I'm officially an LSA Driver

Pilot? Student pilot? Future pilot? Interested in learning to fly? If you're reading this forum, you've got flying in your blood! SportPilotTalk is a great place to ask questions about this exciting new segment of (more) affordable aviation!

Moderator: drseti

User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by MrMorden »

Beautiful Sting...

When I was airplane shopping the Sting was my #2 choice behind the CTSW, and the only real reason for that was that the Stings seem to hold value a little better and are thus a bit more expensive for the same model year. Probably because there are fewer of them and thus fewer for sale at any given time.

You are going to have a blast in that thing.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
User avatar
AJChenMPH
Posts: 135
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2014 7:34 am
Location: Bucks County, PA / KTTN
Contact:

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by AJChenMPH »

BrianL99 wrote:Flying out of 6B6, near Boston.
I may have to hit you up next time I'm up there just to check your ride out...currently planning a flight into Norwood for after I pass my checkride to help a friend out.
Andy / PP-ASEL
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

FastEddieB wrote:C'mon down!

We can reminisce!!!

As soon as my 6 months are up & I won't get hit with Florida sales tax when I visit my home in Tampa, I plan to fly down!

I'll stop by GA & we can talk about how much easier life is, with worrying about "reef cutters" & all the other baloney that went with owning a Cirrus!
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

I'm loving the Sting. If anyone is curious why I choose the Sting, it's pretty simple. I wanted a parachute. Having owned a Cirrus for 4 years, I felt going to an airplane w/o a parachute, was a step backwards. I know opinion is divided on the whole parachute thing, but I'm a big believer, even though I know it's use is limited to a small % of situations.

Having decided I wanted a parachute, the only real choices were the Sting, a SportCruiser or a Tecnam. I couldn't find a Tecnam for sale at the right price (& they're typically a little slower than other LSA's). I didn't like the 1 SportCruiser I flew, although I would have bought one had I found one at the right price. There were actually a lot of Stings on the market (5), so I was in good position to make an advantages deal ... so that's why the Sting.

So far, I love the airplane. I did about 6 hours "transition" training in Arkansas, with SportAirUSA's main instructor and since the plane made it up to Boston this past wednesday, I've flown it 3 times. Once I got it in alone, I was way more comfortable with the airplane ... sort of not having anyone looking over my shoulder. I probably made 10-12 landings in Arkansas and I've since made at about 8 here ... the last 6 were greasers, so it flies and lands easier than I expected. I got it down and stopped in about1100' tonight, on a tight, over the trees approach, so I'm feeling OK with getting it back on the ground.

I'm not enthralled with the Garmin 696. Having flown most of my time in a Cirrus, I think the Avidyne setup is vastly superior to Garmin, but Garmin seems to own the market. I'm thinking a G3X is probably in my future, if I have any issues with my avionics.

The one thing I'm struggling getting used to, is only having one radio! I guess we all develop habits & mine was to always us Comm 2 for ATC & CTAF and Comm 1 was anything located on the ground (ATIS, Clearance, etc.). I'm sure I'll get used to.

I am loving the 5 gallons an hour thing!
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by MrMorden »

The CT has a chute standard, but is not on your list...
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

MrMorden wrote:The CT has a chute standard, but is not on your list...

I should have added "Low Wing" required :)

What I really wanted to buy, was an Arion Lightning. They are FAST ... cruise at 135-140 knots with the Jabiru engine (they set the "max rpms" artificially low to conform to LSA standards). The problem is, no parachute and every single one of them I looked at, had an accident history. Apparently they can be squirrelly to fly?
User avatar
MrMorden
Posts: 2184
Joined: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:28 am
Location: Athens, GA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by MrMorden »

BrianL99 wrote:
MrMorden wrote:The CT has a chute standard, but is not on your list...

I should have added "Low Wing" required :)

What I really wanted to buy, was an Arion Lightning. They are FAST ... cruise at 135-140 knots with the Jabiru engine (they set the "max rpms" artificially low to conform to LSA standards). The problem is, no parachute and every single one of them I looked at, had an accident history. Apparently they can be squirrelly to fly?
Ah...

I thought some Lightnings have a chute, but I'm not sure about that. I also found the SportCruiser to be a little twitchy to fly, very sensitive in pitch.
Andy Walker
Athens, GA
Sport Pilot ASEL, LSRI
2007 Flight Design CTSW E-LSA
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

MrMorden wrote:
BrianL99 wrote:
MrMorden wrote:The CT has a chute standard, but is not on your list...

I should have added "Low Wing" required :)

What I really wanted to buy, was an Arion Lightning. They are FAST ... cruise at 135-140 knots with the Jabiru engine (they set the "max rpms" artificially low to conform to LSA standards). The problem is, no parachute and every single one of them I looked at, had an accident history. Apparently they can be squirrelly to fly?
Ah...

