What sort of UL/LSA do I want?

"yogi22" wrote in message
...
On Feb 25, 4:26 pm, Michael wrote:
On Feb 25, 3:56 pm, Gig 601XL Builder
wrote:

Michael wrote:

Now, having said that - I'm otherwise flexible. Powered parachute?
Trike? Three axis? Gyroplane? Any of the above would work for me.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Michael

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_City_Challenger

And how would I get it into my pole barn through the 18 ft doors with
the 31.5 ft wingspan? Am I missing something? Do the wings fold?

Michael

If your "pole barn" is more than 31.5 ft long, I was thinking that you
could use a special dolly (I saw the plans somewhere) and push her in
sideways.

Alas! according to one site I found, the Challenger's length is "20
FT. 0 IN." Oh Well, at least I tried.

It just struck me that if the barn's width beyond the doors, is
significantly greater than 20 feet, it WOULD be possible to maneuver
her through the doors by going through on an angle.
kk

With a limitations of 1000 ft runway, a two place aircraft, and an 18.5 ft
door - the dolly may still be a good idea. Light gauge tracks can made from
steel angle the will track a deck of some sort as well. You see this done
occasionally for helos. Just try not to let these limitations pull you away
from a three axis fixed wing design. I would certainly spend some time on a
trike, gyro or powered parachute before I invested in one.

On Feb 25, 11:34 am, Michael
wrote:

this must be something that I can acquire for under $20K in good
flying condition and with plenty of life left in it (not a project).
Also no certified aircraft of any sort need apply - homebuilt or e-LSA


Now, having said that - I'm otherwise flexible. Powered parachute?
Trike? Three axis? Gyroplane? Any of the above would work for me.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Michael

$20k? That ain't much these days.

My guess is that you'll have to compromise on some of those goals. A
powered parachute would keep you in budget and meet your hangaring
requirements but you'd be flying solo.

My first flight instructor, the one I got private with, made me
promise never to fly a gyrocopter. So far I've kept that promise, but
some of them are intriguing and may meet your criteria.

"Michael" wrote in message
...
I have finally reached the point where I can reasonably acquire a
purely-for-fun, low-and-slow kind of flying machine. It's not going
to be my only one - I own a Twin Comanche that I use for travel. Thus
I don't care how slow it is - I'm never going very far in it. I would
like it to be two seats, to be something that can comfortably operate
from a 1000 ft grass strip, and something with a relatively narrow
wingspan or folding wings or some such - it will live in a pole barn,
and the doors are not wide enough to accomodate anything more than
about 18 ft. Also I have no intention of buying new or building -
this must be something that I can acquire for under $20K in good
flying condition and with plenty of life left in it (not a project).
Also no certified aircraft of any sort need apply - homebuilt or e-LSA
only. It also can't be something that requires a crew of any sort -
it needs to be something I can easily pull out and launch myself. No
balloons, no gliders. Also nothing foot launched - it's not so much
the foot launching but the foot landing I can't take.

Now, having said that - I'm otherwise flexible. Powered parachute?
Trike? Three axis? Gyroplane? Any of the above would work for me.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Michael

IIRC, The earliest Tailwinds had folding wings, and the Nesmith Cougar
(which was essentially a rip-off of the Tailwind) may have retained the
feature. There are a few other folding wing designs around, but I know even
less about most of them; and the folding wing versions of the Glastar are
*way* out of your stated price range.

Peter

"Michael" wrote in message
...
I have finally reached the point where I can reasonably acquire a
purely-for-fun, low-and-slow kind of flying machine. It's not going
to be my only one - I own a Twin Comanche that I use for travel. Thus
I don't care how slow it is - I'm never going very far in it. I would
like it to be two seats, to be something that can comfortably operate
from a 1000 ft grass strip, and something with a relatively narrow
wingspan or folding wings or some such - it will live in a pole barn,
and the doors are not wide enough to accomodate anything more than
about 18 ft.

snip


Now, having said that - I'm otherwise flexible. Powered parachute?
Trike? Three axis? Gyroplane? Any of the above would work for me.
Anyone have any suggestions?

Michael

I see the pole barn as your problem. You can find plenty of aircraft that
fit your requirements if you eliminate the 18' span issue. Folding wings
are no panacea. I know more than a few folks who own "folding wing
aircraft" and most of 'em only use that feature a couple of times before
finding a way to store their aircraft assembled.

