Which Rec Flying Flagship Plane

[Admin]

I know Disperse has asked the question on which aircraft for him but now it is my turn.

 

In the not to distant future (I hope) I will be purchasing a new aircraft for myself - could be the flagship of Recreational Flying so which one do I get?

 

The needs:

 

1. Prefer high wing unless there is a low wing that stands out from the crowd (i.e. and not me standing out from the crowd with my sun burnt bald spot)

 

2. Factory built

 

3. Performance (I have a need for speed)

 

4. Luxury - can be spec'd up with every button, gadget, comfort thing that can be thought of (hey, what does this button do - oops, it's the mother-in-law ejector seat, pitty about that!)

 

5. Interior room - what's this mile high club everyone keeps talking about

 

6. Safety - known not to let the wings fall off

 

7. Can be used as a trainer - we never stop learning (refer to No 4 above)

 

8. Endurance and light weight

 

9. Economical to run and own

 

10. No more then $25.99 - well, at least best bang for buck

 

Is there such a thing - oh, forgot to mention, must have room for the Recreational Flying Logo to go on it plus look good in the forum header to typify the joys of recreational flying. ;)

 

 

[Guest disperse]

MCR-4s with 2 seats removed http://www.dynaero.com/lien/indexuk.htm

 

I don't know about bang for your buck.......but you wont get sunburt

 

 

[Admin]

Disperse - the MCR-4s is a kit unfortunately

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

G'day Ian,

 

are you in the design and manufacture business? :;)3:

 

To the best of my knowledge the only a/c in the high wing category (RA) that has the speed criteria is......oh dear the CT!! Or one of the Jabs...but as I can't remember which one and I'm not allowed to talk about Jabs I won't.

 

The only other way to get it is to design your own.

 

Lots of other high wing aircraft fit your other criteria but I don't know of anything that fits the speed one except the one's mentioned.

 

Having said that have a look at the Tecnam P2004 Bravo.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[Admin]

To the best of my knowledge the only a/c in the high wing category (RA) that has the speed criteria is......oh dear the CT!! Or one of the Jabs...

- funny about that Mike - perhaps that's why I have had 2 CTs already although the Jab 230 does look interesting when you look at the price per knot. The problem with the Jab is that there are so many pos & neg stories about them as well i.e. engines, customer service, resale value etc but this is always bound to happen when there are so many out there.

 

 

[Guest palexxxx]

I think you were already on a winner with the CT, but if you need to change for change sake, what about the Tecnam P92-2000RG. Similiar performance to the CT but in metal.

 

 

[Admin]

I have always liked the Tecnam - in fact have always liked a lot of recreational aircraft but I can't afford them all. When you compare the 230 against the 92 RG there is a big price difference for similiar spec'd machines - but is definitly worth considering!

 

 

[sain]

hmm, what about the Pipstrel Sinus or Virus? Cruise is about 118kts with the rotax 912 engine. I've always been a fan of that one after Michael Coates's Aus to Nz via Lord Howe and Northfolk Island trip report (http://www.mcp.com.au/sinus/extreme/aus-nz/aus-nz.html for those who havn't read it before)

 

Or the Allegro 2007 maybe? Cruise is 95kts (not exactly blistering, but hey its faster than a gazelle).

 

Both seem to have a fair amount of room in them. And lots of endurance for visiting fly aways.

 

or perhaps the Terrier 200 (http://www.foxcon.com/home.html). Not sure if its available as factory built, though a kit would give you more options for gadgetry.

 

And then, if you really want to turn some heads, how about a long-ez? unfortunately not factory built, but hey that cruise speed of 160kt takes some beating:

 

http://www.ez.org/feature/F0411-1/F0411-1.htm

 

The main problem with it, besides the non-factory built, is the tandem seating arangements - making joining the mile-high club quite difficult without some serious gymnastics.

 

On the mile hile possibilities side you may want to consider something like a Thruster with an enclosed cockpit. that way you'll spend so long getting anywhere that you'll have pleeeeeeeeeeeeeenty of time for begging... er.. i mean persausion.

 

Then again, if you just want to have fun in the sky the thruster is a great choice, or perhaps a drifter or a trike. Doesn't fit your criteria, but i love em.

 

 

[mlpinaus]

I hesitate to comment, given my total lack of experience, but I do own a j230c.

 

Jabiru have always offered a lot of aeroplane for the $. It is 24 registered

 

RA aus, flown on a RA aus certificate, 600 Kg LSA certificated. All the glass

 

cockpit stuff comes complete in the box. The only option I added was an angle of

 

attack pitot. Photo of the dash in the gallery section. Two radios and a

 

transponder is about it, no subwoofer though :)

 

regards

 

Marcus

 

 

[Admin]

Anything Michael Coates has is not even in the slightest way will be considered.

 

Geez, I like the joystick in the long-ez

 

Marcus - I agree the 230 is a nice unit but there are so many other aircraft out there as well that are really nice.

