Vampire? Well, not really sure about that… As in the legendary D.H. 100 Vampire? Far far stretched IMHO. 2 vertical tails, pardon me, a U tail would be the only similarity here. Pusher aircraft in general have a whole set of cons, and probably the reason we don’t see more of them around.
I’m about as enthusiastic about the Ion as the tone of one interviewed designer… but the future will tell us.
add to previous…
Just noticed the interview was taped in 2012! The full title is ION, ION aircraft, ION experimental light sport aircraft, E.A.A. Airventure 2012
Guess success has been hampered by lacking funds… or what else?
What I found interesting about this plane is that the design was just purchased (in September 2021) by a venture capital company and it’s hard for me to imagine why, given the rate that stillborn kit plane and homebuilt projects come and go.
It’s an attractive enough little thing, with what looks to be a slick website presentation, but is there anything beyond that which motivated the purchase years after it first flew and was shown at Oshkosh? The poor grammar on the VC company website might indicate a Chinese connection, in which case this is perhaps easier to understand.
