One of the surprises at this year’s Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture convention at Oshkosh was the unusually configured Russian-built Sigma light sports aircraft (LSA).
US company Sportsplanes.com signed a marketing, sales and servicing agreement deal for the Sigma at the show, where, according to chief executive Josh Foss, the aircraft generated “significant interest”. US LSA certification for the Sigma is planned by the end of the year.
The Sigma is produced by VVV-Avia at Smyshliaevka airport, Samara, and is, says Foss, a “conscious move to break with traditional two-seat, high-wing design as embodied in the Cessna 150/2”. The 1.22m (48in)-wide cockpit pod is designed to provide “excellent visibility and luggage capacity”.
Sportsplanes.com will sell the Sigma for around $85,000 and floats or skis can be supplied at an extra $4,000 and $1,200 respectively. Its structure is based around an aluminium upper fuselage longeron to which the outer wings, empennage, engine and cockpit are attached. All components are covered with glassfibre to reduce drag. Power comes from a 100hp (75kW) Rotax 912-ULS piston engine delivered via a three-bladed Donchak propeller. The Sigma will cruise at 92kt (170km/h).
Four aircraft have so far been completed and more than 400 flight hours have been flown in Russia and around 40h in the USA.
Source: Flight International
