Sport Pilot Talk

NCPilot · Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:23 pm Post subject: LSA You'd Like to See

This is pretty simple, what are LSA's that you'd like to see?

Personally I wouldn't mind an LSA verison of the Piper Colt, or the Piper Cherokee 140, at one point the 140 was a two seater aircraft. I know there's the Thorpe T-211, but I wasn't impressed with the baggage area of the T-211.

Share your ideas! :)

bshort · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 59 Location: Ca

I'd like to see a hybrid of sort that takes all of the best "tried and true" ideas and places them into one machine. I could go on, but we all have our opinions as to what is "tried and true."

designrs · Joined: 23 Sep 2009 Posts: 144

Something like an Extra 300S that could go straight up at 4,000 feet per minute would do it for me!! :lol:

bryancobb · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 10:06 am Post subject: ???

designrs wrote: Something like an Extra 300S that could go straight up at 4,000 feet per minute would do it for me!! :lol:

A BD-5J would be great if we could get a waiver on the speed and turbine issues!

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

I'd be delighted to operate an LSA version of the Beech Skipper -- great primary trainer!

rsteele · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 261

From the department of redundancy department:

I think one of the coolest GA planes ever built was the Ercoupe. It's just the essence of sport flying.

I'd love to see it redone with a light weight engine and a bit more room inside.
Using composites for some of the heavier bits should give a decent useful load, unlike many of the existing one.

Ron

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

rsteele wrote: I think one of the coolest GA planes ever built was the Ercoupe. It's just the essence of sport flying.

I'd love to see it redone

OK, Ron, but this time with rudder pedals, please! :wink:

deltafox · Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 89

Might need to better define 'coolest'. (Style, handling, etc.) I've always been partial to Grumman and felt their Trainers might make for an interesting LSA with the right modifications.

NCPilot · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:02 pm Post subject:

drseti wrote: rsteele wrote: I think one of the coolest GA planes ever built was the Ercoupe. It's just the essence of sport flying.

I'd love to see it redone

OK, Ron, but this time with rudder pedals, please! :wink:

But with rudder pedals, you're taking away one of the charms of the Ercoupe! :P

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

NCPilot wrote: But with rudder pedals, you're taking away one of the charms of the Ercoupe! :P

True. But without them, you're taking away its utility as a primary trainer. (My current 'Coupe student will end up with a restriction on his SP license.)

NCPilot · Posted: Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:42 pm Post subject:

drseti wrote: NCPilot wrote: But with rudder pedals, you're taking away one of the charms of the Ercoupe! :P

True. But without them, you're taking away its utility as a primary trainer. (My current 'Coupe student will end up with a restriction on his SP license.)

Hmmm true.

zaitcev · Joined: 05 Jan 2010 Posts: 256 Location: Albuquerque, NM

drseti wrote: I'd be delighted to operate an LSA version of the Beech Skipper -- great primary trainer!
I may get behind this motion, but how do you propose to cut its weight by 355 pounds? Merely throwing a Rotax into only gives ~125 lbs, and now you're down 15 hp and off CG. Stuffing it into the procrustean bed of LSA is going to make it a whole new airplane, even if keeping the airfoil and outer mold. Also, Beechcraft is a legacy manufacturer. They are incapable of getting their costs down. Maybe if they were to go bankrupt, someone could buy out the design.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

zaitcev wrote: I may get behind this notion, but how do you propose to cut its weight by 355 pounds?

I'd start by replacing the O-235 A1C with the new YO-233. Get rid of the heavy starter and put on a flyweight. Go with a lightweight composite prop (maybe the new Sensenich 2-blade LSA prop?) Get rid of the heavy Gill battery, and go with an Odyssey. Possibly, replace the generator with a lightweight alternator and solid-state voltage regulator. Reduce the fuel capacity somewhat (LSAs can do just fine with reduced range and endurance). Reduce the wing, tail, and fuselage skins from .020 to .016. Use a Garmin SL-30 and GPS-Map instead of the King radios commonly used in the Skipper. Replace all the round gauges with a pair of Dynon panels (D-100 and D-120). It should be feasible to get the empty weight down to around 800#, equipped. That would leave 520# of useful load, which is about what a stock Skipper has now.

I wonder if CubFlyer cares to chime in, since he owns a Skipper??

Hambone · Joined: 07 Jan 2011 Posts: 67 Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

A factory-built S-LSA Sonex or Waiex, please!

http://www.sonexaircraft.com/images/products/waiex/waiexgallery.html

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

Only slightly off the original question: what about E-LSAs for which we'd like to see an S-LSA version in production? I vote for the RV-12. Potentially a great trainer, and would be very popular in flight schools if only it were factory built. (For those not aware, an experimental cannot be used in commercial service of any sort.)