Tucked into the cowling is a Lycoming A10-540 six-cylinder engine delivering more than 330 HP. John Klatt flys full throttle and the Lycoming delivers the vertical performance, raw speed and reliability that John depends on. Power is great, but you need to translate that power into motion and that is where the German crafted, all-composite wide cord MT three-bladed propeller does its job. It can take the brutal stress of speeds over 250 mph and the wild gyroscopic maneuvers that try to rip the prop from the engine.

To make it easy to follow John’s Staudacher S-300D he has a custom smoke system which injects a special oil into the hot exhaust to produce the thick smoke trail you see in the sky.

The Staudacher S-300D is designed to withstand more than +/- 20 G’s. To put that into perspective, that’s twice the load of the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” that John flies with the 148th fighter wing of the Duluth Air National Guard.

Staudacher S-300D

What makes the Staudacher S-300D unique is that every one is different. Although there are a handful of handmade Staudacher S-300D aircraft out there, no two are alike. Each airframe is crafted by John Staudacher in the Bay City, MI area. And John likes to continually tweak each new version so it matches the exact needs of the pilot and incorporates the latest learning and newest technology.

Weight is the enemy of a world class aerobatic airplane, and every component in the Staudacher S-300D is chosen to achieve the desired balance between weight and strength. The airframe is a unique combination of tubular aluminum, select hardwoods and composite materials. The result is an extremely strong airframe that weighs only 1250 pounds.