Thurston Trojan

__NOTOC__ Infobox Aircraft
name=TA16 Trojan and Seafire


caption=
type=Utility amphibian
national origin=United States
manufacturer=Homebuilt
designer=David Thurston
first flight=1975
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variants with their own articles=The Thurston TA16 Trojan was a light amphibious aircraft developed in the United States during the 1970s for homebuilding. During the 1980s and again in the early 2000s, efforts were made to certificate the design for series production under the name Seafire. It was a four-seat all-metal flying boat with a shoulder-mounted cantilever wing and a T-tail. The engine was mounted tractor-fashion on a tall pylon above the wings, and the aircraft was equipped with retractable tricycle undercarriage for alighting on land.

Sales of plans to homebuilders were suspended after 32 sets had sold while initial efforts were made to certificate the design. These proved fruitless but a second attempt in the early 1980s resulted in the flight of a prototype Seafire (registered "N16SA") on 10 December 1982. The new entity created to handle the certification and production, IAC, expected the process to be complete by 1987, but this too fell by the wayside, and rights to the design reverted to Thurston with 85% of the process complete. In the meantime, refinements made to the design during the certification trials were incorporated into the plans for homebuilders.

In 1998, a new company, Aquastar Inc was formed to revive the certification project. The Seafire prototype was refurbished and re-registered in 2000, re-commencing certification trials in 2002. The Seafire was publicly re-launched at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh that same year, but the project stalled again in mid-2003.

pecifications (Seafire)

aerospecs
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met or eng?= eng

crew=One pilot
capacity=3 passengers
length m=8.28
length ft=27
length in=2
span m=11.28
span ft=37
span in=0
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width m=
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height m=3.28
height ft=10
height in=9
wing area sqm=17.0
wing area sqft=183
swept area sqm=
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volume m3=
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aspect ratio=
empty weight kg=885
empty weight lb=1,950
gross weight kg=1,450
gross weight lb=3,200
lift kg=
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eng1 number=1
eng1 type=Lycoming O-540-A4D5
eng1 kw= 186
eng1 hp= 250
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max speed kmh=280
max speed mph=175
max speed mach=
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range km=1,600
range miles=1,000
endurance h=
endurance min=
ceiling m=5,500
ceiling ft=18,000
glide ratio=
climb rate ms=5.4
climb rate ftmin=1,060
sink rate ms=
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References

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* [http://web.archive.org/web/20000621210525/http://www.seafireta16.com/ Archived version of Aquastar website]