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Today I checked out in Remos GX of NM Sport Aviation, a one-man flight school and rentals. It went pretty smoothly, and I can rent it now. Since Bonnie Mauldin does not allow rentals of her plane, this would be the first LSA rental deal in the state. Woo-hoo. Rental conditions are fabulous. The airplane comes with all possible bells and whistles, including an XM weater data link. And it's 24% cheaper than Cherokee at Del Sol Aviation.

Unfortunately, there are problems. First and foremost, I'm too tall for the airplane, so my head goes into the cavity between wings, right under the skylight. This allows me to pilot it, but I am completely blind to the sides. In fact I look out of the skylight in turns. Enormous front pillars are even worse than in modern cars. The visibility issue may prove to be a significant hazard. Second, to access the baggage compartment, one must remove the pilot's seat (yes, really). Third, the seating is not 100% comfortable. Forth, 4-point harness conflicts with my belly pack. And finally, there's always a smell of fuel in the airplane for some reason. It does not bother me, but my wife is sensitive.

Before today, I heard a lot about LSA's sensitivity on the controls. True, controls in GX are light, but nothing like NA F-100. It really is nothing to discuss much, just be gentle and the plane takes it fine. However, it's very noticeable that the airplane is very light itself. During one landing, the GX suddenly popped out of flare a few meters due to gust of wind (I saved it with some extra power). Nothing like that ever happened to me in Cherokee.

UPDATE: Posters at SPT say in unison that CT does not suffer from same visibility issue as GX, despite the identical general layout. Strange, but merits investigating.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at 11:44 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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