Lakeland 2005

We departed Hays on Saturday the 9th as a flight of six (four Coyotes and two Couriers). Despite the head winds we marched into Laurel, Mississippi well before sunset. It was an easy 475 knots into LAL on Sunday, arriving at 6:00PM; we had a delayed launch due to low clouds, and a long lunch at Quincy visiting our very capable dealer Rutledge Fuller. I have said it before and will say it again, this guy is a craftsmen and only getting better at building and selling.

The show was a blast, a delightful combination of good weather, a fun crowd, and excitement. It was a strange mix of sport plane buzz and bikes. By the show’s start our crew had swelled to 9 so we were able to handle the constant flow of friends old and new.

At an FAA news conference for Sport Planes we made sure our hat was in the ring with the S-7S and S-6ES, with a possible path to S-6S in flyaway form. Offering such a depth of models presents a challenge, but we are happy to take this bull by the horns and go for it. Already we are gearing up to have a steady inventory of flyaway Couriers, which seemed to be the poster child for Sport Planes. Everyone simply loved the beautiful white plane with blue and red stripes. It was fresh off the assembly line and sported the Dynmon EFIS, which worked flawlessly on the flight down.

Our current price for the S-7S in flyaway form is $69,000 in well-equipped form. We plan to increase that to $75,000 by Oshkosh, it is regrettable that seemingly just out of the bag Sport Planes may climb in prices, but it is due to some very substantial material cost increase we simply cannot absorb.

In the other corner is the S-6ES with tremendous potential at value pricing. We are looking at an HKS flyaway version in the under 50 K range. This plane is also a very good example of a Sport Plane, light, STOL, fast, and good payload. Ready to fly Coyotes with the traditional dope and fabric cover are also being considered, prices will be the same as the S-7S in the 70 to 75K range.

Delivery is running 10 weeks on kits. The biggest action was in kits. There are still plenty of people wanting to do it themselves and our well rounded, highly finished and proven kits have allowed hundreds access to sport flying without a high entry cost. Plus many simply enjoy the fun of building such a nice well laid out kit.

All up and flying cost of a kit is roughly half of what it takes to buy the flyaways. For a 912S 34K you can be flying nicely equipped S-6ES, 36K to 38K eases you into the Super Six or the S-7S. Add the very low cost of fuel per hour, we ran an average of 4.75 gallons per hour at 110 MPH on the trip down, and you have captured fun flying at a fair price (say that fast three times)

It is a strong future at RANS for Sport Planes, and other companies reported good success. The well established US producers were not complaining; some importers and smaller firms were not seeing the business. I for one am glad to see the shoppers buying with the firms who have been around for a while. All too often would be pilots are taken by fantastic claims of upstart companies only to eventually get a disconnected phone signal and a large loss of cash and faith in the kit plane world. Buy smart; go with firms that deliver what they say and have some brick and mortar on US soil.

Even though we did not show the S-4, S-9, S-10, S-14, S-17, S-12 Airailes and
S-18 Stinger there was strong interest. The level of interest in the single seaters was high and falling within an early prediction that LSA would bring forth those seeking a truly fun single, now that they could be legal and flown sans a third class medical. RANS offers a great line of singles that can make flying even more affordable. Often it is just a solo experience we seek in the sky, and why not? The planes we offer are top-notch flyers ready to offer up some of the most enjoyable flying you may ever know.

In closing the trip was a success, all returned intact and without delay. We are busy sorting out orders, and gearing up. The goal is one S-7S per week, one S-6ES per month, and maybe the same for the S-6S. These are tall orders and will take some dedicated people to make it happen, but that is what makes the backbone of RANS, I think we are happy to take this challenge, as we say here “ More Planes Faster” a battle cry we have known since the early 90’s and still echoes throughout the plant.

A SHORT PHOTO ESSAY OF SUN N FUN