Design and Development
Introduced at Airventure, Oshkosh, Wisconsin in July 2000, the first Ridge Runner was a single seater designed as an FAR 103 Ultralight Vehicles compliant aircraft that would have an empty weight within that category's 254 lb (115 kg) empty weight limit.
The designer, Stace Schrader was formerly involved with Avid Aircraft, the Denney Kitfox and Sky Raider LLC designs, all similar aircraft. The resulting aircraft was described by reviewer Andre Cliche as "a clone identical to its predecessors except for a few details like, for example the type of ailerons and balloon tires for rough terrain operations."
The aircraft has an optional powder coated 4130 steel tube frame fuselage covered in doped fabric. The wing is constructed with aluminium tube spars and is also fabric-covered. The kit includes many pre-fabricated parts, including the wing ribs, seat belts and shoulder harnesses, wheels and tires. The manufacturer estimates the construction time as 250-600 hours, depending on the options selected and builder experience.
The Ridge Runner 1 requires a very light engine to remain under 254 lb (115 kg) empty weight and the specified engine remains the out-of-production 28 hp (21 kW) Rotax 277.
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