Continued from
Index page.
After a wonderful lunch at a place called
Maxim's, where the food is absolutely excellent and the
homemade rolls are something to die for, Randy, Mrs. "Gizmo"
and I went to the airport to check out the S-10. This has
always been one of my favorite airplanes. I had never flown
one, but the lines of the little mid-wing two-seater
appealed to me, and the fact that you could do flip-flops
without bending anything, and the price, which should appeal
to everyone. RANS has always had a way of painting their
airplanes to accent the lines, and the white and dark blue
number we were going to fly was the icing on the cake.
Our little plane was a fairly stock S-10,
with the addition of aileron spades and the bigger 80-hp
Rotax 912 engine. With this engine, a radiator and coolant
lines had to be added, but the additional
horsepower negated the effect of the extra weight on the
airplane's performance. Considering this was a typical early
winter's day in Kansas, with the temperature below 40
degrees, I was expecting the thing to literally jump off the
ground, regardless of plumbing and this writer's growing
girth.
The walk-around was fairly
straight-forward, typical taildragger, aerobatic airplane
stuff, with a look at the coolant level. With Mrs. "Gizmo"
snoozing in the front seat of Randy's truck, we prepared to
do battle with the skies. You can't write about anything without
finding something less than perfect. And keep in mind,
perfect is a relative term. I discovered two
things about the S-10 that I consider less than perfect.
I
always remind myself that things aren't designed and built
with me in mind, that designers have their own agendas, and
that a design has to take a multiplicity of factors into
account. So, Randy, don't hate me for having the shoulders
of a Russian female shot putter and the love handles of .. .
well, a Russian female shot-putter. But I found the S-10 a
tad too tight. With both of us manly types shoe-horned into
the cockpit, especially with winter garb, there wasn't room
for much else. There is a fairly large baggage compartment
behind the seat, and there is plenty of room between the
pilot and the instrument panel.
There is also a lot of space for the tootsies,
with rudder pedals and toe brakes within easy reach. The
width, though, is scant. I checked the spec sheet and
discovered that it is 37 inches across, the perfect size for
Siamese twins, neither of whom hold current pilots'
licenses; I checked.
The good thing about the tightness is
that you don't move around much during maneuvers. After
taxiing out to the runway, punching the go lever and hauling
back on the center-mounted stick, the three of us climbed
out at an angle that I would call semi-ballistic. I could
look at Randy from my right-seat position and see the runway
disappearing below us with mere peripheral vision. The seats
are supine, more or less, and with the Lexan canopy and
optional Lexan "low back," visibility was better than my
American Yankee, something I had thought impossible.
Climbing out at 80, Randy mentioned we were a bit fast, so
he eased the stick back to 70 indicated, and I felt like an
astronaut. With both Randy and me aboard, full fuel and my
love handles, we were easily at gross, yet we still popped
off the tarmac in less than 300 feet.
At altitude, I finally got to see how
this baby handled, and I got a big surprise. It has been
said that the S-10 is pitch sensitive, so I was expecting
very light elevators. I've flown a lot of Grummans, Pitts,
Smith Miniplanes and the like, but none of them compares
with the Sakota. Simply thinking of a pitch movement caused
the airplane to move in that direction. Too aggressive a
recovery from a thermal resulted in an oscillation.
Feather-light isn't a good enough word for the up-down
control of this airplane. This is the second of the two
things I would have done differently, but I have to qualify
my statement.
If I were going to sell this airplane to
Everyday Joe with a Sunday-go-for-burgers attitude about
flying, I would dampen the forces. I imagine it would
frighten the guy, and sales in this type of market would be affected. At the same time, if I were
going to sell this airplane to an aspiring aerobatic
competitor or a guy with a feel for high-power, snap
aerobatics, I would design the airplane just as it is.
With
this kind of response to a control input, a guy going into a
hammerhead or a loop, any sort of initially vertical
maneuver, could attain that vertical position with a sudden,
intense pulse of G-force and with minimal airspeed loss.
Hanging on 90 horses, an airplane loaded to 600 pounds,
including pilot, would have exciting vertical penetration,
to say the least. For aerobatics, I feel this airplane is a
one-plus-one aircraft, mainly, I suppose, because of my
size. With a little more cabin width, it could easily be a
two-seater for any type of flight.
While flying, I noticed that in a steep
bank, the elevator was much more docile, requiring small, if
any, amounts of correction. Rolling out of a steep turn
found me invariably wanting to climb, and the Kansas thermals
didn't help. As I flew, though, even with the center-mounted
stick in my left hand, things began to settle down. I soon
quit flying the airplane and started enjoying the view and
the event, and things calmed down and fell into place. This
pitch sensitivity will probably surprise many people, as it
did me, but I don't think it's the least bit dangerous,
unless the pilot is hopelessly new or has an extremely timid
personality. True sport pilots will find it a kick.
After turns and climbs, we did a couple
of stalls. As the airspeed came down, so did the stick
responses. At slower speeds, there was plenty of roll rate
and good rudder and elevator, all three solid and
authoritative. Stalls were tame, and there was enough
warning that you'd have to be taking a nap to stall one. The
slightest easing of back pressure, and we were flying again.
It didn't take much to demonstrate this was a friendly
airplane in this arena, and besides, Randy needed to do some
aerobatics to loosen up the sinuses after his bout with the
flu.
At 140 mph, which is easy to achieve, and
with about 30 degrees up on the nose, the Sakota rolls as if
it were chucked into a Black & Decker drill. I knew the
ailerons felt good, but I hadn't expected this subtle yet
forceful response. Rolls in both directions were over in the
blink of an eye and as smooth as Lou Rawls' voice. Loops
weren't much different. Same airspeed for entry and back on
that short-throw stick, and we were back looking at wheat
fields before I could say, "OK, I'm ready."
Something that makes aerobatics tolerable for a passenger
in the S-10 is the steel tube internal bracing within the
cockpit itself. Looking a bit incongruous at first and
awkward compared with traditional airplanes, this
arrangement, called the "Oh-Jesus" bar by the factory,
provides complete bracing for the mid-wing configuration as
well as something to hold when the world turns upside down.
For those who don't trust five-point seat belts, this is a
psychological, if not tactile, reinforcement.
The Sakota was the second RANS airplane
I've flown. At Sun 'n' Fun last year, John let me fly the
Coyote , which is configured more like the ultralights we
have come to know, with enclosed cabin, high, strutted wings,
end a tubular tail boom. Both flew magnificently and ere
built to take a lot more than a mere ride around the patch.
Believe me, I'm not going to take to the air in something I
haven't studied up close and personal.
There are a lot of airplanes out there,
and many of these are excellent examples of design and
workman-ship. Other companies like RANS produce good ships
that first-time builders can handle, which can provide years
of service at very modest costs. I don't know of any one
company that provides the array of aircraft that RANS
produces. From the slow single to the strong 2-seaters, and
in the gaps between these, Randy's company can fill the
bill, whether your concerns are performance or pocketbook.
There is an incredible amount of speed
and strength built into the Sakota, and in the
slam-it-to-the-stops world of aerobatics, a little more
elbow room would be just the thing. As an airport hopper,
this machine would be about the fastest, most fun, most
efficient, macho transportation I can imagine.
RANS has a nice literature package and a
good video of all their machines. You can call them at
913-625-6346.
Story by Jim "Gizmo
Cavanagh
Courtesy of James R "Zoom" Campbell
