Wittman Tailwind W-8
These figures describe a typical build. Each aircraft of this design was built by its owner, and the one you are looking at may differ.
The Wittman Tailwind is Steve Wittman's side-by-side two-seat high-wing plans-built design of the 1950s, a steel-tube fuselage with wooden wings and a famously small frontal area: the W-8 weighs about 700 lb empty on 85-135 hp and is quoted at 185 mph maximum, and the longer W-10 with tapered tips takes up to 180 hp.
A Tailwind is bought for speed on little power and a tiny hangar footprint, and the price of that is a cramped cabin, a stiff ride and a 70-year-old plans design that every builder interpreted differently: wings have been built with flat-bottom and round-bottom sections, engines run from an A-65 to an O-360, and the fuselage welding and wood-spar condition are the inspection items that matter. The figures here are an encyclopaedia's unsourced summary, not a manufacturer's, and a particular aircraft's weight-and-balance and logbooks are the only numbers to trust. The landing gear is a Wittman spring-steel design that works well but demands attention to the attach points. The owner may maintain it and the condition inspection needs an A&P or the repairman certificate; there is no factory, so support comes from the builder community and plans holders.
Variants of the Wittman Tailwind
- Tailwind W-8 · 130 active · this page
Also consider
TAILFAX SCORE
Among 1–2 seat pistons (321 models)
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Put Wittman Tailwind W-8 side by side with up to three other models.
- Wittman Tailwind W-8
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What it is
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | tailwheel |
| Engines | — |
| Engine | Continental C-85 to Lycoming O-290 (85-135 hp; W-10 to 180 hp) |
| Horsepower | — |
| Fuel | — |
| Certification basis | amateur-built |
| Production start | — |
| Production end | — |
| Endorsements required | — |
Performance
| Cruise (75 % power) | — |
|---|---|
| Range (75 %, standard fuel, 30-min reserve) | 521 nm |
| Service ceiling | 16,000 ft |
| Climb rate | 900 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | — |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 2 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 600 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | — |
| Max takeoff weight | 1,300 lb |
| Empty weight | 700 lb |
| Usable fuel | — |
| Fuel burn at cruise | — |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | — |
|---|---|
| Price, high | — |
| Prices as of | — |
| Engine TBO | — |
| Overhaul cost, low | — |
| Overhaul cost, high | — |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 257 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 130 |
| Median year built | 1994 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 7 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 3 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 53.851 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 53.852 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 23 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 17.693 |
| Airworthiness directives | 6 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | ok |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 130 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 130 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 130 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | 2.3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)1 |
| Severity | 1.3 of 10 · scored on 21 years of events (fewer than 10 in the last 10)2 |
| Access | 3.7 of 103 |
| Support | 6.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 3.8 of 105 |
| Overall (sum of the categories shown) | 18 out of 506 |
- Accident record: class median 36.69 · 321 models in class.
- Severity: class median 13.04.
- Access: class median 1,000.
- Support: class median 77.5.
- Liquidity: class median 20.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories. When accident record and severity cannot be scored because the model has too few records, the other three give a partial score out of 30, labelled as such; it is never set against a full score.
Data as of: FAA registry Sep 28 · NTSB Oct 2 · ADs Oct 8 · scores Sep 30