Frequently Asked Questions

The SparrowHawk is not certified in any way. It will be an unpowered ultralight vehicle in the US as defined by FAR 103 (14 CFR 103). Neither the factory or any other authorities will endorse it as being in compliance with any regulatory or certification requirements.

Certification as a German ultralight aircraft and sailplane is being persued.

The SparrowHawk is designed with a large and comfortable cockpit. People up to 6' 3" fit very well with the standard seat. A slightly deeper seat is available for people just a little taller, or those with longer torsos. Shorter pilots of 5' 3" also fit well with a seat back cushion.

A large range of pilot weights can be accommodated. Pilot weighs between 135 and 265 have been flown.

The SparrowHawk CG limits are 15 to 33% MAC. As with any aircraft, CG position will be affected by installed equipment. The empty and loaded weight and CG of the aircraft must be carefully determined before flight.

A smaller pilot will use seat back cushions to move themselves forward to make the stick "fall to hand". Larger pilots will be most comfortable making use of the lower seat pan option. Note that the CG is adjustable with an array of horizontal joiners (structural members used to hold the horizontal stabilizer on the aircraft) that have different weights. This is a very safe and secure way to adjust the aircraft CG. Using this method, the CG can be moved forward or aft by replacing the joiner tube for the horizontal stabilizer with steel tubes of differing weights.

The SparrowHawk's panel is very nicely suited to cover almost any range of desired instrumentation. Custom panel cutouts allow for a personal layout.

The SparrowHawk is many times cleaner (meaning much less drag) than a Schweizer 1-26. It is a fully molded sailplane that just happens to have smaller wings and lower weight than a typical 15M sailplane. The aircraft has been very carefully designed for very low drag. For example the wings utilize five airfoils tailored to the local span requirements, minimum drag or maximum lift with soft stall at the correct Reynolds number. The fuselage has no straight lines, not even on the tailboom.

So how do you get performance? Lower drag. Parasitic drag can be lowered with lower friction, meaning laminar flow, or lower surface area. Modern laminar flow airfoils can have one half the drag of turbulent flow sections. That, coupled with the small wing area, reduces drag. Induced drag, or drag due to lift with finite wings, can be lowered by low span loading and proper lift distribution along the span. The SparrowHawk actually has a nice low span loading due to its low weight even with its "relatively" low span. The multi-tapered wing combined with the airfoil changes give the wing a very high efficiency with good stalling characteristics.

Aerobatics are specialized maneuvers and should not be taken lightly. The SparrowHawk is a well behaved sailplane that is very manueverable. It is not intended for aerobatic flight. Note that the load limits of the SparrowHawk are not the limiting factor in this decision.

The aircraft comes with one CG hook of a custom design (the weight requirements of the SparrowHawk find their way to every component). It does have a flyover release feature for safety.

The SparrowHawk is very well suited to auto towing and winch launching.

Air towing with normal towplanes and even certain ultralights works as well. This multitude of options allows for safe flight in a variety of conditions and airfields. We support these alternative and less expensive launching means as much as possible. We feel this is a very important area for cost savings and added enjoyment.

The SparrowHawk uses a single main wheel with fixed tailwheel. The main gear is unsprung with a 4.10 X 3.5 X 4 tire. Braking is accomplished with a stainless steel band actuated from a lever on the spoiler handle. The SparrowHawk is a tail dragger but quite easy on takeoff and rollout.

The aircraft is finished in two part polyurethane paint. This is basically the best paint currently available. No more gel coat cracking. The carbon fiber construction will reduce the airframe growth and shrinkage with temperature change. Together, the polyurethane paint and pre-preg carbon construction will go a long way toward reducing finish cracking with seasonal and altitude induced temperature changes.

The M and M Fabrication trailer specially made for the SparrowHawk is a beautiful trailer aluminum shell over a steel frame. Customers have had excellent service from these trailers. It is very well made and an absolute excellent value.

Windward Performance LLC makes a welded steel hoop and frame trailer. It is steel or aluminum covered.

Windward Performance LLC has also made a custom composite clamshell trailer. If interest is high it may be put into production.

All of these trailers take advantage of the smaller size and weight of the SparrowHawk and allow for easier trailering.

Existing used trailers can also work well. Some clamshell trailers may not be high enough for the fuselage with the fixed gear. The heigher tube type trailers work well.

The carbon fiber construction is very repairable. Of course with any aircraft, all structural repairs need to be done correctly. The proper resin and fabric for repairs will be available from the factory. People experienced with composites should be able to effect almost any repair, even substantial damage. We recommend normal glider repair shops that do composite repair on certified sailplanes. They are familiar with repair procedures that require proper ply orientation, fabric type, and fiber to resin ratio. The bottom line is that composite sailplanes like the SparrowHawk are very repairable.

The special fiber weave used on the aircraft cannot be used in a wet layup repair. In most instances, more common 3K woven carbon fabric will be used. Reductions in strength for these repairs will be compensated for in the repair procedure and repair plies. The repair resin will allow for high glass transition temperature with a room temperature cure. Post curing will not be required.

A very important consideration should be made with the SparrowHawk when repairs and insurance are considered. The SparrowHawk is a serially produced aircraft with interchangeable parts. Parts with extreme damage can be replaced with factory new pieces.

The SparrowHawk is just the first of a complete line of sailplanes.

A SL version of the SparrowHawk is already flying.

Our very exciting 15m racer is in process. We see a self launching version of this aircraft as well.