Sport Pilot Talk

Hello all -

I recently began renting N28GX out of NM Sport Aviation at KSAF. The Remos is a great aircraft (and Michael runs a fantastic operation) but I'm not a fan of the folding wing. Part of that has to do with being on-scene right after the N9GX accident at Sebring '09, which the NTSB determined to have been caused by a disconnected aileron linkage.

Beyond that potential safety issue (which is effectively mitigated by a thorough preflight) I wonder if there would be other advantages for Remos to offer a non-folding-wing alternative to the GX. Looking at this from my "lacking-any-skill-or-knowledge-of-aerospace-engineering" perspective, it seems a straight wing would allow the fuel to be moved out of the fuselage and into wing tanks. In addition to opening up the fuselage for additional baggage (a current GX weak point) this could also allow for additional fuel capacity.

These changes (especially the addition of wet wings) would likely result in higher empty weight, but since the Remos is already pretty light I think there's room in the envelope without significantly detracting from useful load. I also don't think CG would be an issue.

So... what say you?

'precisely why Remos fell off my list of potential purchases. Besides, I didn't want an aircraft designed around a feature I didn't care about.
The redesign makes sense, but would not be a simple task. 'lots of time and $$$ for the re-engineering, re-tests and re-certs. At this point in time I suspect Remos is doing all they can to keep the doors open. In spite of the massive advertising, they registered only 3 aircraft last year, and haven't been answering the phone.
Tim

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Tim
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check out CTFlier.com

As long as CT exists, why would you even care? Just buy CT if you prefer it, and people who prefer GX will buy GX. The advantage of the folding wing is significant for those who can arrange effective use of tight hangar space or trailering. Keep in mind that it's a European airplane first.

As the pricing demonstrates, CT does not reap much of any cost advantage by having a non-folding wing. So it basically comes down to preference.

If I wanted to improve something in GX, I would ask for:
1. narrower door frames, the visibility stinks with the current ones
2. baggage doors
3. knee room like on CT with its mushroom

Remos, instead, offers a weight reduction with GXng by using expensive carbon panels and struts. I suppose market has spoken.

BTW, get in touch with Bonnie and fly N505MA. I was quite impressed by everything except the ergonomics.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

A folding wing and wing fuel tanks are not mutually exclusive. A good friend is just finishing up a Highlander LSA - if you are looking for functionality, consider that it offers 700# of useful load - which incorporates not only a folding wing and wing fuel tanks but even includes a fuel return system, a good engineering solution to some fuel flow problems at the expense of adding some complexity. If he can do this in his garage, I'm sure an LSA mfgr. has that capability.

It is interesting when the marketplace is offered a feature that seems so functional and responsive to customer needs - in this case, a folding wing that should reduce the cost of hangaring an a/c - and then it's ignored by a large majority of the customers to whom it was intended to appeal. It must drive the marketing & sales side of any business absolutely nuts. We all were bombarded with much hand wringing just this past month about the price of gas for our cars, yet how many hybrid cars were sold during that period vs. how many trucks & full size vehicles? Perhaps part of the problem is that our local airport infrastructure simply hasn't caught up yet with the benefits of a folding wing. This is true in coastal marinas in many parts of our country, where berthing slips are in high demand despite being quite expensive. Europe "solved" this problem decades ago by altering harbor basins & building new marinas that use med mooring. We Americans hate the notion of berthing our boats in that fashion so we live with higher slip fees and an insufficient number of berths in popular yachting areas. There's no guarantee that what's rational and cost effective is going to win in the marketplace.

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Jack
RAF Florida State Liaison
Please visit www.theraf.org

Indeed, this is purely a "what if?" scenario. I like critiquing existing designs and thinking about what I would have done differently.

I would be curious to see how important the folding wing was to those who purchased a Remos, both in the U.S. and worldwide... back when the company was still selling aircraft.

As Pete said, there's always the CT. I've never flown an SW or LS, and for some reason I'm not in a real hurry to. Still, the CT offers an attractive package, especially the LS, and it's hard to argue against the speed, room and efficiency. One of these days I'll reach out to Bonnie.