When
the first 5-place Sherpa prototype, 1415B, landed at the EAA Fly-In
at Oshkosh, Wisconsin the reception that followed turned out to be a
truly emotional experience. Dozens of aviation enthusiasts surrounded
the new Sherpa the minute it pulled onto the taxiway. It was as though
the aircraft became the Pied Piper as it led the followers all the way
to the location where it was to be displayed. When the show was over
the foot traffic from the thousands of viewers turned the original lush
grassy surface to dust. The year was 1994. Although the EAA show officials
found it difficult to judge this new Sherpa relative to restoration,
plans built, or new design, etc, they did present a special award for
outstanding quality construction. It is that quality construction that
has become the trademark of the Sherpa products.
In
1995 the EAA Sport Aviation monthly publication featured a special test
flight article about the new Sherpa. The author of the article, Budd
Davisson, spent several days’ flight testing the big jumbo tired
tail dragger prototype with the aircraft’s principal designer,
Byron Root, in the rugged canyons of the Oregon Idaho border. In the
article Budd Davisson nicknamed the Sherpa “
”. The nickname remains in effect to this date.
A second single front seat 5-place prototype, N711SA, was displayed
on amphibious Edo floats in 1995. Together N1415B and N711SA accumulated
more than 3000 hours of bush flying in some of the roughest terrain.
The 5-place Sherpas created so much interest that the company decided
to undertake the FAA Part 23 certification process. That process was
later cancelled when the company decided to upgrade the model to an
8-place 450hp, turbo charged Lycoming powered version with two seats
up front.
In an effort to ensure the maximum Sherpa performance in a bush flying environment, the Company once again decided to upgrade the aircraft by changing the power plant to a turbine engine. The company then froze the design and began the production of twelve K-650T turbine powered Sherpas which are in production today.
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** FOR YOUR INFORMATION **
During the 2000 EAA Fly-In event, the owners of the Sherpa Company were presented an offer to have principal components of the aircraft produced with an Eastern European country. At first glance the offer seemed impractical and unworkable. After reviewing the pros and cons of the idea it was determined that there would be significant financial advantages in accepting the offer because the offer included the funding of a significant drawing package, the FAA Part 23 certification and the development of a complete kit program. The issues regarding quality construction and lower labor costs were goals that never came to fruition. After six years the deal was abandoned. During the six years experience the Sherpa website constantly featured updates and photographs of the construction of various Sherpa components. As can be seen, all of those photographs have been removed from the web site and none of the imported components that were shown were ever used or remain in inventory.
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