80hp Savannah

[myshed2]

Could I have some comments as to what I could expect by buying a Savannah with an 80hp Rotax as distinct from the 100hp. Obviously performance will be adversly affected but are there any life threatening quirks that might be encountered? Are there any plusses??

 

 

[rankamateur]

Regular ULP is currently a plus, while it remains available it is far more common and much cheaper. Many of the early Savannah 80Hp planes were 520 Kg MTOW so it has been "upgraded" make sure it has had the extra angles put in the lower fuselage corners behind the seats. That is the less obvious but still very important part of the upgrade.

 

 

[myshed2]

Thanks Rank.

 

With the upgrades I assume that the MTOW went to 560kgs. Can the older Savannahs be upgraded to 600kgs??

 

(Although I am not sure I would want to fly at 600 with 80hp but at least it gives the choice of upgrading to 100hp).

 

Apart from the angle plates behind the seats, were there other upgrades that had to be done to bring it to 560kgs?

 

 

[rankamateur]

Definitely only XL and S, but many older ones have been well tested at 560Kg, it's only 40 Kg. If it only has single tanks there is no issue anyway. If long range tanks you wouldn't be able to take off with full fuel and an adult passenger, but you wouldn't have to back off much because some of the early Savannahs only weigh about 280Kg so you get a bit back at that end.