My guess is that you should take $1k of your budget and modify the pole
barn, then spend the rest of it on a decent Chief, Taylorcraft, Kitfox, or
reputable ultralight.

KB

On Feb 26, 8:34*am, Michael wrote:

I don't care how slow it is - I'm never going very far in it. *I would
like it to be two seats, to be something that can comfortably operate
from a 1000 ft grass strip, and something with a relatively narrow
wingspan or folding wings or some such - it will live in a pole barn,

Kitfox. Folding wings (don't know how easy they fold, but I think all
Kitfoxes do have folding). Tail dragger.

You should be able to get a real nice example for around your price -
http://www.barnstormers.com/

On Feb 25, 7:00*pm, "Kyle Boatright" wrote:
I see the pole barn as your problem. *You can find plenty of aircraft that
fit your requirements if you eliminate the 18' span issue. *Folding wings
are no panacea. *I know more than a few folks who own "folding wing
aircraft" and most of 'em only use that feature a couple of times before
finding a way to store their aircraft assembled.

My guess is that you should take $1k of your budget and modify the pole
barn, then spend the rest of it on a decent Chief, Taylorcraft, Kitfox, or
reputable ultralight.

Well, first off I would not consider a Chief or Taylorcraft in any
case. I will never even consider another certified airplane. If I
could find something that would come close to matching the speed,
range, cabin room, and overall performance of the Twinkie while
retaining twin engine redundancy, the Twinkie would be gone in a
minute. But that's another issue.

If you believe a pole barn can be modified for $1K, I have one hell of
a proposition for you. I'll pay you $5K to modify it to open 35 ft on
the long side. My only requirements are that it be structurally sound
(still insurable), still enclosed, and that one person can get it
open and closed in under 5 minutes (each operation). Think it can be
done?

Michael

On Feb 25, 4:55*pm, xxx wrote:

My first flight instructor, the one I got private with, made me
promise never to fly a gyrocopter. So far I've kept that promise, but
some of them are intriguing and may meet your criteria.

Your instructor doesn't know what he's missing

Mike
http://www.rotaryforum.com

I think a trike would suit your mission statement nicely. If you built
a trolley system as others suggested it would easily go through your
door sideways with the wing open.

You're the Michael from the Houston TX area with the white and blue
TwinCo, right?

If so, then if you'd change your mind about a project you might be
interested in this Zenith CH-701 partially complete kit that's located
in SugarLand, TX and advertised on Barnstormers right now

http://www.barnstormers.com/ad_manag....php?ID=223635

It's claimed to be 90% done, which means it still has 90% left to
go ;-) You could finish it the way you wish, and get your repairman's
certificate for it in the process.

Looks like it could easily be fitted with the folding wing option too
since it's not yet fully assembled.

http://www.zenithair.com/stolch701/fwo.html

Of course, you'll end up with much more than $20K in it by the time
you're done, more like around $30-35K but it would be a neat plane to
own, very good STOL specs, plus be able to haul a good sized useful
load around and be very cheap on fuel burn, plus it would be a newly
constructed plane too.

Asking for 2 seats plus all the rest of your requirements is probably
not going to happen in a small experimental with that price
constraint, especially if you and your pax weigh more than 170 lbs
each.

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 11:34:14 -0800 (PST), Michael
wrote:

...I would
like it to be two seats, to be something that can comfortably operate
from a 1000 ft grass strip, and something with a relatively narrow
wingspan or folding wings or some such...
...It also can't be something that requires a crew of any sort -
it needs to be something I can easily pull out and launch myself. No
balloons, no gliders. Also nothing foot launched - it's not so much
the foot launching but the foot landing I can't take.

Now, having said that - I'm otherwise flexible. Powered parachute?
Trike? Three axis? Gyroplane? Any of the above would work for me.

For 3 axis airplanes, the Kolbs are hard to beat if you want easy
folding... mine takes about 20 minutes trailer to air, though I
believe the new ones are even quicker.

Powered parachutes (PPC) are OK of you just want to fly around
straight and level, slowly... personally I find them kinda boring.
Powered paragliders, OTOH... are close to the most fun I've ever had
in the air... slower even than a PPC, but the handling is like a tiny
sports car compared to the Mack truck of a PPC. Most PPG's are foot
launched and single place, but there are PPG trikes too, and 2-place
as well... the FAA considers a PPG trike to be a PPC.

BTW, foot landing a PPG is pretty mellow, too.

-Dana
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