APenNameAndThatA Posted January 22, 2018 Posted January 22, 2018 Hi I am wanting to use a VH registered plane for STOL on rough strips, and carry as much stuff as I can in the plane, and have a parachute attached. The Savannah and Foxbat both seem to fit the bill. The Foxbat can be registered VH and seems to have a big following in the outback, and numerous flying schools use it. On the other hand, I might have difficulty hangaring it in Alice Springs, and it has fabric control surfaces. My understanding is that the factor Savannah now is 600 kg MTOW (otherwise the decision would be a no-brainer.) The Foxbat and Savannah both have almost identical takeoff roll and cruise speed, as far as I can tell. The Foxbat looks like it would be faster, but its cabin is 20 cm wider at the elbows and it tapers more rapidly. ATM, I am leaning towards the Foxbat: the 20 cm wider cabin is a plus, and training would be much simpler. It seems that I would have to train 24 and RA-Aus and then patch over (as our bikie colleagues would say) to VH and RPL. I want to be able to fly out of Alice Springs and Mt Isa. Thanks!
hangdoc Posted January 23, 2018 Posted January 23, 2018 Hi APen... I had much the same dilemma and ended up ordering a foxbat which hopefully arrives soon. I have a mate who flies a Foxbat, often times with a group of Savannahs. They have kitted their planes out with big tyres for river bed landings and he reckons the Foxbat & Savannah have similar performance, maybe a little speed advantage with the Foxbat. The Foxbat cabin width was part of the decision maker for me. If I had gone for the Sav I would have built it myself and my spouse was pretty anti that idea, 1 more point to the Foxbat. The cost was not a big factor, I figured the building a Sav would have been 2/3 the price of the Foxbat and even though the wait time for the Bat has been 8 months, I reckon it would have taken me 2+ years to build a Sav. Don't think I would be wanting to park either plane outside regardless of the covering type. There is a bit of discussion elsewhere comparing the two. Good luck with the decision. PB
APenNameAndThatA Posted January 23, 2018 Author Posted January 23, 2018 Hi APen...I had much the same dilemma and ended up ordering a foxbat which hopefully arrives soon. I have a mate who flies a Foxbat, often times with a group of Savannahs. They have kitted their planes out with big tyres for river bed landings and he reckons the Foxbat & Savannah have similar performance, maybe a little speed advantage with the Foxbat. The Foxbat cabin width was part of the decision maker for me. If I had gone for the Sav I would have built it myself and my spouse was pretty anti that idea, 1 more point to the Foxbat. The cost was not a big factor, I figured the building a Sav would have been 2/3 the price of the Foxbat and even though the wait time for the Bat has been 8 months, I reckon it would have taken me 2+ years to build a Sav. Don't think I would be wanting to park either plane outside regardless of the covering type. There is a bit of discussion elsewhere comparing the two. Good luck with the decision. PB *Eight months*?! I heard that it was three?
hangdoc Posted January 23, 2018 Posted January 23, 2018 May be three now but when I ordered in July 17 was told 6-8 months, hit them at a bad/busy time. Guess it speaks to the popularity of them though.
Blueadventures Posted January 24, 2018 Posted January 24, 2018 HiI am wanting to use a VH registered plane for STOL on rough strips, and carry as much stuff as I can in the plane, and have a parachute attached. The Savannah and Foxbat both seem to fit the bill. The Foxbat can be registered VH and seems to have a big following in the outback, and numerous flying schools use it. On the other hand, I might have difficulty hangaring it in Alice Springs, and it has fabric control surfaces. My understanding is that the factor Savannah now is 600 kg MTOW (otherwise the decision would be a no-brainer.) The Foxbat and Savannah both have almost identical takeoff roll and cruise speed, as far as I can tell. The Foxbat looks like it would be faster, but its cabin is 20 cm wider at the elbows and it tapers more rapidly. ATM, I am leaning towards the Foxbat: the 20 cm wider cabin is a plus, and training would be much simpler. It seems that I would have to train 24 and RA-Aus and then patch over (as our bikie colleagues would say) to VH and RPL. I want to be able to fly out of Alice Springs and Mt Isa. Thanks! Having flown in both these you will find the Foxbat has much better vision over the nose cowls which is good when climbing out in hilly areas. My Nynja is great on vision forward over the nose etc but these arn't available factory built. The actual slow speed and climb performance of the Sav will always be better than the Foxbat but you may never really need that bit extra. Enjoy your new aircraft. Cheers Mike
APenNameAndThatA Posted January 24, 2018 Author Posted January 24, 2018 Having flown in both these you will find the Foxbat has much better vision over the nose cowls which is good when climbing out in hilly areas. My Nynja is great on vision forward over the nose etc but these arn't available factory built. The actual slow speed and climb performance of the Sav will always be better than the Foxbat but you may never really need that bit extra. Enjoy your new aircraft. Cheers Mike Sivannah is available with a cargo pod, ? how experimental, however.
