Glasair Sportsman 2+2

That steel cage makes it one of the strongest safest airframes out there in its class. Enuf said if you do any real sportsman type of flying.
 
Henning said:
Really, well crap, that means I need a set of wings to make molds from and make some plastic ones. Steel frame I can cope with.
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Actually, there is a guy who built a Glastar with composite wings. I saw the plane at Oshkosh this year. Very neat.
 
jkgoblue said:
Actually, there is a guy who built a Glastar with composite wings. I saw the plane at Oshkosh this year. Very neat.
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Actually I know where a set of molds for the wings, and fuselage, problem is they're in Australia. Probably cheaper to make new ones than to ship either the molds or the product. I considered waxing them up and making a set of skins but never had the time.
 
jchang10 said:
That steel cage makes it one of the strongest safest airframes out there in its class. Enuf said if you do any real sportsman type of flying.
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I know that has been their advertising line from way back but there is actually nothing to substantiate the claim that it's any "stronger" than a Piper SuperCub or a Cessna 185.
 
Silvaire said:
I know that has been their advertising line from way back but there is actually nothing to substantiate the claim that it's any "stronger" than a Piper SuperCub or a Cessna 185.
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Oh yeah there is, puncture resistance. The glass skin will far outperform aluminum or fabric skin in puncture and intrusion into the passenger cabin matters. Add the structural bracing and collapsibility of a 4130 frame supporting that skin and you have huge advantage over the Super Cub and a good margin on the 185. Plus there are structural elements to the FG as well. Think of something like a SMART car.
 
Henning said:
I love a 180, but I would still take the Sportsman because it's plastic and glass and I can put it on plastic and glass floats and operate on salt water with no major corrosion issues to worry about, plus I can swing the wings back and ship it anywhere in the world in an enclosed trailer or hoist it onto the deck of a boat.
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I think the swing wings give you a lot of options.
 
jkgoblue said:
I've had my Sportsman for about 4 years now and every time I fly it, I marvel what a great plane it is for me. I'm 6'7" 200 lbs and it is very comfortable. I flew out to Arlington to investigate the TWTT program and found it very professionally run. I ended up buying my TWTT plane from the builder when he had less then 150 hrs on it but I was ready to sign up.



I had it as a trike the first year but now as a tail dragger and it's so much fun to fly. I can land on short grass strips and still cruise at 142 kits burning about 10 gal/hr or lean it out to about 130 at around 8. ( I have a 390 in it). I've taken it to Oshkosh several times and just threw everything I needed in the back. With a useful load of over 1000 lbs and no CG issues, it's a load and go plane.



I've got an AFS panel and Trutrak autopilot and Garmin stack and the plane is a very stable IFR platform. It's easy to fly and just a lot of fun.



When I went looking for one plane that had the best of all worlds, for me, the Sportsman fit the bill.
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Awesome. Do you have seats in the "+2" area?
 
Yes, but they are forward facing seats which are only good for kids (people under 5 feet tall) The factory now offers a rear seat option that has the seats facing rearward which can easily accommodate adults.
 
nddons said:
Which I noticed in its heritage when I sat in it.

I earned my ASEL in a Symphony - N380MF. There are some differences. Symphonies had 160HP Lycomings, and no back seat. It flew like a Skyhawk with a stick.
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I'm new to the site and was looking around. I came across this post and had to smile! I just purchased N380MF Symphony!
 
cgrab said:
If or when I get the money, this is my next plane. I talked to them about the Deltahawk deisel but they were hooked on Contunental. The Deltahawk folks are on a shoestring but I think with their Cirrus fkying they may get some traction. I figure total cost around 300k.
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I really hope the Deltahawk people catch on. I think they have the best plan for a diesel aircraft engine. The car diesel conversions are way to complex for my liking. I had a 2007 mercedes diesel engine and I could barely trust it to bring my wife home from the store much less put it in an aircraft. Deltahawk looks more like a diesel Lycoming to me
 
Scott MacMoyle said:
I really hope the Deltahawk people catch on. I think they have the best plan for a diesel aircraft engine. The car diesel conversions are way to complex for my liking. I had a 2007 mercedes diesel engine and I could barely trust it to bring my wife home from the store much less put it in an aircraft. Deltahawk looks more like a diesel Lycoming to me
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Delta hawk has been doing their thing since the time I started flying, and that was a long time ago. I hope so too, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
I did the TWTT in December 2017. Fantastic program and much better than the two to twenty years poking away at it in your garage method. With all the factory jigs and having all the tools at hand, it goes together very quickly.

I have the rear facing back seats, so the plane can do four adults and no bags, or three adults and bags since the legs are in the baggage area.

Other than during the build, I have not folded my wings. It is a nice feature, but really isn't used much.

I've flown the diesel factory demonstrator, and other then being a bit down on power than my plane (160hp vs 210hp), it flew just the same. A tad more ground roll, but the Sportsman is such a ground hater that the lower horsepower of the diesel doesn't matter much.
 
N380MF said:
I'm new to the site and was looking around. I came across this post and had to smile! I just purchased N380MF Symphony!
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Thanks for reaching out in a PM! Yes, I checked my logbook and I have 84.2 hours in N380MF. It was based at a flight school at Monroe, NC (KEQY.). Great airplane!
 
I think so too! Its based in Guntersville Alabama now, 8A1. Looking forward to building some hours in it!
 
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