www.PSFmagazine.com | May-June 2019 | 17 16 | May-June 2019 | Powered Sport Flying The Lightning Bug 2 Lightning Bug 2 Encore Appearance — In the lsa–Sport Pilot kit aircraft–ultralight space, we had a rising star, an emerging talent, and one of the nicest people I’ve met. His name was Brian Austein. Sadly, this bright young man succumbed to cancer and died since last Sun ‘n Fun… a terrible loss. However, his unique legacy lives on in Paradise City in 2019. Brian’s last full-sized project, the Lightning Bug 2 (the version number is mine not his), was quite remarkable. LB2 was a 150-pound empty weight aircraft— ponder that weight for a minute — powered by two model aircraft engines. It cost Brian a mere $3,000 out-of-pocket and he produced a man-carrying flying machine. I still find that story rather magical and his one-of-a-kind aircraft design to be utterly a fresh creation. I’ve never seen anything like LB2 and I’m not sure I ever will again. Given his prodigious design ability and inventiveness I found it fun to see some of Brian’s other ideas that he worked on until he died. He bubbled over with ideas as I interviewed him and he wrote from the hospital of another new project in this same ultra-affordable aircraft space. R.I.P. Brian… Sun ‘n Fun Day 4 — Rans Outbound Tricycle, Amphibious Trikes, Electric Powered Paraglider Sun ‘n Fun streaks on with Blue Angels and Stearmans cracking the air. Exhibits are active. People are shopping for the right airplane. Strong crowds are present at peak times. Opening day may have set a record. Generally vendors and customers seemed to be in good spirits. Recreational aviation looks healthy. As I spoke with vendors, one comment I heard repeatedly — freely offered but never requested —was “The economy is good. People have money to spend.” This statement came up often enough to give it weight. Outbound — Rans has enjoyed quite a run with their newest, the S-21 Outbound. It is a handsome taildragger with performance to make stol designs jealous. The trouble is, for the last two generations of pilots, nearly all were instructed in a tricycle gear airplane. Most have also heard stories about ground loops causing damage and hurting pride. They stick to tricycle gear and given their training, that’s probably appropriate. For Sun ‘n Fun 2019, Rans brought Outbound fitted with tricycle gear. Despite what many might have expected, the configuration looks good. The nose wheel doesn’t affect handling or performance; “ it flies the same as the tail dragger,” said Randy Schlitter. Outbound can be powered by a Rotax 912 with 100 horsepower or up to a Titan X340 with 180 horsepower. Randy said the climb with the bigger engine is impressive (850 to 1,500 fpm) but fuel usage rises noticeably (from 5.5 to 7 gph, and pilot real-life experience may result in an even greater gap). Takeoff is also fast with the big engine: just over 300 feet to leave the runway and just under 400 to land… in skilled hands, of course. However, interestingly Rans quotes essentially the same launch and landing values for the Rotax 912. With the tricycle gear, you can have robust but smaller tires or you can opt for the tricycle version of bush gear; doing so gives greater prop clearance for larger diameters. All outbounds can go both ways, taildragger or tri-gear. It takes about four hours to swap out the hardware but the airframe is built to accommodate either configuration. Amphib Trikes — Michael Percy and his Airtime Aircraft enterprise deliver a most agreeably priced seaplane, a combination of Krueger floats and a trike carriage built by his organization. Amphibious weight shift trikes are not common, but I have flown a few and they work reasonably well. In fact the way a trike leaves and arrives back on the water seems to jibe with the posture of a trike. If you watch a wheeled trike meet runway, you will observe that the main gear always touch first; the carriage is suspended under the wing in that way to facilitate rotation for lift off. Support Our Advertisers RANS Outbound
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