rankamateur Posted January 24, 2018 Posted January 24, 2018 Sivannah is available with a cargo pod, ? how experimental, however. There is a factory pod available for under the belly like a caravan, not sure if they do it for the S and XL models, but there were a few VG narrow body ones with them fitted and a few people built their own. 1
APenNameAndThatA Posted January 25, 2018 Author Posted January 25, 2018 There is a factory pod available for under the belly like a caravan, not sure if they do it for the S and XL models, but there were a few VG narrow body ones with them fitted and a few people built their own. The Australian sales person says that they are for the XL but not the S and it is not experimental. Just goes to show how nice it is to have things looking nice. The S looks SO much better than the XL. But, wow, fancy a cargo pod being available! If you want a tricycle gear, STOL, all-metal aircraft to carry gear to rough strips, as far as I can tell, there is only one aircraft for the job. On any aircraft they look ugly, on a Sivana, whey look hideous. The VNE drops to 80 kts, too!
flyingkiwi Posted January 28, 2018 Posted January 28, 2018 I can confirm the longer delivery times. Mine looks like closer to 9 months until it arrives here in April. Was a bit disappointed with this as I got quoted 6 months at the outside when I ordered as well. That said, it'll be worth the wait for a factory built, very tidy and flexible STOL aircraft. I have flown in Sav's and they are good, but I think the edge is in the factory finish, a little nicer in the detail and amazing space and visibility. As an aside, I'm optioning my 22-LS with the side door and aluminium luggage compartment - 30kg with easy access vs. trying to stuff a bag behind the seats in the Sav, without much success is also a big plus in my view.
APenNameAndThatA Posted January 28, 2018 Author Posted January 28, 2018 I can confirm the longer delivery times. Mine looks like closer to 9 months until it arrives here in April. Was a bit disappointed with this as I got quoted 6 months at the outside when I ordered as well. That said, it'll be worth the wait for a factory built, very tidy and flexible STOL aircraft. I have flown in Sav's and they are good, but I think the edge is in the factory finish, a little nicer in the detail and amazing space and visibility. As an aside, I'm optioning my 22-LS with the side door and aluminium luggage compartment - 30kg with easy access vs. trying to stuff a bag behind the seats in the Sav, without much success is also a big plus in my view. Congratulations. What you say matches what others have said and my own observations. The side door would be very convenient to load/unload messy stuff. Others have said that the finish is much better on the Foxbat. I do not think that the Savannah could have a shorter ground roll than the Foxbat. If you are getting a red one, it will look fantastic. 1
flyingkiwi Posted January 29, 2018 Posted January 29, 2018 Congratulations. What you say matches what others have said and my own observations. The side door would be very convenient to load/unload messy stuff. Others have said that the finish is much better on the Foxbat. I do not think that the Savannah could have a shorter ground roll than the Foxbat. If you are getting a red one, it will look fantastic. Thanks! Yep - it is red, I wanted to be seen!!
eightyknots Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 I can confirm the longer delivery times. Mine looks like closer to 9 months until it arrives here in April. Was a bit disappointed with this as I got quoted 6 months at the outside when I ordered as well. That said, it'll be worth the wait for a factory built, very tidy and flexible STOL aircraft. I have flown in Sav's and they are good, but I think the edge is in the factory finish, a little nicer in the detail and amazing space and visibility. As an aside, I'm optioning my 22-LS with the side door and aluminium luggage compartment - 30kg with easy access vs. trying to stuff a bag behind the seats in the Sav, without much success is also a big plus in my view. Where is the 30 kg luggage compartment located FK?
eightyknots Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 *Eight months*?! I heard that it was three? Are you still waiting for your Valor/A22/Foxbat, A P N A T A?
flyingkiwi Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 Where is the 30 kg luggage compartment located FK? Same place as the fabric 20kg one. Behind the seats, however the upgrade adds an external door on the left which provides access to an aluminium ‘U’ section.
APenNameAndThatA Posted July 27, 2018 Author Posted July 27, 2018 Are you still waiting for your Valor/A22/Foxbat, A P N A T A? Just got the second hand one 8300. 350 hrs. Fuel injection. Retina Yellow.
eightyknots Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 Just got the second hand one 8300. 350 hrs. Fuel injection. Retina Yellow. "a picture tells a thousand words" . Maybe you could upload some photos?
eightyknots Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 Same place as the fabric 20kg one. Behind the seats, however the upgrade adds an external door on the left which provides access to an aluminium ‘U’ section. That looks really nice: a good access solution! 1
APenNameAndThatA Posted July 27, 2018 Author Posted July 27, 2018 Still advertised on the Foxbat Aus website.
eightyknots Posted July 27, 2018 Posted July 27, 2018 Just got the second hand one 8300. 350 hrs. Fuel injection. Retina Yellow. I am sure the fuel injected Rotax will really move that Foxbat It looks lovely!
skippydiesel Posted November 27, 2018 Posted November 27, 2018 I am sure the fuel injected Rotax will really move that Foxbat It looks lovely! Not quite sure how a 100 hp injected Rotax will move your Foxbat any better/faster than a 100 hp carburettor Rotax - you will use less fuel for sure
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