Sherpa Bush Plane

The Sherpa is a relatively rare airplane and many people have not heard of it. To get an idea of the Sherpa, take a Super Cub, super size it, put a Lycoming 0-720, 400 horsepower engine in it, have seating for eight and viola, you have the Sherpa.

The Sherpa has been called, almost from day one, a Super Cub on steroids and that seems more than appropriate for this aircraft. Some of these are being built with turboprop engines.

Under some conditions, this giant Super Cub can stall as slow as 38 mph and Sherpa claims a cruise speed of 170 mph. The base price for the Sherpa Kit is $622,000.00, for the turbine powered model.

When the first 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. < p br> 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, Byron Root and Glen Gordon, Company principals, 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.
Stoje, a 30 year bush pilot from the Former Republic of Macedonia, voted the Sherpa K-300 as his dream plane, though he claims the best bush plane is the Antonov AN-2.

On the other hand, Budd Davisson (aka "Airbum") claims his dream plane is the Bearhawk, though he casts his vote for best bush plane on the Sherpa. (Naturally, this comes with a colorful disclaimer about redheads versus brunettes that we are sworn not to tell his wife about.) Budd wrote an article about the Sherpa entitled "Big Foot Lives". Though a bit dated, its a pure joy to read.

Rick from the United States who took his last flying lesson in 1969 and now flys only remote control models wrote in to tell us he believes the Sherpa is the best bush plane and also his dream plane, along with the Super Cub.

You can vote for your favorite bush planes here. Or, if you prefer, watch this Sherpa do a short take off roll.