New Zealand manufacturer Vickers Aircraft has conducted the first flight off water of its Wave amphibious LSA.
The Wave LSA is a Rotax-powered amphibian to be certified in the LSA category with an FAA exemption permitting an MTOW of 839 kg. It has been in development in NZ for 13 years.
Vickers announced in March that they expected the first water flight to occur in April, but in line with the company's ethos of not setting target dates to allow development to proceed at a safe rate, the first flight off water didn't happen until last week.
The first water flight was made with an NZ CAA test pilot at the controls.
The Rotax 915 iS fitted to the Wave promises a 15,000-foot ceiling, 1400 fpm rate-of-climb, 120 KTAS max speed and an eight-hour endurance from the 189 litre tanks.
Vickers Aircraft says that the production facilities in Hamilton, NZ, are complete and the company has released early production slot for the aircraft.