Anyone familiar with Pulsar aircraft?

DMD3.

Pre-takeoff checklist
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DMD3.
I don’t know much about these aircraft, but the manufacturer claims that these airplanes can cruise at 180 kts (Vne is 191 kts), yet doing so on engines ranging between 100-125 hp (Rotax and Continental are two engine choices, I think there are more).

Can I really expect this kind of performance like I would a Vans RV (assuming you build light, you can expect exactly the performance published by Vans)? Or should I take these values with a grain of salt like with most certified aircraft?

Also, if I bought one already built, would it be difficult to find someone to perform maintenance and CI’s, as I’m not mechanically inclined? There are a few for sale for under $40k. That’s cheap for an airplane that fast. It doesn’t seem that the manufacturer is still in business, as their website is no longer available.
 
It is a slick little airplane, but I wouldn't bet on anything close to 180 knots.
 
I don’t know much about these aircraft, but the manufacturer claims that these airplanes can cruise at 180 kts (Vne is 191 kts), yet doing so on engines ranging between 100-125 hp (Rotax and Continental are two engine choices, I think there are more).

Can I really expect this kind of performance like I would a Vans RV (assuming you build light, you can expect exactly the performance published by Vans)? Or should I take these values with a grain of salt like with most certified aircraft?

Also, if I bought one already built, would it be difficult to find someone to perform maintenance and CI’s, as I’m not mechanically inclined? There are a few for sale for under $40k. That’s cheap for an airplane that fast. It doesn’t seem that the manufacturer is still in business, as their website is no longer available.
I’m seeing that the 190 and 180 is mph. Knots is 170 and 160.
 
I’m seeing that the 190 and 180 is mph. Knots is 170 and 160.

Ok, the article I read was about the Super Pulsar. Silly me . Bonanza-speeds are still fantastic for an airplane with those engine sizes, especially on a fixed-gear.
 
I've seen them at fly ins. Gear looks awfully close quartered, I can't imagine they tolerate any slop on landing.
 
Never even seen one. The designer/company owner was killed in a crash in the Andes quite a number of years ago. The Super Pulsar 100 has 4 seats but it’s more like 2 people and bags will stay within useful load. Numbers are considerably less than advertised.
 
in 1992 I was working for a guy building a Pulsar.
 
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I did a flight review in one once. It is a tiny airplane, which is why it is so fast on so little power. Pretty high wing loading as I recall and not what I would call easy to fly. But that was probably less than 1.5 hours in only one example over 10 years ago.

But they do go fast on a small engine. I don’t recall any numbers and I am sure it is highly dependent on the engine. 180kts seems unlikely to me unless they managed to stuff a turbocharged Rotax in one.

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL
 
I don't know about the other models, but the Pulsar Super 100 has the Rotax 914 on the suggested engine list.
 
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