Stewart Headwind


The Stewart Headwind JD1HW1.7 and SAC-1VW is a single-seat high-wing tube-and-fabric construction homebuilt aircraft.

Design and development

The first Headwind was flown on March 28, 1962. It was one of the first aircraft to fly in the United States using a VW engine. The prototype flew with a Huggins VW conversion. To use a standard propeller, a patented PRSU was developed to keep the engine RPM high and propeller RPM at its optimum speed.
The design was inspired by the Demoiselle by Alberto Santos-Dumont. The fuselage is triangular sections of welded tube steel covered in fabric.

Variants

A Volkswagen air-cooled engine was the only engine specified for this model, however many examples exist with alternate engine installations.