Sport Pilot Talk

carlsont · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 3

I've been watching the Evektor SportStar for a while now. It looks like the early ones were called SportStar SE which changed to SportStar Plus. The new one was called SportStar SL and now looks to be SportStar Max.

Could anyone clarify the different naming conventions and/or care to elaborate on the history?

oldsportpilot · Joined: 17 Mar 2006 Posts: 68

The first Sportstar sold in the USA had a gross weight of 1213 lb and had the fuel tank (about 17 gals) in the fuselage. The Sportstar SE was next, and had the fuel in the wings (about 32 gals). The SE could be upgraded to the Plus via an STC to a gross of 1268 lb (550 kg.). This was a pure paper exercise/data plate exchange. After the Plus came the SL, which differed only slightly. The Max, according to the Evektor website (www.evektor.cz), has further increased the gross to 1320 lb. The SE had a clean stall speed of 44 kts, and got its gross weight increase by adding 25 kg which raised the clean stalling speed to 45 kts., the maximum allowed for an LSA. To raise the gross to 1320 and keep the stall speed at 45 kts means that the wing must have been changed. The Evektor website says that vortex generators have been added for the US market. According to the website, the Max has up to a 640 lb useful load. Even with 50-75 lb for various extras, this is still extremely favorable compared to other LS aircraft.