Era

Sharp DR90 Nemesis

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The Nemesis originated as an attempt by Jon Sharp to build a Shoestring racer, with composite skins over a steel frame. Along the way, Dan Bond convinced him to use an airfoil with extensive laminar flow and finally, Steve Ericson helped Jon design a sleeker, all composite airframe. All that remains of the original “plastic Shoestring” is the horizontal tail. The steel space frame was sold to Dan Gilbert and became the guts of his Shadow Formula One air racer. Although Shadow looks much like Nemesis it is fabricated differently and has a completely different wing.

The Formula One racing Sharp DR 90 Nemesis was built at the Mojave Airport by the Nemesis Air Racing Team. The aircraft is powered by a modified Continental O-200 piston engine.

Between 1991 and 1999, the plane won 45 of the 48 race events in which it was entered, including nine consecutive Reno Gold National Championships. During each of the race seasons from 1994 through 1999, Nemesis finished as the International Formula One points champion. Nemesis was awarded the George Owl Trophy for its design in 1991, three Louis Blèriot Medals from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (1993, 1996 and 1998), and four Pulitzer Trophies (1993, 1994, 1995 and 1999). The aircraft set 16 world speed records, and in one of those records, Nemesis was clocked at over 290 mph (467 km/h). Because of its successes, the National Air and Space Museum has described the plane as “the most successful aircraft in air racing history”.

After the end of the 1999 racing season, Jon Sharp donated the aircraft to the National Air and Space Museum and it is now on display at the NASM’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.

The success of the aircraft led Jon Sharp to design a follow-on type, the Nemesis NXT.

Variant: Rolls-Royce ACCEL

Engine: 1 × Continental O-200, 100 hp
Wingspan: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Wing area: 66 ft2 (6.13 m2)
Length: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Height: 3 ft 4 in (1.02 m)
Empty weight: 520 lb (236 kg)
Loaded weight: 770 lb (350 kg)
Fuel capacity: 5 US gal (18.9 liters)
Maximum speed: 292 mph (470km/h)
Stall speed: 90 Kias (167 km/h)
Crew: 1
G-Loading limits: +6, -4
Cabin height: 35 in (89 cm)

Sharapov-Verzilov Piervieniets

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The Sharapov-Verzilov “Piervieniets” (First) (Russian: Шарапов-Верзилов “Первенец”) was designed as a single-seater training glider.

Conceptually the “Piervienets” was designed as a high wing glider braced by four uprights. The wing had a rectangular shape in the plane with ailerons in the outer area.

The fuselage was in the form of a low-sided “bathtub” to which a flat, uncoated wooden structure was attached, ending in the conventional tail.

The landing gear consisted of two wheels located on the sides and a tail skid.

The pilot sat in a fully exposed seat. The cabin space was so wide that flights were carried out with a passenger behind the pilot.

Built in Simferopol in 1927 by AN Sharapov and VN Verzilov and flying that fall, the “Piervieniets” glider was entered in the IV edition of the national glider competitions. During competitions it was the most popular glider, flying 274 training flights.

Piervieniets
Wingspan: 12 m
Wing area: 18 m²
Aspect ratio: 8
Length: 6.5 m
Empty weight: 125 kg
Wing loading: 11 kg / m²
Aileron surface: 2.6 m²
Accommodation: 1

Sharapov-Verzilov Buyán

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The Sharapov-Verzilov ”Buyán” (Russian: Шарапов-Верзилов “Буян”) was designed as a single-seater racing glider. The “Buyán” was a cantilever-wing monoplane. This wing, with a trapezoidal shape in the plane and slanted straight ends, was located high in the fuselage.

The fuselage had a fusiform shape with straight gunwales. At the top and inside it had a curved shape. At the front was the open cockpit.

The shape of the tail surfaces was reminiscent of the fins of a dolphin. The landing gear featured a wheel partially inserted into the centerline of the fuselage.

Built in 1928 in Simferopol by AN Sharapov and VN Verzilo, it was a participant in the 5th round of national gliding competitions after first flying in the fall of 1928.

Shapley Kittiwake

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Designed and built by Errol Spencer Shapley at Torquay, Devon, the Kittiwake was a two-seat monoplane with a gull wing and a fixed landing gear. The first aircraft, a Mark 1 registered G-AEZN (c/n ESS.1), with an open cockpit was powered by a 50 hp (37 kW) Continental A50 piston engine and first flown at Roborough in 1937. A Captain F Symodson was the test pilot. The second aircraft, a Mark 2 registered G-AFRP (c/n ESS.2), was a cabin monoplane powered by a 90 hp (67 kW) Pobjoy Niagara III engine and first flown at Roborough in 1938.

The Mark 1 aircraft was dismantled before the Second World War. The Mark 2 was stored during the war only to crash on Dartmoor in December 1946.

Kittiwake Mark 2
Engine: 1 × Pobjoy Niagara III, 90 hp (67 kW)
Wingspan: 32 ft 0 in (9.76 m)
Length: 20 ft 10 in (6.35 m)
Empty weight: 901 lb (409 kg)
Gross weight: 1600 lb (726 kg)
Cruise speed: 110 mph (176 km/h)
Crew: 1
Capacity: 1