Ordered an SE-1. Delivery in Nov.

B

Barrett50

Line Up and Wait
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Oct 3, 2024
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Barrett50
spiriteng.com
Whys: Folding wings. Lets face it, most GA fliers put less the 50 hours per year and spend a lot of time in storage. 8x18 can fit almost anywhere. It will go along the wall of my hangar.
100mph @ 2.5gal fuel, very low oil use.
Day, night VFR. Its all I ever fly now anyway.
Can be converted ELSA for my own maint and inspections.
Low buy in price. New plane for $70k! My Benz was more than that.
Cool looks.
Hope others like it. Spirit said offering a two seat would nearly double the price, most of my flying is solo.
 
Barrett50 said:
Hope others like it. Spirit said offering a two seat would nearly double the price, most of my flying is solo.
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I'll be watching with interest. The SE-1 is on my short list for my next flying toy in the next couple of years. Fascinating to know that they're already booked out nearly a year, since I know they had a factory-worth of aircraft already assembled. I'll look forward to your impressions!
 
Ok, that's pretty neat. I could see someday downsizing to something like that.
 
Shepherd said:
With a canopy or open cockpit?
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I think they're all sold as open cockpit right now, with the company making some noises about working on an owner-replaceable bubble canopy for colder months. Hopefully that comes to fruition and turns it into a year-round flyable plane for the higher latitudes.
 
Current builds will ALL be open canopy. Since it's an S-LSA, there are technically no paths for owner/operator mods. The closed canopy is in the works right now, and I'm guessing that it will be a factory option for existing owners, thus keeping it in the S-LSA reg.

I'm hoping and expecting a BRS to be offered, but the Spirit people are not currently interested in the BRS. I'm figuring that the testing involved in offering a BRS is unreasonably expensive. Each canopy deploy will wreck an airframe. Unless there is some kind of backup to the canopy deploy to cut it away and fly off again. In the E-LSA world, we can just strap any old BRS to an airframe how ever we think it will work, and go fly. It MAY deploy right and let down safely - or not. We are the alpha and beta testers in E-LSA for things like a BRS.
 
I will see and fit in one tomorrow that is at a nearby airport. I will give my first impressions after some hands on.

Edit: Grrrr, I had my plane batt on a crappy tender. The batt wasn't able to crank the engine fast enough. I will prop a 200 up to a 320, but I'm too old to hand prop a 470. Plus no safety guy, and wasn't sure my batt would hold the charge. I tossed the old junk tender and put it on my smart charger. It's coming up well now. Maybe can get down there on Wed next week. Once I get hands on, I'll post some personal findings.
 
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I just got an update from the factory in CO. They are staying pretty much on schedule, so I'm still expecting Nov build. They are at one plane every 4 days and not trying to go faster right now. I think there's a kind of production settling in where the line is finding out where there are delays, and coming up with fixes to the plan. He said they are sold out through the new year, and well into next year deliveries now. Sounds to me like they are coming up on at least 100 units, and still taking orders. He said if I change my mind within 4 weeks of delivery, they will give someone else my spot, no cost to me.
 
What a good looking plane - should be a hoot to fly. Fun of a cub with Art Deco classic styling.

1) Getting it polished, or are you having it painted?
2) Curious why they didn't use an off the shelf engine, like a Rotax? Then again, it looks like you only need 40 or so HP.

Most important - where are you getting your mandatory 1930's leather jacket, with Rocketeer type helmet?

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Keep us posted throughout the process! Keep this thread alive with all the updates!
 
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No specific date yet but Colorado Pilots Association’s been invited to tour the factory this summer.
 
Here's the one hour factory tour.

You may not to watch the whole thing, it gets a bit sloggy. But, check out the conditions of the production line, and all the attention to detail. Makes me feel good about taking off on a 8 hour trip home, and I have to go over that Monarch pass at 14k too.
 
Barrett50 said:
Here's the one hour factory tour.

You may not to watch the whole thing, it gets a bit sloggy. But, check out the conditions of the production line, and all the attention to detail. Makes me feel good about taking off on a 8 hour trip home, and I have to go over that Monarch pass at 14k too.
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I watched that some time ago. It's really good ...
 
