The first customer built Panther Sport, N109L Built by Robert (Bob) Woolley, took it’s maiden flight on Agust 5, 2015. N109L is a Sport version of the Panther with the short wing and a Lycoming O-320 engine.
It was inspected and received its air-worthiness certificate Monday 8/3/15. After a few final checks Bob performed the first flight from Haller Airpark in North FL. The SPA crew was on hand for moral support and documentation. The flight was chased by our mutual good friend Dave Dollarhide in his RV-4 and lasted 25 minutes. Spectators commented that while the Panther has a large presence on the ground, it was noticeably smaller than the RV-4 in flight. No official performance numbers yet, but it looked great, and certainly will be a hot rod when it has finished the test program. In the coming weeks Bob will be making some small adjustments, like adding pitch to the Whirlwind Ground adjustable propeller, adjusting controls, and inspecting the airframe as his testing continues.
SPA will publish the performance specs when Bob has good data.
There are, at the time of this release, 65 total Panther builders. The company expects a half dozen of Panthers to fly by the end of the year.
For more information visit www.flywithspa.com.
