Searey Advanced Technology Demonstrator Stops in St. Louis on Flight to Oshkosh

By Carmelo Turdo

The Searey Advanced Technology Demonstrator (ATD) made a fuel stop at St. Louis Downtown Airport Friday during a cross-country flight to Oshkosh, WI in advance of the start of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. The strikingly attractive Searey, made by Progressive Aerodyne of Tavares, FL, currently sports a Bahamas-theme paint scheme designed by Mirco Pecarari known for his artistic liveries for full and scale model aircraft. Apart from the beautiful paint job, the aircraft is known for serving as a testing platform for integrating engine and propeller configurations culminating in the newly-installed 135hp turbocharged Rotax 915iS with a constant-speed propeller.  The cockpit is instrumented to record data to be used in evaluating the Rotax 915iS operations in comparison to the 912iS previously tested on the aircraft.  The Searey ATD will be on display at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017. 

The Aero Experience thanks pilot Dan Nickens for showing us the aircraft before he continued on his flight to Oshkosh.