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The affordable way to learn to fly and own your own airplane
The Sport Hornet is a fully FAA-certified Special Light Sport Aircraft (SLSA) that is safe, fun, functional and affordable. With a factory-built “fly-it-away” price that begins at under $60,000, you can realize your dream of owning an airplane that will take you anywhere at over 100 knots for under $15 per hour of direct operating cost. Like a military fighter, you fly from the center of the cabin, in the nose of the plane. The wings and engine are behind you; the world is in front of you. The tandem seating offers more elbow and leg room than competitive side-by-side airplanes. The visibility is superb in all directions. The three-axis flight control system gives you full, responsive control at all times. The tri-gear and great handling take crosswinds in stride. The air-cushioned landing gear is so forgiving, it makes landing much easier for new pilots. This aircraft is ideal for personal use or flight training. Because it is fully certified, flight schools can use this aircraft as a trainer for ultralight pilot, Sport Pilot, and regular pilot licenses, all at a much reduced cost of operation. Click here to learn about special financing and how you can afford to get a Sport Hornet now. |
Safer airframe so that you can fly with peace of mind. 
The Hornet airframe is designed to protectively surround it's occupants while providing a substantial degree of strength and structural integrity.
As you view the airframe of a Hornet, you will see that it is composed of many 1-1/4" dia. formed aluminum tubes and hundreds of computer generated gussets, each designed to distribute loads evenly throughout the airframe.
Why do we want large diameter tubing uniformly surrounding the pilot? Consider this example: If you take a piece of wire and pull on it, it has a high tensile strength; but if you push on it, it has very little compressive strength and bends easily. Forming material into a tubular cross-section increases it's compressive strength. The larger the diameter of the tube, the larger the ratio of compressive strength which translates into its ability to resist bending in compression. A frame made of high compressive strength tubing surrounding the pilot results in pilot protection.
Another advantage of a structure that provides high compressive strength is that it can be covered with a fabric that offers superior strength and low drag characteristics. Unlike aircraft covered with "slip-over" sail cloth or other lesser strength fabrics, the Hornet is covered with a Stits Poly-Fiber 2.7 oz. fabric. This fabric is F.A.A. certified for high-speed aircraft and has a strength rating of 114 psi (16,416 Lb/Sq Ft). In order to use this fabric, the airframe must be designed to withstand the stress of the shrinking process. Using this covering on similar size light planes designed for lighter fabrics, such as 1.7 oz, could tend to crush or deform the airframe, whereas, on the Hornet, it simply improves its strength, durability and performance.
The Hornet incorporates dual-spar wings and is rated to fly to 4G’s.  Unlike the typical ultralight style wing in which strength is made up of leading and trailing edge tubes, each attached to a strut, the Hornet wing is built around two bridge-section spars attached to a single strut. This assembly is then surrounded by leading and trailing edges that are all tied together with top and bottom ribs attached thru interlocking gussets. This configuration provides superior strength and less drag than other designs. Look inside the wing before you buy!
Hornet struts are extruded from proprietary dies into a laminar flow airfoil. We do not use conventional round tubing with optional airfoil material riveted over it.
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A key reason that the Sport Hornet is safer and easier to land: 
The Hornet landing gear is designed and built, as we say, " to withstand the worst student!" It incorporates an air spring suspension system on all three wheels which is designed to protect the aircraft from damage in the event of a "miscalculated" landing. To demonstrate how well this feature works, the Hornet is typically stalled eight feet off the ground at air shows. The craft hits the ground hard without damaging the structure or bouncing back into the air because the energy is absorbed by the gear. Bungy type or carbon fiber spring landing gear designs return most of the energy to the airframe which causes the aircraft to bounce back into the air.
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Other features that set the Sport Hornet apart:
Electric Flaps and Trim
This standard feature on the Hornet is not an extravagant toy! The electrically actuated flaps and trim assemblies are extremely valuable devices that aid the pilot in controlling the aircraft with minimum distraction so that the pilot can pay attention to the more important aspects of flying. (i.e.: other traffic, airspeed and the ground)
Electrically actuated flaps are user friendly. The flip of a switch lowers or raises the flaps automatically as opposed to operating cumbersome levers or cranks. When they reach their full position, they shut off automatically. The flaps can also be jogged to any setting with ease. Fully deploying the flaps for landing requires no adjustment to the trim setting and causes a slight nose down pitch angle change which improves landing visibility.
Electrically actuated trim on the Hornet is very effective and convenient because the angle of attack of the entire horizontal stabilizer is adjusted rather that a smaller trim tab which always imposes additional drag. "Hands-off" control is easily adjusted with a touch of the switch by typically holding it up or down for one or two seconds. Trimming the aircraft with the horizontal stabilizer is also much more effective and produces much less drag than flaperon trim systems or trim tabs. Since the aircraft pivots about the wing during flight, trimming the aircraft with "flaperons" at the rear of the wing requires more force and therefore more drag because the lever arm (distance to the pivot point) is very short. Trimming at the tail, because of the longer lever arm, requires minimum force and therefore virtually no drag. This trim system is so effective that the Hornet can be flown by the trim switch as a third backup system to the dual elevator controls.
Dual Flight Controls
Full 3-axis control is provided to both seats. Additionally, aileron and elevator controls have double cable systems for redundancy. All cables are 3/32" diameter stainless steel terminated with aircraft quality AN turnbuckle hardware.
Seats
Lightweight foam/glass custom molded composite seats, which adjust forward and back 6", provide comfortable support and are standard (custom seat covers are optional). The seats rise as they are moved forward in order to help shorter pilots maintain visibility over the dash. Aircraft quality 4-point shoulder harness seat belts are also included in the kit.
Fuel Tank
The Hornet fuel tanks are roto molded in proprietary tooling and are uniquely different than other fuel tanks. Typical gas tanks, used on many aircraft, are roto molded from standard polypropylene, a thermo-plastic material which will re-melt in a fire. Hornet fuel tanks are made from cross linked polypropylene, a thermo-setting fire resistant material designed for fuel. This material will not re-melt and is stronger than aluminum, fiberglass or standard polypropylene. The Hornet tanks are centrally located in the wing between the bridge-section spars, further protecting them from failure by impact.
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