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I am back from the LSA Expo in Denver FTG, and the expedition soured me up on the available LSAs somewhat. They are not suitable for tall people.

After discovering that I am blind to the sides in Remos, I figured that perhaps a low-wing airplane would work better. Not so! Among the 4 on the show, Jim Lee, owner of the amazing LSA/motorglider, said right away not to attempt to fit. When I tried the Gobosh, the owner, Chris, did not even try to close the canopy. He knew that I sticked out. Eric of Fox Arosport, the salesman of SportCruiser, did try to close it, but only received a fatty print of my unkempt hair. There was still 2 inches to go. The only one which did close was Evektor (Chris' friend owned it). And in all cases the edge of the dash comes right under my knees, which hurts like hell. In the picture below, I am sitting as low as possible (BTW, Evektor has the edge padded):

Surprisingly enough, Jabiru J230 was somewhat better than Remos. I can look under the edge of the door without craning, just bowing a little.

Finally, I tried a Cub, courtesy of Dave from Legend Cub. Getting in and out of it is not easy and requires a degree of athletism. In the front it's the same story as the most low-wings: excuriating hurt against the dashboard. In the back it's quite nice. With my arms, I can reach and touch the the panel, although barely. And I am not ethusiastic about flying from the back.

Looks like I should stick a fork into LSAs completely and just buy a Bonanza or Mooney. I see a lot of execercise and dieting in my future, if I want to fly.

Update: Prof. Shuch   commented:

Pete, I had one very large student (now a Sport Pilot) who flies my Evektor by taking out the removable padding section of the seat upholstery (it's held on with velcro, so comes off easily). That allows his knees to clear the instrument panel, and with the 3-position rudder pedals adjusted full forward, he has no problems at all. (He's six-foot-something and 250 pounds, so unless you vastly exceed those dimensions, it should be possible.)

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at 09:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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