1-2 place homebuilt for tall guy

CJones

CJones

Final Approach
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uHaveNoIdea
Watching Jesse's FlyBaby video last night got me thinking that is a great way to go out and putz around in the sky. Problem is that I am a taller-than-average individual, so most of the 'compact' putz-around kind of a/c aren't designed for me.

Can someone enlighten me to a good putz-around a/c that meets these requirements:
* Homebuilt
* I can fit in relatively comfortably (6' 7" tall / 180lbs - lots of knee and elbow)
* Low operating costs (thinking MoGas available, etc.)
* Non-rotax engine - too much noise, and stuff flying around too fast for my liking

I have easy accsess to a RV-7A right now, which is fine for a putz-around a/c if you can make yourself pull the throttle back, but who has the discipline to actually do that!? ;)
 
tonycondon said:
Pietenpol. no height limit :)
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I was going to say, open cockpit and the only issue becomes legs!

I have a similar issue, I would love to build a small EAB, but at 6'4" and all torso (32" inseam) there are some considerations to be made!
 
you'd have to get one of those aerodynamic helmets like the bicycle racers wear :D
 
What about a miniature RV? I think you want a 2-seater if nothing else so you can take Eli up flying.
 
VanDy said:
Corvair powered Pietenpol. Grandpa is 6'6" 275 and put over 500 hours on his. Lots of advantages to the pietenpol!
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Any particular reason for the Corvair over the others?

I know the owner of the Piet I am buying is over 6', but it has a A-65.
 
I too have been pondering this question. My concerns on the Pietenpol are both leg room and ease of getting in and out of the rear cockpit. The forward cockpit seems like it would be tight for anyone older than 10. Anyone care to comment on those two issues.

Second question, has anyone any experience with the Pober Super Ace?

Scott
 
l8evator said:
I too have been pondering this question. My concerns on the Pietenpol are both leg room and ease of getting in and out of the rear cockpit. The forward cockpit seems like it would be tight for anyone older than 10. Anyone care to comment on those two issues.
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I can't access Youtube on the computer here, but there is a video on there that has a guy (an adult) demonstrating how to enter the forward cockpit of a Piet. It is possible (does require flexibility) but my intention is to put the kids up there. The back seat isn't as much of a problem (particularly if it has the wing flap). As far as the legroom, I haven't personally gotten in one yet, but the owner of the one I am buying is something like 6' 3", maybe 6' 4", is an older gentleman and says he fits fine.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Any particular reason for the Corvair over the others?

I know the owner of the Piet I am buying is over 6', but it has a A-65.
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Because he put a 327 in his Corvair Spyder, so he had one laying around. And Bernard told him it was the smoothest engine he had flown behind.
 
I'd put an RV way up there on the list of putterable aircraft. Heck, you can go do loops and stuff just for jollies.

By the way, I pull my throttle back all the time for local trips. Not that it makes that big a difference.
 
RV's are designed for pilots up to 6'6" in the standard build. A few mods in the seat area can accommodate a 6' 9" pilot with no problem. The mods are fairly simply depending on the model.

Don't limit your selection to exclude Rotax 4 cycle engines. They are well proven to be extremely reliable and efficient, and they love mogas. ;)
 
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Find a Challenger, Titan or Rans with a 4 stroke, your height should not be a problem in any of them. The instructor that did my transition training in the Challenger was 6'6 and had plenty of room left over.
 
Geico266 said:
RV's are designed for pilots up to 6'6" in the standard build. A few mods in the seat area can accommodate a 6' 9" pilot with no problem. The mods are fairly simply depending on the model.

Don't limit your selection to exclude Rotax 4 cycle engines. They are well proven to be extremely reliable and efficient, and they love mogas. ;)
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When we were putting the seat pans in the -7A, we didn't even install the forward two piano hinges. We figured we were the only two that were going to fly it (I'm 6'7" and dad is 6'5") so we just made the decision that we wouldn't need to move the seats forward at all. We also mounted the rudder pedals as far forward as possible.

The -7A is definitely a good plane, but I can never make myself pull the power back for some low and slow flying. :dunno: The nice thing is that in a 'short 1 hr flight', I can cover some major territory. I guess I should just start forcing myself to pull the little black knob out and stop flying with the ASI needle in the yellow all the time.

Still, there is something to be said for a low-power draggy taildragger for lazy afternoon flights.
 
Seawind. You could put a basketball player in your lap.
 
CJones said:
The -7A is definitely a good plane, but I can never make myself pull the power back for some low and slow flying. :dunno: The nice thing is that in a 'short 1 hr flight', I can cover some major territory. I guess I should just start forcing myself to pull the little black knob out and stop flying with the ASI needle in the yellow all the time.

Still, there is something to be said for a low-power draggy taildragger for lazy afternoon flights.
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Planes, like all other vehicles, have their happy speeds and their happy operating points. When you fly them outside of that happy envelope, they feel less happy. It's similar on motorcycles - my RC51 I had a hard time riding below 90 MPH, which wasn't good for my license (if the cops could have ever caught me). My Harley I'm happy riding below the speed limit up to about 80. I could see that putzing in an RV would seem wrong.

On the other hand, it doesn't burn a ton of fuel, and it is fun to fly low and fast. Once a year up in Canada I end up having to do a 50 mile flight down a river, and I'll just fly at 50 AGL. One of my favorite flights of the year. :)
 
And Adam wins! I want a CriCri.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
Planes, like all other vehicles, have their happy speeds and their happy operating points. When you fly them outside of that happy envelope, they feel less happy. It's similar on motorcycles - my RC51 I had a hard time riding below 90 MPH, which wasn't good for my license (if the cops could have ever caught me). My Harley I'm happy riding below the speed limit up to about 80. I could see that putzing in an RV would seem wrong.

On the other hand, it doesn't burn a ton of fuel, and it is fun to fly low and fast. Once a year up in Canada I end up having to do a 50 mile flight down a river, and I'll just fly at 50 AGL. One of my favorite flights of the year. :)
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What's interesting is that the RV handles fine at low speeds (even cross-coordinated) all the way up until stall (just ask Tony ;)). But if you can go 190mph easily, it's hard to NOT to go 190mph.

The last summer I worked for the cropduster company, I spent some time running parts/maps/paperwork between airports in the RV. It was fun getting up to 'cropduster cross country' altitude and going 190mph. It actually felt awkward to get 'all the way' up to 6,000' after spending so much time down low.
 
CJones said:
What's interesting is that the RV handles fine at low speeds (even cross-coordinated) all the way up until stall (just ask Tony ;)). But if you can go 190mph easily, it's hard to NOT to go 190mph.
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I do agree with that. Like said, comes down to capabilities and the plane's happy space. If you had a slow plane, it'd be fun to go slow.

The last summer I worked for the cropduster company, I spent some time running parts/maps/paperwork between airports in the RV. It was fun getting up to 'cropduster cross country' altitude and going 190mph. It actually felt awkward to get 'all the way' up to 6,000' after spending so much time down low.
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It's definitely what you're used to. It feels a bit odd to me being at 50-100 AGL since I'm usually at 6-11k. But it is fun. :)
 
Yeah, I have been getting used to 2k for hops from Hamilton to Dayton in the trainers. Felt weird after using altitude to set my MAP for so long.
 
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