Bought a Light Sport :)

[mrivc211]

Made an offer on this beast, they accepted. It's got 378 hours TT on the frame. Parachute and drinks car gasoline(hello $3/hr). It's quite a step up from my 1979 Cessna 152. This being my third airplane purchase, I'm getting better and better at sniffing around for problems. I'd say the biggest mistake I made with the two previous purchases was that I never really broke in the airplane to see what problems it had. A spin around the pattern typically won't reveal its ghosts. If you're gonna buy a plane, along with the prebuy, go fly it for 1-2 hours. Offer to pay the owner. Anyways, I'm looking forward to only burning 4.5 gallons per hour. My 152 burns 6.1 @ $5.05/gal which takes me from $30.80 per hour fuel burn to $13.18. I'm going to be saving about $1711 per month on fuel savings per plane. I'm selling the 152 and I'm planning to purchase a second one within a couple of months provided this plane performs as stated. I"m really diggin the exterior color, not so much the interior however I'm planning on installing sheepskin seat covers so it won't really matter.

 

[Markf64]

Nice mrivc211. It is a fun plane to fly.

 

[z987k]

I used to think LSA was useless. Now I own one. Materials and building techniques have come a long ways with the ATSM standards as opposed to FAR 23. I have as much useful as planes that weigh twice as much empty, but I burn half the gas, and that gas costs half as much. Not only that, but for the price of a similar ability FAR 23 airplane, I can have 2 of these if I chose.
My total operating costs are right around half what the old plane was and I'm only about 5kts slower.
Some LSAs are still dumb. If the empty weight isn't in the high 600s or low 700s you can't use them for anything but a short joy ride. No real work or transport. I'm always looking to get mine lighter. It's all about the power to weight ratio. I'm at 668 empty now, hoping to get down to 650 with some new carbon pieces.

 

[Itchy]

First I've ever heard of or seen one. (Need to look around some more...) Looks great!

 

[ShyFlyer]

Never knew Piper was in the Light Sport biz. The Great Google reveals that the Piper Sport only lasted about a year, with 45 built. It was a licensed version of the CSA SportCruiser, which is still in production.

 

[Lawman]

That’s a sharp looking aircraft.

What kind of range can you get out of it?


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[DE727UPS]

I've always thought the Sport Cruiser was a cool plane since I saw one in Palm Springs. Maybe I will get one when I retire. I bet you could buy 4 152's for what you paid but it will pay you back with operating costs and hopefully hold is value.

 

[alaskadrifter]

I used to think LSA was useless. Now I own one. Materials and building techniques have come a long ways with the ATSM standards as opposed to FAR 23. I have as much useful as planes that weigh twice as much empty, but I burn half the gas, and that gas costs half as much. Not only that, but for the price of a similar ability FAR 23 airplane, I can have 2 of these if I chose.
My total operating costs are right around half what the old plane was and I'm only about 5kts slower.
Some LSAs are still dumb. If the empty weight isn't in the high 600s or low 700s you can't use them for anything but a short joy ride. No real work or transport. I'm always looking to get mine lighter. It's all about the power to weight ratio. I'm at 668 empty now, hoping to get down to 650 with some new carbon pieces.

No more Bushmaster?

 

[Itchy]

Auto pilot with altitude on a light sport is pretty cool.

 

[z987k]

No more Bushmaster?

It's for sale. If you know someone that needs 180 loads at pacer speeds, with supercub performance when light, let me know.

It did 100% of what I needed to do, but at one hell of a price premium on the 80% of what I normally do.

 

[alaskadrifter]

It's for sale. If you know someone that needs 180 loads at pacer speeds, with supercub performance when light, let me know.

It did 100% of what I needed to do, but at one hell of a price premium on the 80% of what I normally do.

Wish I could afford that. I’ve got a Pacer budget and family size, I’ll pass it along though. What are you running now?

 

[z987k]

Wish I could afford that. I’ve got a Pacer budget and family size, I’ll pass it along though. What are you running now?

A highlander.

I mean I could afford it, just not as much as I wanted to fly. Being able to go for a flight and not even notice the gas bill is wonderful.

 

[AA34]

Congrats great plane! Judging on the pictures the people you bought from are a good group too.

 

[mrivc211]

That’s a sharp looking aircraft.

What kind of range can you get out of it?


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Book says about 500NM. I'm mainly using it for training so it fits its need very well.

 

[Murdoughnut]

Very nice! Does the chute handle have some type of fail safe (beside the pin) to keep a kid from pulling it? Like do you have to twist and pull or something?

 

[CrimsonEclipse]

i had no idea Piper made a sport plane.

I learned something today!

 

[z987k]

i had no idea Piper made a sport plane.

I learned something today!

They don't. It's a re-branded czech plane. Fantastic reviews from about everywhere though.

 

[BigZ]

i had no idea Piper made a sport plane.

I learned something today!

They didn't
Piper was engaged in an exclusive partnership with Czech Aircraft Works for the sales and promotion of their SportCruiser. The deal lasted exactly a year, since piper found out that with all the expense of them marketing the aircraft, for every one they sold, three more magically popped up around the world bearing the Piper Sport name on them. Piper didn't appreciate that, and rightfully so, and the deal was off.
SportCruiser, like the plethora of the light aircraft from that part of the world (Viper comes to mind, Bristol), is a facelifted and somewhat improved Zenith 601.

Congrats on the new toy
Hope you enjoy it

 

[z987k]

SportCruiser, like the plethora of the light aircraft from that part of the world (Viper comes to mind, Bristol), is a facelifted and somewhat improved Zenith 601.

Congrats on the new toy
Hope you enjoy it

I didn't know that!

It's amazing the amount of aircraft that are based on the original Avid Flyer as well.

Does the Cz aircraft have a Riblett airfoil?

 

[z987k]

On another note, if the FAA does a re-write of FAR23 to come somewhat close to the flexibility of light sport, there might be another small boom for GA, at least heavier more capable aircraft.