Photograph:
An American registered Spirit N65XT following assembly in Australia (WAC)
Country of origin:
United States of America – Colombia
Description:
Two-seat light sport monoplane
Power Plant:
One 80 kw (100 hp) Rotax 912ULS four-cylinder horizontally-opposed liquid-and-air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 10.01 m (32 ft 10 in)
- Length: 6.78 m (22 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 12.3 m² (132 sq ft)
- Never exceed speed: 230 km/h (143 mph)
- Cruising speed: 185 km/h (115 mph)
- Stalling speed flaps down: 56 km/h (35 mph)
- Rate of climb: 290 m/min (950 ft/min)
- Range: 966 km (600 miles)
- Fuel capacity: 91 litres (20 Imp gals)
- Empty weight: 330 kg (728 lb)
- Loaded weight: 599 kg (1,320 lb)
History:
The Spirit was designed by Mr Max Tedesco and was built by a joint American and Colombian company, the World Aircraft Company, for the light sport aircraft market. It was shown for the first time to the public at AirVenture at Oshkosh in Wisconsin in 2011. It was supplied to the amateur builder in kit form. It was a strut-braced, high-wing, two-seat side-by-side, light aircraft with an enclosed cockpit. It was normally fitted with a fixed tricycle undercarriage. Construction was all metal, the wing being supported by V-struts and jury struts. Engines in the 75 to 97 kw (100 to 130 hp) range could be installed and the usual units fitted were the 75 kw (100 hp) Rotax 912ULS, the 75 kw (100 hp) Continental O-200, and the 75 kw (100 hp) Lycoming IO-233.
The aircraft was constructed in Colombia and then shipped to the Company’s facility at Henry County Airport in Paris, Tennessee where it was completed. It was then disassembled for shipping to the builder.
More than 55 examples have been completed and by late April 2014 the first examples had been imported to Australia, these including N65XT and an unassembled kit, being placed on the market for sale in early 2014. The first registered became 24-8201 (c/n AA661115044) under Recreation Aviation Australia (RAA) regulations in September 2012.