Kit Selection Selecting a kit was an interesting process for me. I've had my Private Pilot (ASEL) certificate for about three years now and at the start of my training, I mentioned to my wife Marilyn that if I was still interested and flying in five years, I'd consider buying an airplane. I made it nearly three years...and fortunately for me, Marilyn is not against the idea! At the beginning of 2002, I was coming up on the time for my first BFR when I began thinking about homebuilts. Soon, the idea took on a life of it's own (as things somehow seem to do with me) around springtime. I did the usual internet based searches, reading anything I could find, visiting manufacturer's sites, etc. and pretty soon, I had defined a mission profile for a two place tube and fabric aircraft with a relatively comfortable cabin having a decent cruise speed for moderate cross country trips of two to three hours. I also wanted a taildragger with a sporty feel in flight and if it had great 'ramp appeal' and control sticks instead of yokes, so much the better! As May and June passed, I was becoming convinced that one of three manufacturers had what I wanted and it took just a bit more digging before I determined that Rans was my company of choice and the S-6 Coyote II was going to be the model. My kit also includes the 100 HP Rotax 912S engine with the 116 wing. I credit the builders on 'theRANSlist @ Yahoo!' for helping me make the decision to go with the S-6S versus the S-6ES. I think what finally sealed the deal for Rans was the fact that when I asked EAA for information on accident and incident history for the three manufacturers, the listing for Rans contained less than 10% of the entries for Skystar and Avid. Rans also responded with every bit of information I asked for. I had a couple of very informative telephone conversations with Randy Schlitter who founded and owns the company and Josh Brungardt who eventually served as my demo CFI when I visited the factory before placing my order. |
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Last Update: 12/21/2002 |