Pirep Glasair Sportsman 2+2

JesseD

JesseD

Line Up and Wait
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Aug 21, 2010
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522
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Appleton, WI
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Jesse
I saw a couple at the Glasair. "Tundra" tires, floats, standard wheels. I had been looking at a Six for the space (dogs +2 small kids), but my wife says we can leave the dogs at home. Anyone here built / flew one?

I'm still interested in the Six, but the ability to land almost anywhere is appealing.
 
JesseD said:
I saw a couple at the Glasair. "Tundra" tires, floats, standard wheels. I had been looking at a Six for the space (dogs +2 small kids), but my wife says we can leave the dogs at home. Anyone here built / flew one?

I'm still interested in the Six, but the ability to land almost anywhere is appealing.
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It is an appealing plane to me as well, especially on floats or amphibs.
 
I put a Soob in a taildragging Glastar (two-place, early model) for a fellow. The airplane itself flies like a small Cessna 185. Doesn't glide very far, but otherwise handles well. It would have been far better with the Lycoming.

I would hope that some of the weaknesses of the early models have been fixed in later versions. The door latching system was a bit clunky and the control stick pivot lugs looked pretty light. getting under the panel would have been a real hassle with the stick in the way, so we hinged the left and right sides of the panel to the central radio stack and ran enough were and hose past the hinge lines to let them swing out to access everything.

Dan
 
I flew one of these at Arlington back in 2006. Not very easy to get in and out of if you are over 5'11". Does NOT make a very good float plane. You could get two people in the back if they were children or pygmies. It's also a LOT of money to pay to build it yourself - price it out and see. Basically a souped up wide-body C152.
 
Art VanDelay said:
I flew one of these at Arlington back in 2006. Not very easy to get in and out of if you are over 5'11". Does NOT make a very good float plane. You could get two people in the back if they were children or pygmies. It's also a LOT of money to pay to build it yourself - price it out and see. Basically a souped up wide-body C152.
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I'd like to see my wife get in one personally. I'm ~5'11" but she's 5'. On the big tires that's a heckuva climb for her :D The kids will be fine in the back.

Not a good floatplane though... was that with Montana's? I'm curious because that was part of the draw. Floats, wheels, or tundras are supposed to be interchangeable with a few hours time.

The price, yeah. More expensive than a Six, but it's "new". How does a 172/182/206 on floats compare? (if you've tried them)
 
JesseD said:
I'd like to see my wife get in one personally. I'm ~5'11" but she's 5'. On the big tires that's a heckuva climb for her :D The kids will be fine in the back.

Not a good floatplane though... was that with Montana's? I'm curious because that was part of the draw. Floats, wheels, or tundras are supposed to be interchangeable with a few hours time.

The price, yeah. More expensive than a Six, but it's "new". How does a 172/182/206 on floats compare? (if you've tried them)
Click to expand...


Well, you're basically talking about paying close to $200,000 to build your own airplane ! Think about how far that money could go on the current used market. The floats I was referring to where the clamar floats which in their amphibious version add around 30k to the overall cost and result in a HUGE hit to the aircraft's useful load.

As far as your kids fitting in the backseat - yeah they would - for now but not once they get to be older than nine or ten. Keep in mind too swapping ANY plane off of floats to tundra gear is not a quick and easy job. Think about your home base airport, is there anywhere there where this could be done or would you have to fly it to a specialist ? For your mission I would instead recommend my favorite float plane - a Cessna 185 on straight floats or if you want utility a Lake Renegade would also be fun as well.
 
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