Practavia Sprite

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox aircraft | name = Sprite | logo = | logo_size = | image = File:Practavia Sprite Series 2 AN0294289.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Homebuilt trainer/tourer monoplane | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United Kingdom | manufacturer = Practavia | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 8 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = 1971 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = }} The '''Practavia Sprite''' is a British two-seat homebuilt training or touring monoplane designed for amateur construction. It was the winning entry in a competition sponsored by ''Pilot'' magazine in 1968. The design had been begun as a magazine-sponsored project by Peter Garrison, who worked for ''Pilot'' at the time; when the project did not move forward rapidly enough to suit him, he returned to the United States, where he modified his design into what would become his first Melmoth.

==Development== The prototype Sprite, named the '''Pilot Sprite''', was designed by a team at Loughborough University and had little in common with Garrison's design, though both were all-metal side-by-side low-wing cantilever monoplanes with tricycle landing gear. The Sprite was powered by a Rolls-Royce Continental O-240-A piston engine. Plans for amateur building were marketed by Practavia Ltd as the Practavia Sprite.

==Specifications== {{Aircraft specs |prime units? = imp |ref=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1980–81<ref name="jawa80p498">Taylor 1980, p. 498</ref> |crew=1 (pilot) |capacity=1 (passenger) |length m= |length ft=20 |length in=0 |span m= |span ft=27 |span in=0 |span note=(over tip tanks) |height m= |height ft=8 |height in=3 |wing area sqft=96.0 |aspect ratio=6:1 |airfoil=NACA 64315 |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb=850 |max takeoff weight lb=1400 |fuel capacity={{convert|36|impgal|USgal L|abbr=on}} |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Rolls-Royce Continental O-240-A |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=130 |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph=138 |cruise speed note=(max cruise) |never exceed speed mph=245 |stall speed mph=55 |stall speed note=(flaps down) }}

{{aircontent  |see also= |related= |similar aircraft= |sequence= |lists= }}

==References== {{reflist}}

* {{cite book |last= Jackson |first= A. J. |title= British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3 |year= 1974 |publisher= Putnam |location= London |isbn=0-370-10014-X }} * {{cite book |editor-last=Taylor |editor-first=John W. R. |editor-link=John W. R. Taylor |title=Jane's All the World's Aircraft 1980–81 |year=1980 |location=London |publisher=Jane's Publishing Company |isbn=0-7106-0705-9}} * {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation |year=1989 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London }}

{{Peter Garrison aircraft}}

Category:1970s British civil utility aircraft Category:Homebuilt aircraft Category:Loughborough University Category:Garrison aircraft Category:Low-wing aircraft Category:Single-engined tractor aircraft Category:Aircraft first flown in 1971