Thanks guys, I'm glad I'm one of you now! This is my first impression flying the same plane, with the same load under similar conditions.

You hear so many positive things about the Sportsman STOL kit I honestly approached this a little skeptical. I didn't want the fact that I spent thousands of dollars on a mod influencing my results. With that said, everything everyone says is true.

After a short flight and a few landings, this are the facts according to me.
Power Off Stall (10,000 FT MSL) - Pretty much non-existent just a decent at 38kts indicated. Sink rate decreased over stock wing. The only way I was able to get it to stall was a abrupt pull from neutral to full aft, and the stall was minor and recovered quickly. Full aft stick in the power off stall while making excessive rudder inputs resulted in nothing.

Power On Stall (10,000 FT MSL) - Much more aggressive and an eye opener. The needle went to the peg (0) so indicated airspeed couldn't be measured. Pitch angle was very noticeable and had me looking for the moon. It would almost "hang on the prop" and then break, the break was hard, but normal stall recovery had you in control quickly. 100% right rudder was required and the high AOA had limited airflow over the rudder. Something to make note of.

Takeoff (8500 FT DA) - A noticeable improvement and reduction in length. Also, when you "pop" the flaps on, the plane "elevates" up much easier not requiring as much pitch up to break the earth. This really surprised me how different and improved the takeoff was. You hear a lot about landing, but takeoff was a real big bonus.

Climb (5,900 FT MSL - 10,000 FT MSL) - Improved slightly. I have no hard facts or numbers, but I swear climbed out 150-250 FPM better. I was light, and saw a 1200+/- FPM sustained climb in the morning mountain air. I'll have to play around with it more to verify.

Cruise (12,500 - 14,000 FT MSL) - No effect. showed the same indicated speed at the same power settings coming and going to KGWS.

Landing (8900 FT DA) - Very stable at 55-60 mph indicated on approach. Great aileron control all the way through touchdown. Without question a slower touchdown and shorter roll out than prior, but I need to practice up with this new wing as I am just not comfortable with it yet to give hard numbers.

Also better overall performance at high altitudes (14k MSL), the stinker just wanted to climb all day long.

Cons: Other than it weighing 15 lbs, I can't think of one.

This is an impressive improvement, and really changes the handling and performance (for the better). I can't wait to get out and practice more landings and maneuvers.

Honestly, I begged Hector to go fly it as I thought "maybe it's just me". He has 56 C180 nearly identical to mine, only difference is it's 50 lbs heavier with the Horton STOL. He flew his plane that morning, and then 30 min later jumped in mine and flew it for 30 min. He has 450 hrs in his machine and knows it well. His thoughts were the same as mine, and I have no doubt that Horton cuff will come off at some point.

This STOL kit makes a fun airplane a ridiculously fun airplane!

mountainmatt wrote:Takeoff (8500 FT DA) - A noticeable improvement and reduction in length. Also, when you "pop" the flaps on, the plane "elevates" up much easier not requiring as much pitch up to break the earth. This really surprised me how different and improved the takeoff was. You hear a lot about landing, but takeoff was a real big bonus.

Exactly how I feel, too. I really came to love the solid takeoff performance upgrade during our Alaska trip when we were most often fully loaded. It just levitates off the ground now, and much sooner.

You guys are killing me,and my limited budget. Sportsman coming soon. Thanks for the unbiased reviews.

I'm in the same boat... Did another 3 hrs of flight tests on my bird today and am loving the Sportsman (and) the VG's. Did a couple of stalls and was very impressed. Power on she stalled at 38 mph (not kts) and she was super controllable all the way to the break, which was very mild, almost no rudder correction (just dropped the nose and added a bit of power) Def more controllable with the VG's. Glad I put em on. Worth the $$$.

38mph…


Did you have a torpedo flight test pitot or was this indicated on the normal airspeed indicator?

Sweeeet!

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