I have knowledge of an older (1997) RANS S-7 that has been sitting in a hangar for several years without being flown. It is a beautiful looking plane. Whoever built it did a first class job. The story I heard was the present owner purchased it and it scared him and he hasn't flown it since. I think it was a little "squirrlier" than he anticipated. This plane has the Rotax 912 80HP. I have read that the newer S7S is a much better plane but was curious if anyone here has experience with the earlier model and what was your impression of it. From what I have gathered so far the newer model is "streched" and possibly the tail is a little different. Are these older models good flyers?
Thanks,
WW

Squirrley is not a term used much if at all about the S-7, he must have been new to all traildragger ops?? If the price is right this would be an excellent buy. The newer S-7S is "better", but there is nothing "wrong" with the short tail S-7. I put 1300 hrs on one, and now am coming up on 200 on my new S7S. Lots of little changes, lengthened fuselage and balanced tailfeathers being the biggest. The basic design has benn around since '88 (or so) and has constantly evolved. I'm sure when the new S-7SS comes out it'll be better then the S-7S but thats progress! (I'm making that up about the S-7SS...)

Thanks courierguy. I honestly don't even know if the guy is selling it but was told that he might. I first saw it a couple of years ago and was told about the guy "being scared of it". I seem to recall someone telling me he may have damaged the landing gear on landing and had it fixed but has not flown it since. If it was damaged the repair is unnoticeable. I had forgot about it until a week ago when I happened to be looking at something else and noticed it still sitting in the same hangar. Since I am going to sell my 172 eventually and fly strictly LSA I thought it might be worth looking into.
WW

WW Hunter-

There has been a lot of discussion over the last few years concerning the older S7 "Short Tails" versus the new Long Tail models. There are actually a lot of pilots who definitely prefer the older short-tailed models, feeling that they are more responsive, more nimble and quite a bit lighter. We still see posts from guys who are looking for a short-tailed kit or project as they prefer them over the newer long-tails.

I have a PDF of a Cafe report that was done on an older, short-tailed S7. The Cafe reports are very well done, and this one was a fairly thorough review of the S7 and it's flight characteristics. I can email it to you if you are really interested. PM me with your email address if you want a copy.

There is also a good builders and pilots group for the S7s in Yahoo groups

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RansS7Courier/

Run a search in that group's message board and you will find quite a few threads concerning the S7 vs S7S comparisons. Also, the S7 has undergone almost continual modification/improvement over the years. The "original" S7 actually went through many changes prior to the S7C or S7S coming along. The tailfeathers changed several times, along with other components. One builder/pilot put together a table depicting all of the changes based on model year. That is located at:

http://www.pipcom.com/~cowcam/RANS%20mo ... ements.htm

I can't vouch for the accuracy of his tables, but the guy who produced it is definitely an S7 fanatic. If you want to see some of what the older S7 models can do look at:

http://www.landshorter.com
http://www.justplanefrank.com

Both sites have some videos posted. The landshorter site shows the owner/builder flying into some of the high-country sites in Idaho with his father in law. Joa, the builder/pilot, is something like 6'7" and 260#, and dad is 6'5" and right up there in #s.


Mark
http://www.mykitlog.com/taildown/

Mark,
Thanks for the very informative reply. I will be asking about the plane sometime this week. I'm not even sure this plane is for sale but after having seen it set for several years without flying I would be surprised if the guy didn't want to sell it.
Keith

WWhunter-

If you talk to the owner and he is interested in selling the plane, and you then decide that you are not interested, please let me know. I know several guys who would be interested in it if you are not. I have not, and will not tell them about it until you decide on your interest level.

Mark

Mark,
I spoke to his hangar mate today and he relayed that the gentleman hadn't flown it in about 3 years. Apparantly he had torn the gear off right when he bought it....had it fixed and hasn't flown it since. The hangar partner stated the guy had plans of teaching his grandson to fly in it but he has been saying this for several years and he hasn't done it yet. I guess he has a condition inspection done on it every year and puts insurance on it in hopes of flying but just never does. He doubted the guy wants to sell it but did tell me his name and said it wouldn't hurt to ask. I will be up there again sometime this week and will look at it closer as I am really interested in it. My son has his license also and fell in love with it as soon as he saw it. If it is for sale and more than I am willing to pay for it I will definitely forward the info to you.
Curious though as to what it may be worth. I think it is a mid 90's model as I was told this guy purchased it in 1997 from what I understand to be the original builder.
Thanks again,
Keith

Keith,

I sent you a PM with more info.

Mark

I really liked my short tail, I would jump on one if it showed up used. Having said that, the long tail, that I fly now, is even better, hard to say that without sounding like there is something wrong with the old model!
Anyone seeing Joa's (and his dad) video will quickly have any questions about the 7's capacity/ability, real big dudes and great guys also.