N941WR
Legacy Member
The other day a friend took me up in the Sport Cruiser he rents.
That was one impressive machine.
Construction was similar to the RV-12, blind rivets. The only manufacturing detail I noticed was the paint, there were trips under some of the rivets. Other than that the thing was put together very nicely.
It was equipped with a Dynon D100 EFIS on the left side and a D120 EMS on the right. The radio stack consisted of a 496 in an AirGizmo, Garmin 327 transponder, and Garmin SL30 Nav/Com, and a stereo intercom. This turned out to be very similar to how my RV-9 is configured.
The pre-flight was conventional with a few things that stood out. First, you need to be careful with the thing as the skins were very thin and it is easy to oil can them with your hand. Second, the 912 engine has a dry sump oil system and the manual tells you to turn it over by hand a number of compression strokes to empty the engine. Because of the high compression cylinders (Remember, this is water cooled so it has higher tolerances than our air-cooled Lycomings.) and gear reduction drive, it just feels strange, as if you can feel the gears meshing.
When checking the fuel, it was just strange to see and smell auto fuel in an airplane. (I need to get used to that idea, if I?m ever going to run auto fuel in my 80 octane O-290.)
Part of the pre-flight includes checking the wing lockers to make sure they are securely fastened. Yep, they put a small locker in each wing, behind the fuel tanks and outboard of the W I D E wing walk. They are probably a foot square and maybe eight inches deep. What a great place to store oil, if the engine ever used any.
Boarding is similar to any of the A model RV?s, one person at a time. There was this cool little T handle sticking up between the seats to rest your hand on as you boarded.
Once seated I was surprised at how much room the thing had! Although only 46.5? wide, it felt like there was more room than that.
Startup was conventional airplane but the engine sounded different than my Lycoming, not bad, just different.
The day we flew the winds were 17G22 right down the runway. Taxiing out was conventional RV with a swiveling nose wheel. Taxiing downwind I immediately pushed full forward on the stick only to be told the POH recommends neutral stick position, regardless of the wind. Huh? That will take a lot of getting used.
The only addition to the run-up was verifying the water temperature. No big deal.
The takeoff was quick, even with my big ?ol butt in there. Of course the wind didn?t hurt at all.
Climb was more than adequate but the light weight was very noticeable, as we were bounced around. A little bit of rudder action quickly smoothed out most of it.
Control harmony was good, not RV good, but good none the less. This airplane will never be mistaken for an RV but it sure puts a lot of Cessnas and Pipers to shame.
Visibility out of the BIG tip-up canopy is similar to any of the side-by-side RV?s.
Where I in the market for a store bought LSA, this would be on the short list.
Probably the biggest drawback to this aircraft, and this can be said for any low wing. As I watch my older friends climb up on the wing of any of the RV?s, I understand the desire to have a high wing. It seems to me that getting in a high wing is just much easier than climbing up on a wing, even one with a large wing walk like the Sport Cruiser. Once on the wing, they still have the challenge of letting oneself down into the airplane. Getting out is even more difficult. A boarding a high wing just seems easier.
Ok, that is my $.02 on this very fine airplane. If the RV-12 (or S-19) is 1/2 as good, you will be very happy!
That was one impressive machine.
Construction was similar to the RV-12, blind rivets. The only manufacturing detail I noticed was the paint, there were trips under some of the rivets. Other than that the thing was put together very nicely.
It was equipped with a Dynon D100 EFIS on the left side and a D120 EMS on the right. The radio stack consisted of a 496 in an AirGizmo, Garmin 327 transponder, and Garmin SL30 Nav/Com, and a stereo intercom. This turned out to be very similar to how my RV-9 is configured.
The pre-flight was conventional with a few things that stood out. First, you need to be careful with the thing as the skins were very thin and it is easy to oil can them with your hand. Second, the 912 engine has a dry sump oil system and the manual tells you to turn it over by hand a number of compression strokes to empty the engine. Because of the high compression cylinders (Remember, this is water cooled so it has higher tolerances than our air-cooled Lycomings.) and gear reduction drive, it just feels strange, as if you can feel the gears meshing.
When checking the fuel, it was just strange to see and smell auto fuel in an airplane. (I need to get used to that idea, if I?m ever going to run auto fuel in my 80 octane O-290.)
Part of the pre-flight includes checking the wing lockers to make sure they are securely fastened. Yep, they put a small locker in each wing, behind the fuel tanks and outboard of the W I D E wing walk. They are probably a foot square and maybe eight inches deep. What a great place to store oil, if the engine ever used any.
Boarding is similar to any of the A model RV?s, one person at a time. There was this cool little T handle sticking up between the seats to rest your hand on as you boarded.
Once seated I was surprised at how much room the thing had! Although only 46.5? wide, it felt like there was more room than that.
Startup was conventional airplane but the engine sounded different than my Lycoming, not bad, just different.
The day we flew the winds were 17G22 right down the runway. Taxiing out was conventional RV with a swiveling nose wheel. Taxiing downwind I immediately pushed full forward on the stick only to be told the POH recommends neutral stick position, regardless of the wind. Huh? That will take a lot of getting used.
The only addition to the run-up was verifying the water temperature. No big deal.
The takeoff was quick, even with my big ?ol butt in there. Of course the wind didn?t hurt at all.
Climb was more than adequate but the light weight was very noticeable, as we were bounced around. A little bit of rudder action quickly smoothed out most of it.
Control harmony was good, not RV good, but good none the less. This airplane will never be mistaken for an RV but it sure puts a lot of Cessnas and Pipers to shame.
Visibility out of the BIG tip-up canopy is similar to any of the side-by-side RV?s.
Where I in the market for a store bought LSA, this would be on the short list.
Probably the biggest drawback to this aircraft, and this can be said for any low wing. As I watch my older friends climb up on the wing of any of the RV?s, I understand the desire to have a high wing. It seems to me that getting in a high wing is just much easier than climbing up on a wing, even one with a large wing walk like the Sport Cruiser. Once on the wing, they still have the challenge of letting oneself down into the airplane. Getting out is even more difficult. A boarding a high wing just seems easier.
Ok, that is my $.02 on this very fine airplane. If the RV-12 (or S-19) is 1/2 as good, you will be very happy!
