Sawyer Skyjacker II
| Skyjacker II | |
|---|---|
| Sawyer Skyjacker II on static display at Mojave Air and Space Port, California | |
| General information | |
| Type | Experimental homebuilt aircraft |
| National origin | United States |
| Designer | Ralph V. "Buzz" Sawyer |
| Built by | Ralph V. Sawyer |
| Status | On static display |
| Number built | 1 |
| Construction number | 001 |
| Registration | N7317 (cancelled 2013) |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1974 |
| First flight | 3 July 1975 |
| Developed from | Sawyer Skyjacker I |
| Preserved at | On static display at Mojave Air and Space Port |
The Sawyer Skyjacker II is a unique American homebuilt aircraft designed and constructed by Ralph V. "Buzz" Sawyer of Lancaster, California, in 1974 as an experimental research vehicle to explore ultra-low aspect ratio wing configurations and lifting-body principles. It first flew on 3 July 1975 at Mojave Air and Space Port (then Mojave Airport) and was featured on the cover of the April 1978 issue of Popular Science magazine. Only one example was built. Following Sawyer's death, the aircraft was donated in late 2024 to Mojave Air and Space Port, where it is now preserved on static display.
Sawyer, a technician at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center (now Armstrong Flight Research Center) at Edwards Air Force Base, drew inspiration from lifting-body research that contributed to Space Shuttle development. The design aimed to demonstrate inherent stability, controllability, stall/spin resistance, and scalability of ultra-low aspect ratio (≈1:1) configurations, potentially allowing greater payload capacity for a given span.