In April 2017 the Belite Chipper hadn’t flown. The Chipper was a work in progress and had to be shipped to Lakeland aboard a truck. Belite Aircraft’s Wiebe said he was creating the experimental Chipper two-place tail dragger as a kit powered by either an 80 or a 100 hp Rotax engine. The prototype Chipper moved from Wiebe’s CAD-machine design to the airplane in four months.
The Chipper kit has very little welding and little use of aluminium. Much of the aircraft is covered with Oratex and use composites and a honeycomb material where they fit. The airplane uses a center-of-the-cabin control stick but came with only a single set of rudder pedals and a side throttle on the left. Additional rudder pedals were in the works, as were a host of other changes.
At AirVenture ‘17 the Chipper had flown off its initial 40-hour flight waiver. A Chipper kit costs $8,995 in 2017, that price doesn’t include the engine, propeller or cockpit instruments. A finished Chipper will run about $32,000.
Empty weight: 520 lb
Max gross: 1,000 lb
Takeoff roll: less than 300 ft
All Aero 