Stolp SA-300 Starduster 2

Designed by Lou Stolp and first flown in 1971, the Starduster Too was built to fill a need for a reasonably sized, two-place, open sport biplane. It was built to fly just for fun and is not intended to be an aerobatic airplane. It is quite strong, however, and many owners use the aircraft for aerobatic flight, but this is beyond the original concept of the machine. The aircraft is rated +/- 6G. Stability is good and the light wing loading makes slow landing speed and short-field operation outstanding.

The main structure of the airplane is built of 4130 steel tubing , wood faired and fabric covered, and sheet stock and has no machined fittings or other complicated bends, which is an advantage for the average homebuilder with limited machine equipment to use. The wings have spruce spars and the ribs are made of 1/4" plywood using a modified M-6 airfoil and fabric cover. All four wings carry ailerons. Construction of the plane has been kept as simple as possible.

The prints are quite complete with ribs and most fittings full size, which saves considerable time on construction of these parts.

The O-360 Lycoming is the best optimum size engine either in the 180 HP or the 200 HP version. Quite a few Starduster Too aircraft have been constructed with the Lycoming IO-540, with as much as 375 HP. There are Ranger powered, Ford V-8 and V-6 powered, Continental powered, Jacobs, and even some R-985 powered examples. The airframe is a proven unit and allows for many different types and kinds of engines. On the low end of the power curve there are some 125 HP aircraft in service. Stolp recommends the 180-hp Lycoming with a constant-speed prop as the Optimum powerplant. There are several aircraft with over 2,500 flying hours, and one with more than 5,000 hours.

All raw materials as well as certain prefabricated parts (such as fiberglass turtlebacks, nose cowls, wheel pants, cockpit cowlings, welded aluminum fuel tanks, plexiglass windshields, canopies, and so forth) are available at reasonable prices.

Engine: Lycoming, 180 hp
HP range: 159-300
Height: 7.5 ft
Wing span: 24 ft
Fuel cap: 44 USG
Weight empty: 1000 lb
Gross: 1985 lb
Speed max: 148 mph
Cruise: 130 mph
Range: 600 sm
Stall: 50 mph
ROC: 1800 fpm
Take-off dist: 700 ft
Landing dist: 1000 ft
Service ceiling: 16,000 ft
Seats: 2
Landing gear: tail wheel