Aviation BS and Photo Thread

Instrument is fun

 

It can keep you alive.

 

Gee, I thought it stood for I follow roads.

 

Happy to hear the report!

Nice! The IFR written was probably the toughest one for me.

 

Starting off '21 strong. Passed my commercial written and got a handful of night flights in. Controllers let me romp around the city for a bit, perks of being the only bugsmasher in empty airpace.

 

Looking at buying a kit plane in the next 2-4 years, dad has an S21 kit on order (due in about 6 months) and I really like the s21 but I’m also looking at other options.
It will be a recreational flyer, our private strip will be about 1200’ grass, and an alternate (crosswind) of about 850’ of dirt.
I’m near sea level but I need to check and see what the density altitude is in summer (hot humid summers) for performance numbers.
The plan is to fly up to Idaho every other year or so to visit friends (about 1800 miles) and it would be cool to fly down the west coast so I want to balance cruise speed and off pavement performance.
The 2 kits I’m looking at are the S21 and the RV10, they’re not apples to apples planes but I think both would work, however I am slightly concerned about the off pavement ability of the RV10.

Do you fine folks have opinions or experience with these planes?

 

That's a very not apples to apples comparison. I think the RV10 would be far preferable to making an 1800 mile trip but a whole lot less fun the rest of the time and once you get there, depending on what you're doing. That said, your Dad will have a good 'bush' type plane with the S21 so it might make sense to have one 'bush' style and one 'GA/commuter' style if you guys have them based at the same place and let each other fly them.

 

Those were my thoughts as well, we’ll be sharing a hangar (he’s building a 50x60 this year) so we’ll both have access to fly either one.
After talking to dad about it this morning I’m leaning more towards the S21 in a trike configuration with a Rotax 915 or another engine option that makes 150 or better.
I can switch my gear to a taildragger in the future if I decide to but I think it would be cool to have one of each configuration at the same field to fly and see the difference between them.

Density altitude on a standard summer day down here is about 2,022 ft 20ft ASL, between that and wanting to fly the west coast/Idaho and possibly Virginia I think I would rather have a lower HP turbo engine than a higher HP naturally aspirated engine because I’ll hit the 7,000 density altitude (I believe that’s where the Rotax 915 pulls ahead of the Titan 340) pretty quickly.

It would be nice to have the 4 place option but the useful load of the RV 10 isn’t that much higher than the S21 and I don’t have a family so I think the better short field performance and ability to fly slower would be more fun until I get have kids.

 

Later this year my Dad and I are going to to make a short trip over to Austin to check out the Bearhawk 4 place and the model 5, I'm more interested in the model 5 because I'm such a big guy and I like the higher useful load.
Have any of you guys been in a bearhawk before?

 

Funny, I was going to suggest taking a look at Bearhawk. Never been in one, or near one, but if I was going to build a Cub clone type aircraft, it’s the one I’d choose.

 

I had never heard of them until Dad mentioned them, I was talking to him about the Vans and he kept saying "I don't know, I think you'd be happy with the S21" and then he told me to check out Bearhawk but he didn't know much about them so I started watching youtube videos and reading the website and I like the specs of the 4 place but the cockpit is 4" narrower than the S21 and the S21 was a little tight for my dad and I to sit beside each other in.

I ended up talking to dad about making a trip to the factory later this year to sit in a 4 place and see how it feels and ask if there's a way to build the doors so they bump out 2" to get the hip/shoulder room that the S21 has and then after that I foud the Model 5 and I like the specs on it even more, it won't be as fuel efficient and I don't love that it's a fabric covered fuselage (I'm pretty sure it's not aluminum but I actualy haven't seen it said one way or another) but the size and weight capability make it a great family/multi function aircraft while keeping good short field performance (take off and landing roll are both 600' or under) so I'm very excited to go give it a look and test ride.

 

I’ve never looked beyond the Patrol. Tandem seat 2 place is all I’d ever need. I would suspect the model 5 would be fabric covered. Can’t see Bob straying from a proven model. A well done Stits poly will stand up just fine with a little bit of care. I see 10 year old fabric jobs on aircraft that live outdoors year round that look brand new. Climate and care dependant, you should be fine well beyond that.

The 4 place Super Cub that Airframes Alaska builds looks intriguing. Don’t know what one would cost, but my guess would be somewhere in the range of not cheap, all the way up to beyond the reach of most mortals.

Edit to add that the fabric on my Champ is Stits poly-fibre. It was done in 2010, and if it wasn’t for hail damage, I wouldn’t even be thinking of recovering it. Part of Longevity is good paint. Unfortunately, in Canada at least, good paint is hard to come by. Everything is water based now, and the sun just beats the hell out of it.

 

Yeah, the airframes Alaska isn’t cheap.

Good to know about the fabric coverings, I know nothing about them so I’ll have to do some research.

 

Anyone have a pressing need for a 38R onepiece flight suit? Have 2 green and a desert tan. Going in the trash otherwise.

 

Took my pup for her first airplane ride with the mutt muffs. We’ve been slowly getting used to wearing them at home in short intervals, and I think that practice definitely helped!

 

Wish I had a copilot like that. All of mine get weird when I try to pet them.

 

I really feel like I don't, but that I'd have some entertaining ideas....

 

First deployment fun/"fun" back in 2018

 

Good for house painting in?