My Coyote

www.ransclan.com

The Builder
This S-6S will be my second airplane I've built. My first airplane was a Rans S-10. The S-10 was a super plane for aerobatics and short cross-countries. It is however, extremely unstable (which was great for short flights). I found that most of the flying I did was either long cross countries or flights with my dad around the Pittsburgh area. I didn't become a would famous airshow pilot like I dreamed about when I bought the S-10 kit.

I ended up selling the S-10 in 2006 and about year later I bought the S-6 kit. I noticed that there was a huge internet community for builders of the Vans RV series of aircraft but nothing for Rans. I decided to change that with the Rans Clan website. 

Now ransclan.com has been steadily growing and is gaining more and more of an audience. The Rans Clan forums are a great place to learn more about these airplanes if you are interested.

The Plane
You may be wondering why I am building another plane. Or, why am I building this particular plane? There are many reasons why I chose the Rans S-6S. Having already owned the S-10, I learned a great deal about what I want and don't want in a plane. A person really needs to think about what they intend to do with an airplane before they chose one. When I built the S-10, I really though I would be doing really cool low-level aerobatics...maybe eventually getting into flying airshows. The reality is, I couldn't afford aerobatic lessons and I didn't fit in the plane with a parachute so most of my aerobatics consisted of simple loops, rolls, hammerheads, and spins-weekend type aerobatics.

The S-10 was a fantastic airplane but was challenging to get in and out of and when I took people for rides, most of them stepped all over the wing trying to get in. I had visions of eventually someone stepping right through the fabric! The visibility of the S-10 is pretty good, but the mid-wing does block a lot of scenery. Finally, although I really liked the sensitivity of the S-10, it just got to be a handful for most of the flying I was doing.

Having learned some lessons with the S-10, I knew that 95% of my flying was straight and level, flying to or from a pancake breakfast, around town, or even to Oshkosh! I really liked to pull the power back, fly as slow as I could, and just look at stuff on the ground. A high wing was what I needed.

I wanted a decent cruise speed too because I do like to fly some long cross countries. Especially now that I live in Michigan and all of my family lives in PA. I'd like to use the plane to travel home on some weekends. I think a light weight, cleaned up S-6 with Vans pressure recovery wheel pants could cruise around 125-130 mph with the 100hp Rotax.

I looked at the Kitfox which is a great airplane and actually carries more fuel (and thus has a longer range) than the S-6, but the Kitfox has been in and out of production more times than I can remember. I didn't want to gamble on a company that may or may not be around in 5 years when I may need some support. Rans, as a company, is in excellent shape and I am confident they will be around for a long, long time. This was important to me.

Also, having already built a Rans, I knew that the kits are extremely complete. Wiring, engine gauges, fabric, glue, etc...is all included with the kit.

contact:
s10sakota@yahoo.com