Warner's Winner.(Sportster)

The Sportster combines 1930s styling with contemporary comfort

First it was the single-seat Spacewalker. Then it was the Spacewalker II, a two-place version of the original, both designs of Jesse Anglin of Henderson, South Carolina. In the early 1990s, design, ownership and production were transferred to Rick Warner, and the two-seater became the Revolution II.

Now there is a new airplane, the Sportster, from Warner Aerocraft, headed by Dana Axelrod. The prototype first flew on April 7. 1999, and when it was photographed in August 1999, the plane had logged nearly 60 hours.

The Sportster is a variant of the Spacewalker II/Revolution II. Like its predecessors,the Sportster has the nostalgic appearance of a 1930s airplane and was developed to be built and flown inexpensively. But compared to the previous two-seaters, the new airplane has a cockpit that's 3 inches wider and a fuselage that's 7 inches longer for increased comfort. The baggage area has also …