Sold FS: Carlson Sparrow Sport Special N41475

[zaitcev]

[sold]

This is my Carlson that I sadly pranged in 2014. It was since restored to better-than-new condition by the original builder, Mr. Christopher Black. He is based near Rochester, NY. I visited Chris to fly the N41475 a couple of times, but when the time has come to ferry it home across the country, one of us had a bright idea to try and sell it in New York. Don't get me wrong though, the Carlson has a 4-stroke engine and I took it to maximum distance of 183 nm from home base. It would be a super fun adventure to fly it, but I'm just too lazy. In addition, I want a 2-seat airplane and I'm afraid that it may be difficult to sell at our altitudes. Honestly it does climb better in NY and than in NM.

Basic specs:
Carlson Sparrow Sport Special
no flaps (never needed any)
3 fuel tanks for total of 12 gallons
Engine: HKS-700E
Gross weight: 925 lbs (IIRC)
Cruise speed: 72 knots
Stall speed: about 35 knots
BRS soft-pack parachute
Grove gear

Chris has all the documents right now, in particular the limitations page that has all the data.

Asking price: $10,000. PM me, write to <zaitcev@yahoo.com>, or call at 505-252-5319.

Uploading the most current pictures...

 

[Dave Rowe]

It's funny seeing this plane on "Barnstormers", then researching it... finding it here. Looks like a nice plane , tell me about your experiences with it..thks Dave..

 

[zaitcev]

Carlson was probably the most fun airplane to fly for me, and still is. It's easy to maintain, primarily because the engine never gave me any trouble. I didn't have to balance carburetors even once, the HKS just works. I am a member of a local ultralight club and I learned there that I absolutely made the right choice by sacrificing weight for a bulletproof 4-stroke motor. The owners of planes with 582s and 503s in the club keep struggling with them. One even was so fed up that he re-engined his Kolb with a 80 hp Rotax 912 at a cost way north of $15k.

When I bought the airplane, the rubber hoses were basically shot, because someone was using automobile gasoline with ethanol in it. The drain on the gascolator was plugged, even. I replaced all the rubber upstream from the fuel pumps and used 100LL and 91 octane pure-gas. It worked very well. BTW, the fuel system has additional filters between pumps and carburetors.

The biggest downside for me was the lack of power. I admit that I miscalculated at this, in part because you'll never notice anything amiss while flying around the pattern. My home base is at 4,800 ft MSL. But the maximum altitude I could achieve was 10,000 feet, which is just not enough around here. Going down the valley to Las Cruces was quite easy. Going to Artesia required me to cross the Sierra Blanca pass, which was a struggle. The plane flies beautifully in New York, but in New Mexico you will want at least 12,000 ceiling. I pondered re-engining the Carlson with a 582, but I really didn't want the increased maintenance. So instead I just learned to fly in the mornings and use winds to my advantage.

The plane has other quirks too. For example, the gear track is just couple of inches narrower than the propeller diameter. So, if you land at something like Estancia after a rain, the wheels throw mud and stones that will nick the propeller blades. Carlson is really not a rugged back-country airplane, but more like a weekend airplane for a beautiful grass field. Last time I asked Chris where he took my airplane, he flew it to Ohio to eat some ice-cream. Apparently this is a kind of thing NY pilots do. Out in NM you could best hope for a pancake smeared with green chili.

At this point I'm thinking about upgrading to a 2-seater. My better half expressed some interest in flying together. Looking at RANS S-7 with a 80 hp or 100 hp 912.

 

[zaitcev]

Here's a sunrise over Manzano mountains from flying out to EAA 555 breakfast. They are about 200 nm from my home base and I had to go around some restricted areas, hence the before-the sunrise departure. Otherwise there would be nothing left to eat.

 

[Dave Rowe]

When you say "pranged", can you be more specific...Damage report?
How long have you owned it? Not sure if it would lift my #260 fat arse..

 

[zaitcev]

Dave, see the main thread
https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/carlson-sparrow-and-sport-special.63772/

I think 260# is out of the question, sorry. You'll meet the weight a balance but IIRC the maximum pilot weight is 235#.