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Although a bit heavier, the O-200 and O-235 options may be a tantalizing choice since these engines are more widely available used than either the Jabiru or Rotax. Performance reflects wing area and utility, meaning cruise is in the 120–125 mph range, with added horsepower adding most to rate of climb and shortening the takeoff roll. Maximum gross weight is 2200 pounds with an empty weight around 1100. Here’s another one where if you build it light you’ll be rewarded with impressive carrying capacity.
To enhance the GlaStar’s backcountry performance I have invested in some extended heavy-duty landing gear, some bigger tires, and a T3 tailwheel setup. I have also built some Sportsman flaps to replace the less effective GlaStar flaps. That has been more expensive and more technically difficult than I expected, but experimental aviation is all about education and recreation. Let’s just say I am getting an education now in hopes of some future recreation.
Pietenpol Air Camper
I started sketching delta-winged light-plane concepts and used my newly acquired engineering knowledge to analyze their performance. Within a year, I set building such an airplane for myself as a life goal. People don’t say that the RV-3B is a thinking man’s airplane, which it most certainly is, at least during the construction.
You get a wing of 128 square feet on an airplane with a gross weight of just 1150 pounds, which affords strong climb performance and short takeoff and landing rolls. This single-place, Dacron-covered amphib has a max-gross weight of just 750 pounds, which makes the most of the 60-ish horsepower on board. A 90-mph cruise speed will be sufficient to drop into local lakes or check out the nearby grass strip. The HP has a host of options available, including a carbon-fiber hull, a $2800 upcharge that still gets the whole airframe kit in under $25K. It’s part of the reason we elect to build our own—to do so for less than it costs to buy a new or used series-built design, to save us money on maintenance and to make the outcome uniquely ours.
Stroke Aircraft Engines
It had to have at least two seats and enough baggage space for a week’s camping at Oshkosh. I had grown fond of our bush plane’s short-field capability and appreciated a strong climb rate. Altitude more quickly meant more options sooner. It had to be capable of landing on grass, with handling characteristics that wouldn’t bite a weekend pilot. I was aware that off-airport survivability drops significantly with increasing stall speed , so a reasonably slow stall speed was desired. The build time had to be short enough to fly prior to my hair commencing its migration, and metal was preferred.
This, I should add, is very similar to Brain Carpenter’s Rainbow Aviation LSA repairman/inspection class, except their focus is Rotax engines. In both cases I came away more knowledgeable and with a healthy respect for the factory guidelines. Back in about 1987, I was 36 years old, with very little money and a logbook with about 180 hours in it. The preceding three years had contained one wrenching experience after another, and I was ready to do something, anything, positive.
Coming Soon: JSX-2T Two-Place Jet
Kitfox Aircraft supports many different engine installations. Below are some of our most popular engine choices for our aircraft which can be purchased in a firewall forward configuration. Every Series 7 Kitfox comes standard with folding wings.
KITPLANES Editor in Chief Marc Cook has been in aviation journalism for more than 30 years. He is a 4000-hour instrument-rated, multi-engine pilot with experience in nearly 150 types. He’s completed two kit aircraft, an Aero Designs Pulsar XP and a Glasair Sportsman 2+2, and currently flies a 2002 GlaStar.
People say that the nice thing about the RV-3B is the quality of the social experience, knowing that it’s a single-seater. The canopy choice (slider versus tip-up) was easy for me. Think sleeping bags and camping tents, a bicycle , snowboards, etc. How the Jabiru has all this space came about because the factory down-spec’d a four-seater, the J430, to meet the LSA category rules.
I roll and pitch aggressively on nearly all flights but don’t need tiddlywink aerobatics. Zooming up and over the clouds on sunset flights is glorious, and the big engine means you don’t have to look at your watch to see if anything is happening when you lay on the loud lever. Cross-country stability is excellent, and the world looks great framed by those two wings and crossing stainless steel wires. These modifications are not ones I would recommend to a first-time builder, at least not the flap change, because such changes tend to complicate and extend the building process. My previous planes were all built according to the plans, although I did later switch my first GlaStar to conventional gear from its original tricycle configuration. It is only now, on my fourth project, that I am customizing things from the beginning.
Then I tried the GlaStar, and I knew it was the plane for me. Good useful load, good speed, lots of room inside—it just fit me. I live near Portland, Oregon, and one Dick VanGrunsven was building a small but successful business nearby.
For that, you’ll have to forego the quickbuild options on the 7. Van’s helps you with this decision on the RV-3 and -4, since there are no quickbuild options. There are other benefits to maintaining simplicity.
At Van's Aircraft, many of us are builders and pilots just like you. We understand what you're trying to accomplish and we speak the language. Via phone or email, our goal is to help you reach your goals. The TJ-100 turbojet engine is produced by PBS Velká Bíteš of the Czech Republic, a large manufacturer of rotary machines with roots dating-back to 1814. The TJ-100 is designed for UAV, UCAV, experimental aircraft and motorized gliders with hundreds of units delivered since its introduction in 2008. Because there is no Type Certificate available for the SubSonex, pilots will need a Letter of Authorization from the FAA that is specific to the aircraft.
