Surfing in Norway. My new thing learned today!

courierguy wrote:Surfing in Norway. My new thing learned today!

Lofoten Islands has some good spots. It's best in the winter, but since we're a bit above the arctic cirle, you need a good wetsuit...

Anyhow. S-7's are nice, and I see you got one. How dumb do you think it is for a first time owner/builder to consider something like a 141 winged S-7? I'll get to ride in one next summer, as a friend of mine is wrapping us his restoration of an old one.

If I'm being honest with myself, it's 80% likely I'll get a beaten up, old S-6 just to get out and fly. And I'm sure I'll enjoy it so much my smile will meet in the back of my neck and the top of my head fall off. Then there's a 10% chance of me going ahead with build project, and finally 10% me just having too many ideas that are not properly grounded.

But THAT aside... Maybe the S-7 could be made into a something like a better Bearhawk? Flying sans flaps is probably very authentic, but I don't know if I want to give up that feature. I feel like I really want them to have better control of my glideslope. One day I might be able to sideslip well enough, but I don't want to depend on that when trying to get down on a short strip in a forest for the first time.

The metal wing off the 21, possibly with a bit more span to retain the same wing loading, stuck on the 7 is something Rans is kicking around, but I wouldn't hold my breath. With the apparent success and high demand for the 21, keeping up with that is their main focus, fooling around with mods for the 7 is way on the back burner.

courierguy wrote:The metal wing off the 21, possibly with a bit more span to retain the same wing loading, stuck on the 7 is something Rans is kicking around, but I wouldn't hold my breath. With the apparent success and high demand for the 21, keeping up with that is their main focus, fooling around with mods for the 7 is way on the back burner.

But, I think what you're describing would essentially be what the S-20 is, except with a VERY large baggage compartment. Initially, I was pretty excited about the S-21....until they opted to shorten the wing. I totally understand what they were doing, and why, but I lost all interest in that plane right then.

MTV

Just Highlander seems to fit the bill as well. There's atleast one flying here in Norway. Maybe I'll go have a look.

Check out the Mule at gairplanes.com. I have a Merlin gt which is very close to the mule. The mule will be in the 750 empty weight range and has a long baggage compartment.

Varanger, after giving up on building a Bearhawk Patrol (really nice airplane, but my health, finances, and timing got in the way), I really wanted a RANS S-20 Raven, but there are few of them for sale, and the prices for used ones are very close to the "factory new" cost, due to the 12+ month backlog to order one from RANS.

In my research, I learned that the S-6 Coyote II with the 912ULS and Sport Wing was pretty darn close to the S-20 Raven in performance. It has basically the same size cabin, is maybe 5 mph slower in both cruise and stall, and carries the same amount of baggage. Though it's definitely more awkward to load it in the S-6 with it's dual-compartments versus one larger one in the S-20.

But the magic moment for me was realizing that there were a bunch of really nice S-6s available at prices that were about 20-35% of the asking price for a used S-20! I found prices ranging from $25–45K for a late-model S-6s with the 912ULS and Sport Wing, compared to $125-150K for a similarly equipped and capable S-20. And that extra $100K saved will pay for a LOT of Mogas!

The S-6 that I finally purchased is registered as E-LSA, so I attended the one-weekend Light Sport Repairman - Inspection class to obtain the FAA LSR-I certificate. Now I am legally able to sign off the annual condition inspections on my E-LSA airplane.

On this particular S-6, the builders made the rear baggage compartment out of aluminum (instead of the usual fabric sling) and the beefed-up aft baggage compartment is rated for 75 lbs (vs 30 lbs for the standard one). Mine also has Oregon Aero seat cushions which are quite comfy. I installed the largest size tires that would fit the RANS-supplied "tundra" nose gear fork (18-inch Carlisle 8:00-6 Turf Tire) and went with the 21-inch 8:00-6 AeroClassics on the mains to maintain a "level" attitude on the ground.

I also have a 2.75 gallon "aux / header" fuel tank installed under the passenger seat, in addition to the standard pair of 9-gallon wing tanks. Even with all the "extras," my S-6 weighs in at 750 lbs. With a gross weight limit of 1320 lbs, that leaves 570 lbs of useful load. I'm a big guy (275 lbs or 125Kg), but the plane will hold me, my wife, and full fuel (20.5 usable gallons), with enough UL for a small amount of baggage. Obviously, a lighter pilot would have even more payload... And I can't come up with any way to load the airplane so that it's outside the CG envelope. Yeah, I could load it over gross, but it would still be within the CG range... Very nice!

Varanger, since you're already familiar with the S-6, you should check them out more closely. There seem to be a significant number of then flying in Europe, and RANS is still providing excellent support for them. I know that I'm absolutely loving mine – and having lots of fun flying it. When flying by myself, I routinely take off in well under 200 ft with any headwind at all, and can generally get it down and stopped in less than 250 ft. Even loaded to max gross weight, it's off in under 300 ft and lands in less than 350 ft. Climb rate is initially over 1000 fpm, with 750+ available even at a more comfortable "cruise climb" airspeed with the nose a bit lower for better forward visibility. It's a blast climbing 1000+ fpm at 65 mph, and getting to pattern altitude before even arriving at the end of our 7002 ft long runway! I've spent entire flights (1.5+ hours) just playing in the pattern, working to improve my STOL technique.

Cruise speed with my oversized tires (5:00-6 tires are "standard" for the S-6) is still pretty decent – around 105-110 mph. But I know my Warp Drive prop is set overly fine in pitch, as I can easily exceed 5800 RPM in level flight if I don't reduce throttle. Fine-tuning the prop pitch is my next project, and I expect to see 110-115 mph at 5300 rpm (roughly 2180 rpm at the propeller). I'll be quite happy if I'm able to cruise at 100 knots with my oversized tires, given the "rough field" capability they provide. Not quite tundra tires, but more than adequate for any place I have any need to land.

Varanger wrote:Just Highlander seems to fit the bill as well. There's atleast one flying here in Norway. Maybe I'll go have a look.

Veranger, please tell me you’ve heard of the Zlin Savage Norden? It’s basically an S-7 on steroids! It has arguably the best STOL wing ever created. Check out at 4:00 in this video. https://youtu.be/5Olmfj7O4Ec

Zlin is also much closer to you and base prices are great for the 912 ULS, 914 UL, and 915 iS. 108,449 Euros for the 912 ULS base model.

Edge has a 300+ hp EPeX 300Ti ready for their Norden they will be building next year. That will be a little rocket ship!