet
• Landing Distance — 300 feet
• Rate of Climb — 600 feet per minute (higher performance expected with Jabiru 2200)
• Glide Ratio — 12:1
• Rate of Sink — 325 feet per minute
• Load Factor  — +3.8/–1.9
• Assembly Time — 300-400 hours

https://youtu.be/9KdGmLHB4vw

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LSA Flight Instruction AOPA Asks Your Help

Please allow me to draw your attention to a request from AOPA president Mark Baker asking for your help in fighting FAA's misstep over flight training. As this can tremendously impact training in Light-Sport Aircraft and experimental kits, this matter is critical. Please read and act if you believe FAA must change their position. …and THANK YOU!

Note: Links appearing in the letter below are reproduced for you after the letter.

Please use these links to…

Contact your Congressional Representatives

Learn More from AOPA about FAA's Action

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As we continue with this fourth in a series of ten about very affordable light aircraft from earlier times, we stress again that all the aircraft presented in this series still have some essential qualities that warranted their inclusion. First, these are all aircraft with which Videoman Dave and I are personally familiar. I have flown all but one on the list and I believe Dave has flown all of them. So, we come to the series with real experiences in these flying machines. It has been a while for many of them, but assuming maintenance is good (see the important message at the end), this can be reasonable for many pilots to consider. However, as with any used aircraft, the buyer must be aware. Neither Dave nor I can comment on any one particular aircraft. Second, and with the maintenance message firmly planted in your mind, all the models in this Vintage Ultralight series still have parts available from current-day producers. These companies rarely succeed solely from making parts — though doing so can form a reasonable business when enough of them are still flying.

Hiperlight SNS 8 Biplane

In this article and video below we will take a quick look at the Hiperlight SNS 8 dating back into the 1980s when the Sorrel brothers first created it out west. As it turns out, the Sorrel Hiperlight SNS 8 was originally designed at the request of Ron Schettler, the first Canadian Distributor of Rotax aircraft engines. It was originally designed to be powered by the Rotax 277 single-cylinder, 28-horsepower two-stroke engine using a Hegar belt reduction drive. Digging deeper we find SNS 8 is actually a smaller version of the Sorrell Hiperbipe. For those curious about naming conventions, SNS in the name stands for "Sorrell Negative Stagger." A negative stagger puts the lower wing ahead of the upper wing, where most commonly with biplanes, that is not the case. The most celebrated example of negative stagger is the elegant (and not very affordable) Beech Staggerwing (photo below video). SNS 8 is offered in kit form. It features a two piece 4130-welded steel fuselage, which can be separated for ease of storage. The aircraft can be covered in pre-sewn Dacron sail cloth envelopes or by the use of standard aircraft covering materials. Building times are in the 150 to 400 hour range, with the conventional fabric covering taking longer to complete. Present-day supplier Thunderbird Aviation in Michigan stated, "SNS-8 was designed to comply with Part 103 of the FARs and is still one of the few ultralights being manufactured legally. Since it meets ultralight vehicle parameters, you can get in it in kit form or you can get it fully assembled ready to fly." Thunderbird Aviation was established officially in 2002 by Ron Jones. He reported, "[We] offer aircraft that appeal to a wide range of interests …from an ultralight, to a two-place Experimental, to a fully aerobatic yet cross-country-capable machine, and soon to come will be the SLSA Version." Beside being a biplane. Hiperlight SNS8 is a taildragger in a tractor configuration. It uses standard stick-and-rudder, three-axis controls, with full-span flaperons on the lower wing, a center mounted stick, and left hand throttle. Beside a Rotax 377 or 447, other engines that have powered the Hiperlight SNS 8 are Hirth, Kawasaki, and half-VW conversions. Climb rate comes in at around 750 feet per minute, cruise is 55 to 65 miles per hour, and stall comes in at 27 miles per hour. A new kit Hiperlight from Thunderbird has the following specifications:

• Wing Span — 22 feet
• Length — 15 feet 6 inches
• Wing Area — 140 square feet
• Engine — MZ201
• Fuel Capacity — 5 gallons
• Empty Weight — 247 pounds
• Gross Weight — 500 pounds
• Assembly Time — 150-200 hours
• Maximum speed — 98 mph
• Maximum Cruise — 62 mph
• Stall Speed — 27 mph
• Range — 150 miles
• Take off Distance — 175 feet
• Landing Distance — 175 feet
• Rate of Climb — 700 fpm
• Glide Ratio — 12:1

At the time of production of this video The Ultralight Flyer would estimate the value of a used Hiperlight SNS 8 from the 1980s to be worth between $4,500 and $6,500.

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Standard Advice for Buying a Used Vintage Ultralight — The Ultralight Flyer YouTube channel recommends that Dacron envelopes be removed from SNS-8 models to thoroughly inspect the airframe, wings, landing gear area, and control systems. ••• If the history of the engine is unknown it is recommended that the exhaust be removed and the pistons inspected for wear and seizure. I encourage you to support The Ultralight Flyer YouTube channel here.

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https://youtu.be/mcfEQXQJIEo

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