I thought some Lightnings have a chute, but I'm not sure about that. I also found the SportCruiser to be a little twitchy to fly, very sensitive in pitch.
I think most every factory built Arion is for sale and I talked to most everyone who had one and none had parachutes. It was impressive looking airplane, but the no parachute thing did me in.

The only LSA I actually flew before buying the Sting, was the SportCruiser. I think it's a great looking airplane from a distance, but up close, I didn't think the fit & finish was very good. I particularly didn't like the pop-rivet aluminum skin. I flew it for about an hour and I agree, it was a little twitchy. Per the POH, you can't takeoff in the airplane if the headwind is more than 25 kts or the cross wind velocity is over 12 kts.
rgstubbsjr
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 5:54 pm
Location: GBR - Great Barrington, MA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by rgstubbsjr »

How about an update?
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

rgstubbsjr wrote:How about an update?

I've put about 30 hours on my Sting since I got it. I love the airplane, but there always seems to be some issue to be addressed, when shaking out a new airplane.

I've twice had my my oil pressure drop to "0" in flight. It wasn't hard to figure that was an instrument issue, so my TruTrak PFD/EFIS is coming out this week and going back to TruTrak for repair. They know exactly what the issue is and they're great to deal with, so it's no big deal ... our weather in the Northeast isn't that great for LSA flying, this time of the year.

I guess the over-riding opinion I have, is the LSA world is much different than the Part 23 world. LSA's are lightweight, fragile airplanes. My Cirrus had a MTOW of 3100 lbs and the Sting is 1320 ... that's a huge difference and it mostly manifests itself, in the airplane being a little squirrelly in the wind. It's not much fun to fly, if the winds are blowing. I hadn't really thought of it that much, but my Harley-Davidson weighs more at the curb, than my Sting does ... & the Harley can get blown around on the road.

The upside, is the Sting is much less expensive to deal with and much less complicated. I can take the PFD out of the instrument panel in 3 minutes, I couldn't do that with my Cirrus. Burning fuel at the rate of 5 gallons/hour, makes boring holes in the sky, much more affordable. Every time I take a ride, I think to myself ... this is no Cirrus! 2 minutes later I realize that's fine, because at $40/hour to operate rather than $100/hour, I can afford way more fun.

I think the biggest realization is that the Sting is a "fun driven airplane", rather than a "mission driven airplane". I don't really have a mission, so it works for me.
rgstubbsjr
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 5:54 pm
Location: GBR - Great Barrington, MA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by rgstubbsjr »

Thanks for the update. It's greatly appreciated.
I fly out of Danbury, so I know exactly what you mean about the weather. It's been a tough month, and not getting any better.
The P92 I flew had issues with the elevator bearings and brakes. The elevator actually tried to separate from the plane after landing one day. The brakes faded in the first 5 hours of use. They eventually solved those problems by insisting Tecnam use aircraft grade bearings in the tail, and we replaced the Tecnam brakes with Cleveland brakes.

Since the Tecnam is now sold, I'm seriously looking around for a new ride.
A question about the Sting. How is the rudder effectiveness? That's a lot of canopy sticking up in front of the rudder. Is it ever an issue?

Thanks
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

rgstubbsjr wrote:Thanks for the update. It's greatly appreciated.
I fly out of Danbury, so I know exactly what you mean about the weather. It's been a tough month, and not getting any better.
The P92 I flew had issues with the elevator bearings and brakes. The elevator actually tried to separate from the plane after landing one day. The brakes faded in the first 5 hours of use. They eventually solved those problems by insisting Tecnam use aircraft grade bearings in the tail, and we replaced the Tecnam brakes with Cleveland brakes.

Since the Tecnam is now sold, I'm seriously looking around for a new ride.
A question about the Sting. How is the rudder effectiveness? That's a lot of canopy sticking up in front of the rudder. Is it ever an issue?

Thanks

A good friend of mine was looking for my rudder, this past weekend. He was incredulous, because it's so large There is way more rudder authority than necessary, with my model Sting. I believe the S3 & S4 may have less.

I also spent some time on the phone with Nick Otterback at Arion a few months ago. They upgraded the rudder on Lightenings and were so pleased with it, they destroyed the molds for the previous version. Apparently there's something about LSA's that warrant the extra rudder authority.
User avatar
dstclair
Posts: 1092
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 11:23 am
Location: Allen, TX

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by dstclair »

S3/S4 are just a bit smaller but the rudder authority is still way more than I've ever needed.
dave
rgstubbsjr
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri May 02, 2014 5:54 pm
Location: GBR - Great Barrington, MA

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by rgstubbsjr »

This is all great intel, guys. Keep it up.
BrianL99
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2014 7:23 pm

Re: I'm officially an LSA Driver

Post by BrianL99 »

dstclair wrote:S3/S4 are just a bit smaller but the rudder authority is still way more than I've ever needed.

I've found the excessive rudder authority, particularly convenient when taxiing :)
Post Reply