The best 4 seat STOL bush planes.

steingar said:
I genuinely think its nuts to take a machine that costs tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars and is built of thin aluminum and drive it into pot holes and gravel for fun.
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But that's where are the nice rock and mineral samples are. ;)
 
dmccormack said:
Aren't there any public grass strips? Or public fields with parallel grass runways?
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Oh, yea. I fly in and out of the grass strips around here. But they are still airports. I've never landed on a sand bar, or farm field, or...
 
dmccormack said:
Surely, you're not serious?!
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I am serious...and don't call me Shirley.

:D


(sorry, I have nothing informative to add to this thread, being a newly certificated pilot. I just couldn't resist.)
 
Tom-D said:
For what you will invest in a bearhawk you can buy a nice 185.
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Yea, but then you're stuck with something certified. For the money might as well be able to go top of the line, or strip it down and hand prop it. No worries with STC's or any of that BS. :thumbsup:
 
pilotmattk said:
Yea, but then you're stuck with something certified. For the money might as well be able to go top of the line, or strip it down and hand prop it. No worries with STC's or any of that BS. :thumbsup:
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This is the first time I've seen "certified" and "stuck with" used in the same sentence. :rolleyes2:
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Oh, yea. I fly in and out of the grass strips around here. But they are still airports. I've never landed on a sand bar, or farm field, or...
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I've landed on a beach (rather taken off from a beach; Leslie did the landing) in a 172. It was on the West coast, though.... of New Zealand!
 
Turbine Sherpa
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The 850hp Turbine Super Sherpa. Under 100' take off at 5000#'s at 3000' alt. So they say. Empty I believe is just under 3000 pounds with a 6000 pound gross.
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I love this plane but at 35 gallons per hour it is cost prohibitive.
 
flyingcheesehead said:
No kidding - That's a helluvan airplane! Efficient it ain't, unfortunately - 42gph to go 150 knots! :hairraise:
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It is equal to the turbine Beaver, but will get in/out shorter. It takes a turbine Otter to beat either.
 
Best 4 place STOL I ever owned was Cessna 182 with Wren Conversion.
Take off and land at full gross, zero wind in less than 300 ft. with O-470 230HP and even less with the IO-470 260HP. Incredible plane.
Hit the throttle, pull back slightly and because the elevator on the canard mmoves down as well creating lift so the nose wheel is off the ground in a few feet. No safer slow flight performance, control and stability I have seen or flown. Could rotate at as little as 28 MPH.

Next best thing Peterson's 260HP IO-470 and 300HP IO-550 Katmai, three Blade prop. Considerably faster then the Wren with less drag. Not quite the same plane but has the Wren canard, XWing extentions and leaves the surface of planet in less than 300 feet at 31 knots on 13 to 17GPH for the two engines listed above. Best bang for the buck in my opinion overall.
 
Capt.Crash'n'Burn said:
If you were to pick the ultimate bush plane for 4 people, what would it be? Something by Cessna? Maule? Found Aircraft? PZL Wilga? perhaps a homebuilt?

And I mean a REAL 4 seater, not something like a Tri-Pacer that only has enough room for a Hobbit pilot and co-pilot, and 2 Smurfs in the back seat. ;)

Second question, what's a realistic number for the shortest take-off and landings possible for such a plane with 4 average adults??
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Stinson 108 with an O-470 works pretty damned short and steep.
 
bobmrg said:
You won't find many Helio Couriers sitting on the ramp at Bethel or King Salmon...more likely to see 206's, 180's, 185's etc. Some Cherokee Sixes.

Bob Gardner
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Bob, I'll second your comment - I've also seen a lot of 180/185/and206s here at FAI, but not a single Helio Courier. I can't see anyone messing with a HC in Alaska, if you have one and break down in the bush, you're probably going to be there for a while. With a Cessna, someone can bring you a part the next day.
 
A Helio Courier is definitely more expensive to buy and operate and there are far fewer of them than Cessnas. So, although it may not make much sense to use one to land on gravel bars and dirt strips in Alaska I'd say that the majority of Helio Couriers in existence are seeing real bush duty all over the world and operate in some of the most extreme conditions. They are more in the league of the Pilatus Porter, you'd probably see more in New Guinea than Alaska.
 
Aeronca Sedan? If there are any left. Everyone in their own ultralight?:D You looking to move four people plus rocks or four people worth of rocks?
 
The quest for an ATV with wings...

All this talk of Helios made me laugh, there are two of them in KLNK.
 
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TangoWhiskey said:
Wow, that is beautifully expensive.
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I've seen a couple Katmai conversions up close. They rival anything new coming off the factory floor, with far more capability. They start with only the cleanest of the clean airframes. Worth the price, if you need the capability and desire a "new airplane" feel.

Jeff
 
I've flown the 260hp Katmai and it is awesomely impressive in both performance and handling, I can imagine the 300hp version being more so.
 
dtarm1 said:
Bob, I'll second your comment - I've also seen a lot of 180/185/and206s here at FAI, but not a single Helio Courier. I can't see anyone messing with a HC in Alaska, if you have one and break down in the bush, you're probably going to be there for a while. With a Cessna, someone can bring you a part the next day.
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You should take time out to watch more airplanes ;) There is a Helio flying out of the East Ramp regularly in part 135 service with Wrights. Thing sounds like a giant bumblebee on takeoff. There are many still out there in the bush but with every year's crashes, fewer and fewer still flying.

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alaskaflyer said:
You should take time out to watch more airplanes ;) There is a Helio flying out of the East Ramp regularly in part 135 service with Wrights. Thing sounds like a giant bumblebee on takeoff. There are many still out there in the bush but with every year's crashes, fewer and fewer still flying.
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Isn't there still a Helio company in business that supports them? Perhaps they can put some new birds in production besides the crappy H-800 with the IO-720 that weighed a metric ton.
 
Someone bought the type certificate but I don't know what they are doing. I think replacement PMA parts are being produced.
 
Capt.Crash'n'Burn said:
Isn't there still a Helio company in business that supports them? Perhaps they can put some new birds in production besides the crappy H-800 with the IO-720 that weighed a metric ton.
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I don't think so. There are a bunch of engine STCs out there for the Courier, I saw one guy working on on an M-14 425hp one several years ago. If you want a real performance Helio, there was also the turbine powered Stallion.
 
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