The S-19 is progressing toward the finish, with flight expected in a manner of a few weeks. We are very happy with the plane from the stand point of being well thought out, and easy to assemble, and we expect to be happy with the plane performance and handling wise also. The last weigh in has it coming in at 780 pounds (total empty weight) this is about 30 over the target. There is possibly 30 pounds to shave off in places like the canopy, cowling, nose gear, and part consolidation, all of which will be worked in as running changes. Also this prototype is a well equipped plane with heater, plush seats, lots on the panel, and heavy duty wheels and brakes. Despite the overage we think we will still be in fine shape to offer an SLSA in the plane at some point with either the 0-200 or 0- 235.
KIT Pricing:
Price of the kits is possibly unrealistic for the level of fit and finish, and most likely we will need to up the kit price. This will be announced in the next 30 days, so if you are sitting on the fence please call Tracy or Paula.
Canopy:
The canopy is a slider that will be a delight to build, due to simple design. The rails and sliders are stout enough there is no need for a third track on top of the turtle deck, as we were previously headed that way, and are happy to have developed a better system. This means the canopy will be super easy to remove, we plan to use two snap buckled straps to retain the canopy’s aft travel. Since it is possible the long slider track will need an occasional cleaning of grit, unsnapping the straps will allow removal and cleaning.
The canopy glass is at the molders, and they called a couple of weeks ago to say they had success in making them over our master dies. This is a mold formed canopy, meaning they should be all very close in shape making install go easy. Ultimately we may go to Lexan with an anti-scratch coating since it is really forgiving in the shop to work with.
Seating:
The seats have evolved into very sexy and comfortable units that ride on sliders to adjust fore and aft. They feature a fully supported pan on a welded steel tube frame with sheeting to span across. The seat has several neato features: It can be adjusted in recline, it flops forward to allow baggage access and removal, and it slides fore and aft to fit the pilot. The release lever is located on the inside of each seat and can be flipped to a hold open position to allow seat removal. Seating comfort is very high; the bottom cushion, which simply Velcros to the pan features memory foam to prevent spinal compression. The seat back has a sheet metal shield to protect your back from objects in the baggage.
Harness:
A four point harness retains the pilot and passengers, with shoulder attachment incorporated into the top of the turtle deck.
Thanks to everyone for your patience. Be back at you with more news as warranted-
