I flew the SAH1 a couple of times. It was based at the RAF Cranwell Flying club for a while in the mid 80s, presumably because it was anticipated that RAF flying training was rumoured to be contractorised and it was trying to build up a bit of publicity. It had a 112hp Lycoming and the general opinion was that it was a nice aircraft but a bit underpowered. It handled well and flew some very nice aerobatics with it's very powerful controls. One down side to this was that if you applied full aileron, the airflow broke away from it and you could fel a bit of buffet from the wingtips. Also, it was a bit harsh in the spin. A nice aircraft, but maybe not an ideal club aircraft for those brought up on the more benign C152s and PA28s.
I next flew it when the contract was being bit for in the early 90s. FLS aeropspace has planned to use the SAH1 for their bid, by now it had been re-engined with a 160HP Lycoming with a VP Prop. That was a good engine for what was quite a good aircraft. As an instructor at the RAF EFTS, I flew it to offer my opinion. However, the consensus was not in it's favour as the competion (Slingsby Firely, FFA Bravo and Zlin Z242) were better. The SAH1 had the feel of a homebuilt and was too light. It wouldn't have fared well under military training.
Last edited by Dan Winterland; 25th February 2007 at 00:39.