Tipsy Nipper
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The Tipsy Nipper light aircraft was developed in 1952 by Ernest Oscar Tips of Avions Fairey at Gosselies in Belgium. The aircraft was designed to be easy to fly, cheap to buy and cheap to maintain. It was designed for both factory production and homebuild. The nickname "Nipper" was the nickname of Ernest Tip's first grandchild.
The first aircraft flew on 12 December 1957. It featured an open cockpit and had a length of 4.56 metres, a span of 6 metres and a range of 400 kilometres extendable with tip tanks to 720 kilometres.
The aircraft has a welded steel tube fuselage and rudder with a wooden and fabric covered wing, tailplane and elevator. It weighs 165kg without an engine. Early aircraft were equipped with a 40hp Stamo VW-engine with later types using either 40hp Pollman-Hepu or 45hp Stark Stamo engines. Production was between 1959 and 1961 with Avions Fairey delivering 59 complete aircraft and 78 kits. Avions Fairey stopped production to make capacity available for F-104G Starfighter assembly for the Belgian Air Force.
During 1962 the rights and a large assortment of uncompleted parts were sold to Cobelavia SA -Compagnie Belge d’Aviation, and they assembled 18 Nippers. The type was renamed as the Cobelavia Nipper D-158.
In June 1966 the license was sold to Nipper Aircraft Ltd at Castle Donington and new aircraft were built by Slingsby Sailplanes at Kirkbymoorside.
In May 1971 Nipper Aircraft Ltd. stopped work and sold the license to a company called Nipper Kits and Components, a company that helps home-builders with parts and plans.
[edit] References
1. http://www.tipsy-histories.com/site/nipper%20historie.htm
