The Sapphire Aircraft Australia Sapphire LSA is an Australian ultralight aircraft that was designed and produced by Sapphire Aircraft Australia. It was introduced in the late 1980s and still in production as recently as 2010, but now out of production. The Sapphire was supplied as complete ready-to-fly-aircraft.Bayerl, Robby; Martin Berkemeier; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2011–12'', page 75. WDLA UK, Lancaster UK, 2011. ISSN 1368-485XTacke, Willi; Marino Boric; et al: ''World Directory of Light Aviation 2015–16'', page 79. Flying Pages Europe SARL, 2015.

Design and development

The Sapphire complies with the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale microlight rules. It features a strut-braced

high-wing A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing co ...

, a single-seat enclosed cockpit with a

bubble canopy A bubble canopy is an aircraft canopy constructed without bracing, for the purpose of providing a wider unobstructed field of view to the pilot, often providing 360° all-round visibility. The designs of bubble canopies can drastically vary; s ...

or, optionally, an open cockpit with a windshield, fixed

conventional landing gear Conventional landing gear, or tailwheel-type landing gear, is an aircraft undercarriage consisting of two main wheels forward of the center of gravity and a small wheel or skid to support the tail.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Term ...

and a single engine in pusher configuration. The aircraft is made from

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

, epoxy resin and extruded foam. Its span wing has an area of . The standard engine fitted is the

Rotax 503 The Rotax 503 is a , inline 2-cylinder, two-stroke aircraft engine, built by BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co. KG of Austria for use in ultralight aircraft.Raisner, William: ''LEAF catlog'', pages 6-105. Leading Edge Airfoils, 1995. As of 2011 the Rot ...

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being completed in one revolution of ...

powerplant. In the early 2010s period a two-seat version and a

motorglider A motor glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that can be flown with or without engine power. The FAI Gliding Commission Sporting Code definition is: a fixed-wing aerodyne equipped with a means of propulsion (MoP), capable of sustained soaring flight ...

variant were being developed.

Specifications (Sapphire LSA)

References

External links

Former location of company website
{dead link, date=May 2018 , bot=InternetArchiveBot , fix-attempted=yes
Photo of the Sapphire LSA
on Airliners.net
Official company video
1980s Australian ultralight aircraft Single-engined pusher aircraft