Bob Stone and netters
First off I don't think Jeanette neglects her business, I think that she
has an active life and that she takes care of the obvious customers and those
that are shopping sometimes don't receive the sales pitching that some other
kit plane people have folks doing, which is why your plans cost what they do
from Jeanette, instead of 25-50 thousand dollars for a kit only to get the
plane you want.
Secondly. There is some misunderstanding that an aircraft cannot be a high
performance aircraft just because it is under 200 hp output from its engine.
This is merely a mandatory figure supported by the FAA, not an assessment of
the industry. The Italian Cri Cri is a high performance airplane, but has twin
40hp 2 cycle engines to power it. A friend of mine flew me in his T-18 with a
IO-360 with constant speed prop, which by definition is not high performance,
yet at a power setting of 23in and 2300rpms, what would only deliver 120knots
in the Piper Arrow, we were scooting along at 165knots. I did a barrel roll at
145knots and never moved the stick more than 1/2 to the side. We did a loop
and never pulled back and pushed forward more than 3/4of an inch. This
aircraft was as sensitive as the Schweizer helicopter that I flew, but it was
wonderful. Large control surfaces mean safety at slow speeds because you never
run out of authority if you are within the CG envelope. The KR attracts alot
of people who want to fly cheap, but since they are on the lower end of the
aviation economy, they also have the least number of hours. This by default
limits their experience to spam can trainers made to be trimmed hands off and
left alone putting around at 85-95 knots. I have even flown some C172s that
had engine upgrades to 180 & 200 hp and when you went for 75% cruise and pushed
them up to 120-125knot cruise you could not achieve a trimmed for hands off
flight. You were putting small inputs in all the time, just like I hear the KR
pilots talk about. Last year I made 2 trips to Atlanta from Sanford in a
Mooney 20J, 200hp plane. This little hotrod flew at 160KTAS at 8000feet, and
indicated 150. And let me tell you, it needed little inputs throughout the
entire flight. There was no taking your hands off for long periods of time.
My point is if that is what you want, you are interested in the wrong type of
airplanes all together. Go by a little C152 or C172 and cruise at 50-60% power
and have fun. If more is what you are after build the plane of choice, GO GET
ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATE TRAINING and go fly! Do not expect your private
training to have all your answers for these breed of airplanes. And do not
expect the low hour CFI at the local FBO to have any experience appropriate to
your needs either. You need a seasoned pro with more than 4 planes in his
logbook.
Lastly. Have you netters been reading Mark L's posts? He is investing in
himself. He is going out and getting current and proficient in as many planes
as he can that are like the KR. But just as important he is getting up in the
air. It takes more than just the legal 3 take offs and landings in 90 days to
stay safe. I have only had 20 -30 hours a month in the last 2 months and I am
beginning to feel rusty. How many have you logged? You don't want to log just
enough to feel the anxiety go away, you want to log enough to be able to quit
thinking about the right thing to do, and just do it so that you can fly the
plane, think about other planes around you and God forbid, plan on where you
are going to land if you lose an engine. Not a flight goes by when I am not
planning on where to land if I lose my engine, all the way through the flight.
It is just habit. Do you do this? Do you practice engine out glides to the
runway where you have to plan on making it because you will only get one shot?
The KR is like any other plane, it is only dangerous, or unforgiving, or overly
sensitive to those lacking the proper understanding of how it truly works and
what its limits are. You have the choices, go make good ones....see you at the
Gathering.....
Colin & Bev Rainey
KR2(td) N96TA
Sanford, FL
[email protected]
http://kr-builder.org/Colin/index.html
