MrMorden wrote:jetcat3 wrote:I’m honestly shocked they didn’t utilize and build this airplane around the 915 iS. Seems like the perfect engine for this airplane given the weights as they are similar to the Sling 4.
915iS is 135hp. The IO-540 they are using is 350hp. The lowest powered engine they are using is 200hp. The 915iS is not even in the same galaxy for what they are trying to do.
First of all, the 915 iS is 141 HP max, 135 HP continuous. The engine most assuredly is suitable if it was designed for it in the beginning. The Sling 4 has a very similar empty weight and they are able to achieve 700 ft/min climbs with four 200 pound adults and 140 knots true at altitude with only a Rotax 914. The 915 iS just makes that aircraft even more capable with more useful load to boot. The 915 iS can take 135 HP all the way to 15,000ft. At high altitudes it would easily compete if not beat the UL 520i engine. Installed weight of this engine is 264 lbs, quite a bit more than the 915 iS even with all of its accompanying equipment.
I’ve had the privilege of flying in Sportcruisers almost everyday for multiple hours instructing in the last seven months and I really feel as though I’m intimate with the airplane now. A weird word to use I know. The Sportcruiser does have it’s flaws, and the handling is a bit too sensitive than I’d like for new students to learn on, but it is an extremely docile aircraft and pretty easy to land once you get a feel for it. Even practicing the commercial maneuvers is so easy in the Sportcruiser. Chandelles, Lazy Eights, Eights on Pylons, and even accelerated stalls are so benign and gentle. It can consistently make an engine out 180 degree impossible turn while only losing 100 ft of altitude. It is indeed very maneuverable. I just wish the factory was actually open to giving a crap and be willing to improve the product instead of giving us fluff and hiring their show girls to distract us at airshows.
I recently took a flight in a Bristell and I was extremely impressed. The airfoil they use, the shortened wing, all helped smooth out bumps and turbulence and the handling was quite a bit heavier than the Sportcruiser. It seemed more refined than the Sportcruiser. I really enjoyed flying the Bristell, and my favorite part about it was the sight picture out of the cockpit. You sit higher in your seat and the panel has been lowered in comparison to the Sportcruiser. Without a booster seat, most of our students just stare at the panel in the Sportcruiser. As a result, they like to dip the nose to have better visibility out the nose and we then lose altitude. The Bristell fixes this and it did have some of the best visibility for a low wing that I’ve seen.
It has been eye opening to have flown various SLSA’s and learn how they handle and respond. For the most part, they are quite similar in general terms, but it also amazes me how different some feel and handle in different situations. To this day, I can’t get over the handling of the Tecnam P2008, not only with its feel and feedback on the controls but also the way it takes bumps and gusts via its laminar airfoil. The Sling 4 was another that just had buttery feedback and control and was so well balanced along all of its axis.