Dickey E-Racer

The Dickey E-Racer, also called the Sierra Delta E-Racer, is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Shirl Dickey and produced by Shirl Dickey Enterprises of Phoenix, Arizona. It was first flown in 1984. When it was available the aircraft was supplied in the form of plans for amateur construction, with some parts available to facilitate faster construction.

Design and development
The aircraft is based upon the Rutan Long-EZ. It features a cantilever mid-wing canard layout with tip rudders, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit under a bubble canopy, fully retractable tricycle landing gear and a single engine in pusher configuration.

The aircraft is made from E-glass. Its 26.2 ft span wing has a wing area of 94.00 sqft and employs a Roncz R1145MS airfoil for the canard airfoil, and the main wing uses a modified Eppler 1230 airfoil. The standard engine used in the Mark 1 is the 240 hp Buick V-8 automotive conversion powerplant.

The aircraft has a typical empty weight of 1000 lb and a gross weight of 1800 lb, giving a useful load of 700 lb. With full fuel of 46 u.s.gal the payload for pilot, passenger and baggage is 424 lb.

Like most canard designs the E-Racer has a long take-off and landing roll. The standard day, sea level take-off roll is 1200 ft. The landing roll is 1500 ft.

At one time pre-fabricated wings and canard were available to speed construction. The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied plans as 2000 hours.

Operational history
By 1998 the company reported that four aircraft were flying and six by 1999.

In December 2013, 15 examples were registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration.

Variants

 * E-Racer Mark 1
 * Initial version powered by a 240 hp Buick V-8 automotive conversion powerplant


 * E-Racer Mark 2
 * Later version powered by aircraft engine powerplants


 * King Racer
 * Later version with a larger cockpit