Most of us are familiar with this bird, but seeing it in 1080p is just so cool.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mrJ5_LnF0Q



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBVjKFtO9nk



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwkUKjR6NGw

They can cure that heavy stick force (mentioned in the video) pretty easily with a pro-servo tab or a shovel/spade. That stuff is pretty well understood now. An aileron shovel would be way above forehead-injury level on the Sherpa.

They can also get 2/3 of the horsepower and performance of the turbine version with a fairly reliable aluminum "Corvette" LS-1 V-8 engine, at about 1/5 of the cost and 1/3 of the fuel burn.

Looks like an awesome airplane for hauling the freight into short fields if they can get it certified. Hopefully Cessna will not torpedo their certification efforts like they torpedoed the AN-2 certification 20 years ago. As a homebuilt, it would make an incredible flying motorhome. A family could go out and live in that thing for short vacations.

So is this the kit you decided on

That does look pretty awesome..... But 32gph at a low power setting! No thanks. Maybe if I win the lottery.

lancef53 wrote:So is this the kit you decided on

Yeah, but I think I'm going to build a warm-up plane first, at least until the lottery funds come through.

Does anyone know how a Sherpa compares to a Porter? Those Porters sure look sweet to me.

My neighbors son is a commercial helicopter pilot, and he (the son) is or was anyway buds with one of the Sherpa employees, or at least someone who flew the thing from time to time. At one point last year there was talk of them stopping by my 400' mountain strip with a Sherpa. It would have been while on the way to Texas, a ferry flight, and the deal would have been videoed by me, and then they could take a pit stop and the "kid" could see his dad. I was all excited for weeks about this, I couldn't wait...but their plans changed and it didn't happen

What's the latest on Sherpa? It seems to be quiet down there in Scappoose.
Although the turbine is really cool, the -500 model would be more realistic for most of us.

Do they sell it as a kit?
How much is it?
How's the performance?




Edit:
http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/February/7/Sherpa-strikes-China-deal-for-certification.aspx

Found what I was looking for.

It's my understanding that there was a falling out between the China investors and Sherpa. And there are some major controllability problems with the aircraft in its current design configuration. You can find some of that at their website.

http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/

I hope they can work everything out cause the concept is certainly cool, it would be great to see these birds make it to the market.

I just wonder who would buy one that's certified when support is so accessible for turbine Otters. I don't think anything is flying off the shelves these days...maybe they're banking that globally there could be some demand?

I think Sherpa is another example of how you make 2 million in aviation. Start with 5 million. Awesome plane and the owners are nice guys.

G'Day

346 US Gal of fuel.... or 1,300L

That would be $3,380 NZ for full fuel tanks.

Battson wrote:346 US Gal of fuel.... or 1,300L

That would be $3,380 NZ for full fuel tanks.

Sherpa would run Jet-A, right?

Depends on the model, I assume the following:
-500 = Avgas
-650T = Jet

OregonMaule wrote:I think Sherpa is another example of how you make 2 million in aviation. Start with 5 million. Awesome plane and the owners are nice guys.

G'Day

What he said. Seems like they've been working on this thing for half my life. It is cool tho...

I was in the pattern with the -500 one day and it seems to just hang in the air on approach. BD touts the short field capabilities of his Maules but this Sherpa puts us to shame and when you add the turbine reversible prop to the equation,it is more like a helicopter.

Not real sure who the market actually is. I am thinking the Mission pilots would love it and use to some of the remote AK strips, but is that enough to make it financially viable? I'm with Rob but the $$ signs are probably much higher, especially if it needs FAA approval.

TD