"Welcome to the RANS CLAN website. Here you will find a very friendly network of RANS builders, pilots, and enthusiasts. Take a look around and then head over to the forums where you can meet others, tell stories, learn, laugh, and ask questions."

-Mark P.

Home and Refreshed
Sunday February 7, 2010

I just returned home from a two week deployment to Davis-Monthan AFB in Arizona. Everyone here probably knows that D-M is the Air Force's 'boneyard' of old airplanes. I'm with an A-10 unit now and we went there for live ordnance training. Of course anywhere the jets go, the maintenance team follows.

I am headed to Houston tonight. I'll get back tomorrow and then I'll have a few days off to get back into the S-6 project. I received my Ray Allen trim system so I'm excited to get that installed in the elevator.

A-10 cockpit on the flight line	View from the hangar
Sad sight to see a pickled F-16	D-M is one of the few places you can still see an F-4 fly.
B-1 Bomber	Hundreds of F-16's. Most of these will fly again.
Lots of helo's too.	F-106

 

Google Map Contact Info...We Need It!
Thursday January 21, 2010

I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner! The whole purpose of the RANS CLAN Google map is so we can find each other for a visit. But once we locate a close builder on the map, there was no way to actually contact them!

So I'd like to ask everyone to edit their pin info to include your contact info. You can list an e-mail address or phone number-however you would like to be reached.

I've updated my info with my e-mail address and my phone number. Hey-no prank calls!

 

We are Growing
Thursday January 21, 2010

It's very nice to see more and more people signing up on the RANS CLAN forums. The more people we have participating on the forums the more we get to learn from others experience. We also get more stories, travel reports, product reviews, etc...

Here's a few things you may or may not know about using the RANS CLAN forum software...

1. You can upload any custom avatar (the little picture under your name) by clicking on User CP (on the menu bar towards the top of the page) and then clicking on Edit Avatar on the menu on the left. The avatar must be no larger than 150 x 150 pixels.

If you don't have the software to shrink a picture, e-mail it to me and I will shrink it and send it back to you!

2. You can fill in some personal information about you and your hobbies again by clicking on User CP and then Edit Your Details which will be the first option on the left.

3. The RANS CLAN forums can host small photo galleries. Again, go to User CP (this is your user control panel and most things are done through here) and then click the option on the left called Pictures & Albums. We'd like to see your airplane so go ahead and upload a few pics!

4. You can subscribe to threads so that anytime there is a new post, an instant e-mail (or daily or weekly, whatever you choose) will be sent to you notifying you of the new post. It's very simple to subscribe. See this post on the forums to learn how.

Have fun everyone and welcome to the RANS CLAN!

---

True Homebuilding!
Friday January 15, 2010

If you guys haven't been watching this thread, check it out. SkyGuy is fabricating his own interior for his S-19. How good can a homemade interior really look, you may be wondering. Well, see for yourself in this thread of the forums. Here's a sneak peak...sweet, huh?

 

3D S-19 Modeling (Very Cool)
Monday January 11, 2010

Kevin Thorp is using Autodesk 3ds Max to make an animated 3D model to test his different paint schemes. Here's the thread and here's the video on YouTube!

This is really cool. I'd sure like to see my S-6S done like this...hint...hint...wink...wink...
 

---

What's New at RANS for 2010?
Friday January 8, 2010

From the RANS website...

"The 2010 RANS aircraft kits will feature a few changes to accommodate the ever-changing avionics/instruments, and measures to increase value and not increase prices. Here is a detailed listing of the changes and which models are affected:"

[Read more here]

---

POWER!
Thursday January 7, 2010

Today I finished building the wiring harness for the FlightLine radio. I installed it in the plane and routed all the wires. But before I install the interior and cover everything up, I thought that I would test the radio to make sure it all works. Everything seems to work fine (I can transmit and receive) but the back light is always on. There is one wire from the radio that goes through a switch and then to ground. That switch is suppose to turn the backlight on and off. It doesn't. The backlight is always on. I've checked the switch and it's good.

Since the EFIS is wired and I had power available, I thought I would turn it on also and take a look. Here's the current page in the builder's log.

---

Forum Happenings
Wednesday January 6, 2010

Here's a couple current discussions we're having on the RANS CLAN forums...join in!

▪How are you staying motivated while building your airplane?
▪Registering your airplane as a Light Sport vs. Experimental?

We have had a lot of people sign up on the RANS CLAN forums lately. If you're one of them and you are building or flying a RANS plane, you can place a pin at your location on the RANS CLAN Google Map. Here's instructions on how to do it...

▪Place a pin on the map!
 

---