Here's a neat sounding aircraft:

http://www.katmai-260se.com/performance.html

Anyone have experience with these planes in the wild?

tom

I have only seen one, and it was on a paved field. It does get off quick and climbs flat, that is it was going up like an elevator, but at almost a flat pitch attitude. Ever seen a B-52 take off? It was sorta like that.

Try removing the cowling on one for maintenance, like an annual....

MTV

I don't know about the plane, but the advertising on the site such as the below example doesn't exactly garner my respect.

Performance
The Katmai and the 260SE take off and land short and display the same safe flat attitude after liftoff. No unsafe high angles of attack here, even with a 4,500 foot density altitude. Most pilots would agree that the high angle of attack, and "hang-on-the-prop" type of performance is absolutely dangerous. If a power failure or wind sheer should occur during operation in the STOL mode it could be disastrous. This is the trade-off for other STOL aircraft. Only the Katmai and the 260SE can fly safely while in the STOL mode.

Both of these aircraft have the ability to safely execute a forced landing during a STOL takeoff. Compare this to the fatalities that would surely result from this happening to a conventional STOL aircraft that hangs on the prop.

I don't know, I think there are definately times that it would be real bad if I lost an engine on climb out. I don't think I could get the nose down in time. But hell, flying is dangerous, you can't mitigate all of the risks.

I dropped in on Peterson and he took me up for a demo flight in his experimental Katmai 300. He is awaiting FAA final certification for the 300 hp mod to the Katmai.

The day I stopped in last Spring, there were wind gusts over 30 kts. He lined up on the edge of the runway, pointed it at a 45 degree angle across the runway into the wind, set power and rotated in maybe 200'. As stated previously, the plane climbed in a flat attitude, but at over 1500 fpm. The nose was about 3 degrees up during the climb. It was the closest thing I've found to climbing out in a helicopter. In the turbulence and wind gusts, the plane was Rock Solid. It was heavy enough that the wind didn't bump us around as much as I was expecting. In landing the plane was again, flat in attitude into the flare, and touched down really slow (I don't remember the speeds). Overall I was most impressed with the plane, it's performance, and mods. But remember, flying the King Air 200 feels like a STOL to me compared to the 737!

If I thought I could afford to fed a 300 Hp IO 5-something, I'd get the plane in a heartbeat. Right now I have personal family issues (brother in poor health) that are taking my discretionary income. Hopefully next year though, I will go from wanna-be to Teach-me.

For me the choices right now are (not in any particular order):
1. Glasair Sportsman 2+2 with IO-390 210 Hp or poss XP-400
2. Katmai 260 or 300
3. Murphy Yukon

I'm surprised no one has brought it up yet, but you know it has that wheel up front. I haven't had the displeasure, but bending that wheel and the firewall it's attached to is a bad thing.

Newbie here, but I figured this would be a good place for my first post, since I want one so bad I can taste it! For what it's worth, I flew C-180s commercially in the late 1970s so having the little wheel on either end is ok by me. What I like about this plane is it is like having two planes in one (I wouldn't mind having two, by the wife says no way). Also, I live in the most GA unfriendly spot in the whole of the USA (just outside DC) so finding a hangar for one plane is hard enough. Anyway, the idea of an airplane that I can travel long distances in and still land in a football field is very appealing. The only problem is, I don't have the $300K to $400K they want for one. However, if I start with a suitable 182, of which there are tons ranging from $40K to $140K, maybe like to old Johnny Cash sone, I can get it "one piece at a time!"

While many of the Katmai's we build up are very expensive they need not be. Right now the going rate for a 230 hp Katmai is $125,000, a 260 hp Katmai is $185,000 and 300 HP Katmai's run just under $200,000. These prices are based on finding a suitable airframe for $85,000. Those customers that end up with the higher price airplanes want custom paint, interior, avionics, etc. Many also build up their Katmai's over a period of time to spread out the cost. All Katmai's fly the same irregardless of engine horsepower as that is a function of aerodynamics. The larger engines simply accelerate the Katmai to its 31 kt lift off speed in a shorter distance, give a higher ROC and service ceiling.