Search results

I've talked with the following guy on the phone a couple times, and have exchanged about 30 emails back and forth. He has exactly the same airplane I plan to buy, except he doesn't have the 180 liter or 300 liter extreme range tank option (which he regrets). He earns money with his airplane...

For one, there is no place to land between California and Hawaii. For two, there is no place to land between Easter Island and <forget the name of the island>. So there are no alternatives to flying 3800~3900km non-stop if you intend to fly those routes, which I do. I'll check out the maule...

This is probably the most useful message yet. I'm sure I'm still being naive, but I see various categories that nobody has discussed. For example, I see boxes containing the following: "limited", "primary", "restricted", "experimental R&D". I don't know whether any of those will help me, but...

Well, the consensus of pretty much everyone here (as well as the pipistrel dealer) agrees... not gonna be any variant of LSA. The question remains... what will it be? :confused:

Well, once I order the airplane, I won't have it for 5 months. For sure, if I can find someone in the southwestern USA with one of these airplanes, I will attempt to get them to let me fly it around with him as much has he can tolerate. Hahaha. ;) I'm already signed up to start a "rusty...

Why is that? Are you saying that no airplane built and assembled and test flown by the manufacturer can be in any of the "experimental" categories? What do you mean?

I think that's the pipistrel virus airplane. In other words, it is not the pipistrel virus sw airplane, where the SW stands for "short wing". Also, the one you show has the 912 UL or ULS engine, not the 912iS engine. However, the difference in engine doesn't change the outside dimensions of...

Oh really? Then you don't realize how many question I need to answer!

Yes, the concerns you mention are why I am starting this journey of investigation into this issue. I just joined the AOPA and EAA... maybe they'll have someone who knows some of this stuff that I can speak with on the telephone. And hopefully I can learn something from people here and in other...

As I said somewhere, owners of this airplane get about 50mpg at 75% throttle "cruise speed" and 60~70mpg at ~50% throttle "economy speed". So do the math: 300 liters == 79 gallons * 60mpg == 4740 miles == 7584 kilometers. Any more questions? I consider that plenty of safety margin against...

Thanks for that link. I will read carefully.

Frankly, it doesn't sound like much fun to me either. However, if you ever bothered to wander around the south pacific in google earth, you will find that there are literally thousands of small islands in the south pacific once you get there. And that's the point. The problem is, to get to...

If I judge I'm not up to those missions, then I won't do them. But your words and opinions aren't going to stop me. I have done a great many things in my life that most people told me was impossible. So I have quite a bit of experience ignoring people... and making judgements for myself.

I mentioned above, I got my private pilot license a long time ago. After that, I just rented whatever Cessna 152 or 172 or 182 or similar they had available when I wanted to fly. So explain to me why I'm a troll because I never studied the different kinds of propellers? Tell me why I'm a...

Thanks. Yes, I have had a couple phone calls and several email exchanges with Michael Coates, who is the master distributor and dealer for the USA and Australia. He sent me an excel spreadsheet pricelist with all the options I requested, which is how I know the total price is under my limit of...

A maule can fly 4000km non-stop? Interesting. Can you provide a link? I've heard Maule as a great airplane for STOL/bush/backcountry, but never heard it was long range... and cheap. BTW, I can't spend more than $200K, and this pipistrel virus sw with Rotax 912iS and 300 liter extreme range...

I was told "experimental". But I was not told anything more specific, like "experimental glider", "experimental airplane", "experimental exhibition", "experimental racing"... and so forth. These are terms I've seen but don't know what they mean, or what are the consequences of each. That's...

Yes, pipistrel is in Slovenia. They won two NASA awards for extreme fuel efficiency. As a result, they are pretty much the only cheap single-engine airplane that can fly 4000km+ non-stop... when powered by the Rotax 912iS engine (and with the 300 liter in-wing "extreme range" fuel tanks). No...

I don't think that's exactly the same airplane as I intend to buy. See this (especially page 5): https://www.pipistrel-usa.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Pipistrel-VirusSWiS-Information-Pack.pdf

I think I can keep the weight down to 600kg... as long as I don't take any passengers on those long-range trips, which is most likely the case. Hopefully the MTV-33 constant speed propeller qualifies as "fixed pitch". I don't think it is "pilot adjustable", so maybe that qualifies. Note that...