Photograph:
Aerosport Scamp ZK-LDD (c/n AACA/572) in New Zealand (Phillip Treweek)
Country of origin:
United States of America
Description:
Single-seat light sport biplane
Power Plant:
One 45 kw (60 hp) modified Volkswagen four-cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine
Specifications:
- Wingspan: 5.33 m (17 ft 6 in)
- Length: 4.27 m (14 ft)
- Height: 1.69 m (5 ft 6 ½ in)
- Wing area: 9.52 m² (102.5 sq ft)
- Max speed: 153 km/h (95 mph)
- Cruising speed: 137 km/h (85 mph)
- Stalling speed: 73 km/h (45 mph)
- Service ceiling: 3,660 m (12,000 ft)
- Range: 241 km (150 miles)
- Empty weight: 236 kg (520 lb)
- Loaded weight: 348 kg (768 lb)
History:
The Scamp was designed by Mr H L Woods for construction by amateurs, being intended to be simple to build and able to operate from grass strips. After some time the initial version became known as the Scamp A. A version aimed at agricultural duties such as crop spraying became known as the Scamp B.
The Scamp was of all-metal construction, the fuselage being of semi-monocoque structure of light alloy. It had braced biplane wings with V-interplane struts, and an all-metal two spar structure of light alloy.
The prototype of the series flew for the first time on 21 August 1973 and was stressed to +6 /–3G limits so that it could be used for unlimited aerobatics. Subsequently a number of plans and kits have been sold to amateur constructors throughout the world by the manufacturers in North Carolina, Aerosport.
The Scamp was designed basically to take variants of the four-cylinder Volkswagen engine, converted for aviation use, ranging from 1600 cc to 2100 cc, although engines from the Rotax series have been installed.
First of the type completed in this region was ZK-LDD (c/n AACA/572), first registered in New Zealand in May 1981 and first flown on 11 May 1981 at Ardmore. It was damaged in a forced landing following an engine problem at Drury on 25 July 1982. The registration was cancelled and it was placed in storage in January 1983. It was rebuilt, has had a number of owners since then, and is still airworthy.
It was followed by ZK-MLM (c/n AACA/470) which was first registered on 19 March 1982. It crashed landing at Oamaru on 25 August 1997 and was placed in storage, later being rebuilt at Ashburton.
A third aircraft became ZK-PET (c/n AACA/460) which was registered in Auckland on 13 February 1986. It ran off a strip at Glen Murray and overturned. It was later rebuilt with a new canopy and a raised turtle deck but was withdrawn from service in August 2011.
At least one example has been completed in Australia, being registered under AUF/RAA rules.