Us fly together??? I don't think that's a good idea.....we may have TOO much fun. Yeah, get out here and we'll see what happens! And watch that old man stuff sonny.
Well, the Soob was great, but it was a tad too big for the airframe, the cutout cowl (like a J-3's for the A-65's jugs) was pretty draggy. More draggy then I thought, once I flew a stock S7-S, the better glide slope was evident in the pattern. It was cheap ($5800.00) though, and that was REAL important back then. It may have had just a tad more low end torque then the 912. The bottom line is I now fly 10 mph faster while using almost 1 gallon less per hour, so I'm happy with the 912S, except for the price. And for you majority of pilots with Lyc's and Cont.s, if you don't think the Rotax 912S is a REAL aircraft engine, just look at the price!!!

Couierguy, On that pricing thing. My grandfather always told me, "if you price it too cheap, they will think something is wrong with it"???

Seems like a 120-horse Jabiru 3300 would be a kick-ass choice for one of these. Where's that come in price-wise versus a 100-horse Rotax?
I saw a Highlander with a J-3300 at the Arlington fly-in a few years ago and it climbed out at an awesome angle from the ultralight area. I'm not an ultralight fan but I had to go over there after that just to see what it was.

Eric

Keep in mind that 120 horse comes at an rpm pretty much unusable for a big prop, over 3 K I believe. BUT, I hear they keep the rpm down with the bigger props, and its torquey enough to make a good 100 horse or so power plant. The engine is gaining in poularity I've noticed, but has nothing like the fleet hours of the 912 and its variants, for what thats worth.

patrol guy wrote:My grandfather always told me, "if you price it too cheap, they will think something is wrong with it"???

Like backcountrypilot.org?? Haha.

Seems like a cam ground for lower rpm results would be a good option for the Jabiru. It's about 200 cubic inches ame as an O-200 which outs out 100 horses at 2700. Jab could do that & be a better performer due to lighter weight.

Zane you should print a calendar like Steve does and sell more T shirts. Get a little something for you efforts. I know you said that you were looking into sponsors too. You are doing a good job with a good thing, get paid!

Yes T-shirts I'm ready.

I'd buy a calendar if it had a good variety of airplanes pictured. Most airplane calendars are either warbirds, airliners, or A36/Cirrus/etc. A good assortment of backcountry capable airplanes (rag, tin, & composite) would be a nice change.

Wow........ Glad you had a great time. Thanks to Emmet for allowing us to fly and ski his plane all over Nor Calif..... Gary, you'll have a lot of fun with this airplane. I'm sure Joel has it all setup for some good flying..... Just wire up some radios.
You won't believe how much nicer it is to fly when you have my hog ass out of the front seat. The Rotax is a sweet engine to fly behind and you'll be able to pass your SuperCub buddies with ease. AND on a lot less gas. Whoops..... I gotta be carefull.. All you supercub guys have nice planes too but the Mission Statement that Shortfielder was working with had to do with a LOT LESS money. Still get into and out of those really short/tight places on very little overhead.
I'm lucky........ I got into the Rans S7 almost by mistake. I didn't waste a bunch of time comparing planes and money. I sorta knew what I thought I wanted and found a plane in Tennessee that was a very nice buy. Luckily for me, I found out by the time I landed in Kansas, That I really liked the package. AND I mean, I really liked it!... My other planes all cruise over 200 mph and this thing was way too much fun to fly at 100 mph. I was worried when I bought it..... I thought I wouldn't like the slow speed.... DAMN, I love the different speeds that this thing can do. AND it's so affordable to Fly!
Anyway, I tried to display that stuff to Gary and apparently he had a good time. We did do some very FUN flying while he was here and I humbly thank Emmet for sharing his ride while my plane is still waiting for me to finish some muffler crap.
Time for a cocktail.........
Weav