The Advanced Soaring Concepts Spirit, also called the Advanced Soaring Concepts American Spirit, is an American mid-wing,

T-tail A T-tail is an empennage configuration in which the tailplane is mounted to the top of the fin. The arrangement looks like the capital letter T, hence the name. The T-tail differs from the standard configuration in which the tailplane i ...

ed. single-seat, FAI Standard Class glider that was designed by Tor Jensen and produced by

Advanced Soaring Concepts Advanced Soaring Concepts was a sailplane manufacturer based in Camarillo, California and owned by Tor Jensen. Their aircraft were marketed in kit Kit may refer to: Places *Kitt, Indiana, US, formerly Kit * Kit, Iran, a village in Mazandaran Pr ...

, first flying in 1992. The aircraft was produced in kit form for amateur construction.Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 300. BAI Communications.

Design and development

The Spirit was the Standard Class design that paralleled the company's FAI 15-Metre Class

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

. The aircraft is made from a welded steel tubing, with an

Aramid Aramid fibers, short for aromatic polyamide, are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic-rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in marine cordage, mar ...

reinforced cockpit section. Its span wing employs a

Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer Carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (American English), carbon-fibre-reinforced polymers (Commonwealth English), carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, carbon-fiber reinforced-thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP), also known as carbon fiber, carbon compo ...

spar SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well ...

and carbon sandwich construction. The kit came with pre-molded fiberglass parts. The cockpit was designed to accommodate a pilot of up to in height and weighing up to with parachute.

Specifications (Spirit)

References

Glider aircraft Homebuilt aircraft 1990s United States sailplanes Aircraft first flown in 1992 {{aero-1990s-stub

Design and development

Specifications (Spirit)

See also

References