 

 

[sain]

Sorry about the offerings from michael coates - didnt realise there was a problem. Chalk that up to my newbieness.

 

How about the Eurofox? Similair to your beloved Gazelle, but with a 110kts cruise speed. http://www.horshamaviation.com.au/Aircraft.html

 

 

[Admin]

The Eurofox is going to be on display at the Rec Flying Echuca flyin so I will be looking at that with interest and also the Dova Skylark - isn't this fun :big_grin:

 

I see that Jab have a brand new 230D with night package available right now - although just talking to them just now they have never heard of these forums - 2 point loss for that

 

 

[Guest pelorus32]

Hi Ian,

 

And Disperse might be interested as well.

 

http://www.pilotfriend.com/experimental/complete_aircraft_list.htm

 

Has a list of aircraft. Some of the info is old. However a quick suggestion is to look at some of the following:

 

Europa

 

Esqual

 

FK14B Polaris (this will be the new Cirrus LSA)

 

Impulse

 

Pulsar

 

Rally (Storm)

 

Toxo

 

Storm Century

 

Sting

 

Texan Top Class

 

Some of those don't meet the criteria in one way or another but are all worth a look.

 

Also the ones that Bruce Drake distributes out of NZ - I think it's the Aerospool Dynamic.

 

Regards

 

Mike

 

 

[storchy neil]

hey ian hope to fly the new storch in to echuca looks good thats if i can pinch it of cas

 

cas should have all the paper work done friday neil

 

 

[drifter_driver]

hi Ian, Teamrocket F1 EVO is not a factory built plane but the specs are truly impressive. you can have it built by build assist mob for ~150-200k AUD total cost depending upon your instrumentation.

 

top speed - 240 KT

 

Cruise - 210 KT

 

ROC - 3500 ft/min

 

range - 1000 Kts

 

G- Loading +6-4g

 

[ATTACH]4028.vB[/ATTACH]

 

[ATTACH]4029.vB[/ATTACH]

 

I know I cant afford one yet but who knows if you buy it I might be able to taste its inverted charactristics with you some day

 

cheerios

 

 

 

 

[Admin]

Sunny - if I was wanting to convert to GA then yes - what a screamer

 

 

[Guest disperse]

The Impulse is not for sale (new) anymore as the company went under about 12mths ago.. tis a shame.

 

but I did find this very SPEED satisfying machine (RA-Aus may be a prob) http://www.avtechgroup.com/

 

and it's tandam seating

 

 

[Admin]

Ok, so it seems that if I was going to go on speed alone then for a high wing it would have to be the CTsw (again) or for low wing it would be the MCR-01 Club.

 

There is only 1 MCR in Australia which is an MLC-01 ULC that is VH registered experimental over in Perth.

 

I will have to apply some weightings to my preferences as it may well come out that speed isn't the deciding factor but comfort, safety and cargo capacity is.

 

This is getting harder

 

 

[Jabby]

Hi Neil I do hope there are no low electricity wires around Echuca as I would hate to see Cazs new Storch scratched Ha Ha ,Happy Flying Mike

 

 

[Guest disperse]

if you want to stand out

 

THE MONO WHEEL (retractable) from Europa

 

but no BRS offered and not easy to fit aftermarket

 

 

 

 

[Guest Fred Bear]

Y'all gots to crawl before you can walk.

 

 

[storchy neil]

hey mike he mitgh get a little peved yah recond neil

 

 

[Galpin]

Ian, as I was thinking about your initial post on this topic, I decided to challenge myself on going through all the research again for a new aircraft. This is what I came up with:

 

High Wing - Cessna Sky Catcher, Dallach Evolution, Bilsam Sky Cruiser.

 

Low Wing - Toxo, Vans RV 12 (Vans RV 9A with 750kg), Shark, New Horizons

 

Different - ION

 

There are a few assumptions in my choices here. In particular cost, ease of construction (if I went that way again) and reliability.

 

I would be looking for a new generation engine that ran on JetA.

 

Them's my thoughts, FWIW.

 

 

[Guest brentc]

How about this one?

 

Only info I have is 600kg's MTOW and 48 inch wide cockpit. I'll try and find out what it is. I don't believe there are any in OZ and I don't know if it will be imported.

 

To me looks like a bit like a Terrier, with similarities to the Evolution (high wing Fascination), a Cobra Arrow nosewheel, some Cessna Cardinal thrown in, topped off with some GlasStar.

 

At a guess I'd say a cruise of 110-115 knots on Jab 6 or 912s, 1,000ft climb rate and a 250 metre takeoff/landing. I'll be interested to see if I have correctly guessed if anyone can find out more info!

 

 

 

[Guest J430]

Mate sounds like you need either the Mooney Ovation.....go the turbo model!!! Or a G36 Bonanza.

 

The mooney might serve better for the Point 5. as its possibly more spacious with 4 seats in a similare size to the Bo with 6.

 

RAAus rego might be a problem.......

 

J;)