Rogers Sportaire Explained

The Rogers Sportaire is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed David M. Rogers and produced by Rogers Aircraft of Riverside, California, introduced in 1959. The aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction, but plans are no longer available. Only one was built.^{[1] [2]}

Design and development

The aircraft features a cantilever low-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fixed tricycle landing gear and a single engine in tractor configuration.

The aircraft fuselage is made from welded steel tubing, with the 26.31NaN1 span wing made from wood, all covered in doped aircraft fabric. The engine used in the sole example is a 1250NaN0 Lycoming O-290 powerplant.

The aircraft has an empty weight of 984lb and a gross weight of 1600lb, giving a useful load of 616lb. With full fuel of the payload is 484lb.

Operational history

By October 2013 only one example had been registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration.

External links

• Photo of the Sportaire airframe under restoration
• Photo of the Sportaire instrument panel under restoration
• Photo of the Sportaire dataplate

Notes and References

1. Plane and Pilot: 1978 Aircraft Directory, page 154. Werner & Werner Corp, Santa Monica CA, 1977.
2. Web site: N-Number Inquiry Results - N311DR. 22 October 2013. Federal Aviation Administration. 22 October 2013.