At September's Midwest LSA Expo we pulled the trigger on a new Bushcast, E-LSA, factory-built. Delivery this summer. https://www.fly-aerosport.com/bushcat-light-sport
I'd been shopping for a couple of years and there were several contenders, particularly the Kitfox, the Vasion, and the Aerotrek (as well as some antiques, like the Champ, Luscombe and Taylorcraft--but I've already spent 25 yrs maintaining a 40 yr old sailboat, so I'm done fixing stuff up).
The Bushcat won out on price and delivery time. [when you're 7 yrs old, two years SEEMS like a lifetime. Whey you're nearer 70 yrs old, 2 yrs IS a lifetime.] Plus, it is a hoot to fly.
I opted for the trike over a conventional gear, despite having been an L19 pilot during the unpleasantness in SEA.
Unlike out west, where Trent Palmer, Cory Robins, and the Flying Cowboys flit from hill top to hill top, there aren't any public lands and damn few gravel river bars on the East Coast. Nor are there a lot of public grass runways around here. If we had cactus-free, grassy hilltops where I could land squarely into the wind, I'd have gone with a tailwheel. But we don't.
In Tidewater Virginia, landing areas are mudflats on slow-moving rivers or prickly pear-infested pastures, all private land. Beach landings are corrosively salty and fraught with sunbathers, runner, and dogs, even if they were legal here.
There's a lot of interest right now in tailwheels, they're in vogue. But in my experience, tailwheels limit your landing runway choices and acceptable crosswind components on a day-to-day basis. (If you want evidence, listen to the early Fisk Arrivals at this year's Oshkosh. Tailwheel pilots were all requesting 27 even though the crosswind component was slight, but gusty, on the North runway). I had my share of ground loops on the government dime. These will be on my dime.
There's also the issue of costs. Quite a large premium was added to my insurance quotes, equal to several hours of flying each year, for the tailwheel insurance (due to my lack of tiny wheel currency and age, no doubt).
In no analysis of my most likely mission profile did tailwheel come out on top.
And what is my mission profile? Putzing mostly. Perfecting the stick and rudder skills of flying. Nailing a short field. Hitting a XC waypoint on the nose. Sheep gazing and whale watching.
I'm registering my Bushcat as an Experimental so, with a two-day class, I can do my own annuals and light maintenance. On the Bushcat everything--every bellcrank, cable end, and safety wired nut--is easily accessible.
The Bushcat is somewhat slower than the three other contenders, but it climbs better. It also has more useful load. The wide stance and lower height increase my crosswind options.
You gotta be realistic about your mission: other than for the sheer pleasure of flying somewhere a long way away, no Bushcat mission over 200 miles distance is cheaper, faster, or safer than buying a seat on Southwest, particularly if I was on a schedule.
Thoughts? Did I do the right thing? What would you have done?
I'd been shopping for a couple of years and there were several contenders, particularly the Kitfox, the Vasion, and the Aerotrek (as well as some antiques, like the Champ, Luscombe and Taylorcraft--but I've already spent 25 yrs maintaining a 40 yr old sailboat, so I'm done fixing stuff up).
The Bushcat won out on price and delivery time. [when you're 7 yrs old, two years SEEMS like a lifetime. Whey you're nearer 70 yrs old, 2 yrs IS a lifetime.] Plus, it is a hoot to fly.
I opted for the trike over a conventional gear, despite having been an L19 pilot during the unpleasantness in SEA.
Unlike out west, where Trent Palmer, Cory Robins, and the Flying Cowboys flit from hill top to hill top, there aren't any public lands and damn few gravel river bars on the East Coast. Nor are there a lot of public grass runways around here. If we had cactus-free, grassy hilltops where I could land squarely into the wind, I'd have gone with a tailwheel. But we don't.
In Tidewater Virginia, landing areas are mudflats on slow-moving rivers or prickly pear-infested pastures, all private land. Beach landings are corrosively salty and fraught with sunbathers, runner, and dogs, even if they were legal here.
There's a lot of interest right now in tailwheels, they're in vogue. But in my experience, tailwheels limit your landing runway choices and acceptable crosswind components on a day-to-day basis. (If you want evidence, listen to the early Fisk Arrivals at this year's Oshkosh. Tailwheel pilots were all requesting 27 even though the crosswind component was slight, but gusty, on the North runway). I had my share of ground loops on the government dime. These will be on my dime.
There's also the issue of costs. Quite a large premium was added to my insurance quotes, equal to several hours of flying each year, for the tailwheel insurance (due to my lack of tiny wheel currency and age, no doubt).
In no analysis of my most likely mission profile did tailwheel come out on top.
And what is my mission profile? Putzing mostly. Perfecting the stick and rudder skills of flying. Nailing a short field. Hitting a XC waypoint on the nose. Sheep gazing and whale watching.
I'm registering my Bushcat as an Experimental so, with a two-day class, I can do my own annuals and light maintenance. On the Bushcat everything--every bellcrank, cable end, and safety wired nut--is easily accessible.
The Bushcat is somewhat slower than the three other contenders, but it climbs better. It also has more useful load. The wide stance and lower height increase my crosswind options.
You gotta be realistic about your mission: other than for the sheer pleasure of flying somewhere a long way away, no Bushcat mission over 200 miles distance is cheaper, faster, or safer than buying a seat on Southwest, particularly if I was on a schedule.
Thoughts? Did I do the right thing? What would you have done?
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