^^^^^^^ I saw your pics on the other site on the ground. Some really nice work there. I'm gonna be down your way soon I might drop in to Taylor. There's an Arrow for sale I have been looking at on the field. Maybe visit if you are around.
 
Daleandee said:
Long cross country flight with some impressive numbers ...

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VERY cool

Those seem like a really great option, I’d like at least one extra seat but I get it $$ wise

My only concern is their own engine, I always think that if it gets orphaned, a good metal guy could remake or fix dented panels, wire is wire, wheels seem standard, etc, but a one off engine could be a issue if 10yrs down the line they shut down and no one else bought the engine plans etc
 
decalogue said:
My only concern is their own engine, I always think that if it gets orphaned, a good metal guy could remake or fix dented panels, wire is wire, wheels seem standard, etc, but a one off engine could be a issue if 10yrs down the line they shut down and no one else bought the engine plans etc
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Well ...us experimental guys would take the SLSA & roll it over to ELSA and toss a 1/2 VW or a B&S conversion on the nose like they use on the Ultracruiser. Would have to do some FWF mods and keep the W&B in check but it wouldn't be the end of the world (or the airplane) if it were orphaned ...
 
I will likely convert to ELSA after a few months. There are things I want to do to it that are minor, but not allowed with SLSA type. Engine swaps are limited, and I'll have to check into what's avail. Around 40HP.
 
Barrett50 said:
I will likely convert to ELSA after a few months. There are things I want to do to it that are minor, but not allowed with SLSA type. Engine swaps are limited, and I'll have to check into what's avail. Around 40HP.
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I was wondering why they built their own engine and not use a Rotax.
 
WDD said:
I was wondering why they built their own engine and not use a Rotax.
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They field a lot of questions like this. From what I've heard, first they were wary of supply from a large vendor. They modify an off the shelf engine, and the vendor apparently didn't like that plan(the engine in question comes with a air cooling fan, that has to go, also it was designed to run upright and they want it inverted). They also found inconsistencies in the production lots as a result of loose restrictions on what was 'serviceable' for a mower, or other implement and would not adhere to an aviation related tolerance. I'm not sure of this, but Rotax doesn't have an engine that is suitable for this small package. The 912 with water cooling is significantly heavier than the engine they designed.
 
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As for alternate engines, check out Aeromarine's VTwin...
 
The Pegasus O-100 designed by Pete Plumb would have been a good alternative engine to consider for this (weight might be a concern).

Sadly Pete is no longer with us and development has been interrupted. It is based on 1/2 of a Continental O-200:

www.kitplanes.com

Pegasus O-100 Nearly Here - KITPLANES

Last year we reported the “1/2 O-200” Pegasus engine’s technical details. The news at the Alternative Engine Conference this year is the highly-anticipated Pegasus Power DP-1 engine should soon hit the market. How soon? The engine should first take to the skies by the end of October and go on...
www.kitplanes.com www.kitplanes.com

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I'm curious how insurance will work for these. Most insurance wants a check-out of about 5-10 hours with a CFI for a new make/model, but obviously a single-place aircraft doesn't allow that. Those of us with other TW time should be able to transition with a bit of care. I wonder if if some folks will need to get liability-only insurance until they build up a bit of time.
 
AvNavCom said:
I'm curious how insurance will work for these. Most insurance wants a check-out of about 5-10 hours with a CFI for a new make/model, but obviously a single-place aircraft doesn't allow that. Those of us with other TW time should be able to transition with a bit of care. I wonder if if some folks will need to get liability-only insurance until they build up a bit of time.
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Bought into a partnership in a Stinson a while back, insurance company didn't even require a checkout. In fact, I wasn't current at the time, and my BFR had expired, so I asked if I could take a BFR as part of a checkout. Insurance company said no, since, technically, I'd be PIC for the BFR, I couldn't take anyone else along (i.e. the instructor) because I hadn't flown my three takeoffs-and-landings-to-a-full-stop in the preceding 90 days.

So BFR in a C172, first flight in the Stinson was solo.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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