Paul,
Thank you for the quick answers to my questions. It was all music to my ears. The Panther has it all. Looks, performance, it's practical, and the Corvair really sounds great to an old motor head like me. I'm looking for a Corvair engine at present.
The flying reports I've read speak well of the Panther and I really like Dan's design philosophy. I'm a very low time pilot, but I learned to fly in a Cessna 170 and I've got several hours in tail dragging RV's, a DH Beaver, and some Cessna 180 time too. My instructor has access to some pretty interesting aircraft. My total time at present is just over 150 hours with about 140 of them in tail wheel aircraft. With the hours I can add in the time it would take to build it I should be good to go. By that time I would bet you guys would have a Cougar set up for transition training.
I'm an A&P so building it is a non issue. Something to look forward to in fact.
Thanks again,
Stan
Panther operational questions
Forum rules
A forum for Panther aircraft builders and Enthusiasts. Two simple rules: Play nice and use a real name
A forum for Panther aircraft builders and Enthusiasts. Two simple rules: Play nice and use a real name
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Steamer
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 10:09 pm
- First Name: Stanley
- Last Name: Johnson
- City or Town: Placitas
- State or Province: New Mexico
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psalter
- Posts: 146
- Joined: Sun May 19, 2013 6:50 pm
- First Name: Paul
- Last Name: Salter
- State or Province:
- Location: Green Cove Springs, Florida
Re: Panther operational questions
Hello, and welcome to the Panther Forum.
You can fold the wings and haul it on a trailer with the wings resting on the horizontal stabilizer. The prototype has been towed this way for about 400-500 miles over various trips. Padding and securing the wings are necessary.
Enclosed trailers are preferred, because it keeps the plane out of the elements.
For long trips, and because we have a lot of other stuff in the trailer for our booth at airshows, we will pull one more bolt in each wing and with a second person remove them and mount them on the side of the trailer. This is the safest method especially over very long rough road trips. We probably have about 10,000 miles of travel with this method on the Prototype aircraft mainly for our Florida to Oshkosh trips.
Aircraft tires, wheels and bearings are not designed for long durations at high speed. So, it is not recommended to tow the airplane on it's wheels for any distance. Towing on the road would also require lights and license plate in the US. Around the airport at low speeds and short distances is fine. Again, pad and secure the wings.
The prototype cruises around 160-165 mph with the 3.0L Corvair (the largest Corvair we currently have kits for), we do not have numbers yet for the 3.3L (still in testing). At that speed it burns 5.5 to 6 gallons per hour depending on how you lean the engine.
No reason it can't do long trips, but do watch your weight and balance. With the Corvair, large tanks full of fuel (27 gal), and a large pilot (240 lbs), there is not a lot of weight capacity left for baggage and keep inside of the LSA stall speed requirements (1115 lbs Max Gross for the Panther LSA) . Keep the airplane and the pilot light or fly with less fuel, no problem. 27 gal of fuel with the Corvair/Jabiru/UL, or small Lycoming is good for about 4 hours with a 30 minute reserve, or about 640 miles with no wind, probably more than most pilots would want to do in one hop anyway.
Cockpit sealing is about the same as RV-4/8. You can make it slightly better, but it becomes a little harder to latch the canopy.
You can fold the wings and haul it on a trailer with the wings resting on the horizontal stabilizer. The prototype has been towed this way for about 400-500 miles over various trips. Padding and securing the wings are necessary.
Enclosed trailers are preferred, because it keeps the plane out of the elements.
For long trips, and because we have a lot of other stuff in the trailer for our booth at airshows, we will pull one more bolt in each wing and with a second person remove them and mount them on the side of the trailer. This is the safest method especially over very long rough road trips. We probably have about 10,000 miles of travel with this method on the Prototype aircraft mainly for our Florida to Oshkosh trips.
Aircraft tires, wheels and bearings are not designed for long durations at high speed. So, it is not recommended to tow the airplane on it's wheels for any distance. Towing on the road would also require lights and license plate in the US. Around the airport at low speeds and short distances is fine. Again, pad and secure the wings.
The prototype cruises around 160-165 mph with the 3.0L Corvair (the largest Corvair we currently have kits for), we do not have numbers yet for the 3.3L (still in testing). At that speed it burns 5.5 to 6 gallons per hour depending on how you lean the engine.
No reason it can't do long trips, but do watch your weight and balance. With the Corvair, large tanks full of fuel (27 gal), and a large pilot (240 lbs), there is not a lot of weight capacity left for baggage and keep inside of the LSA stall speed requirements (1115 lbs Max Gross for the Panther LSA) . Keep the airplane and the pilot light or fly with less fuel, no problem. 27 gal of fuel with the Corvair/Jabiru/UL, or small Lycoming is good for about 4 hours with a 30 minute reserve, or about 640 miles with no wind, probably more than most pilots would want to do in one hop anyway.
Cockpit sealing is about the same as RV-4/8. You can make it slightly better, but it becomes a little harder to latch the canopy.
Paul Salter
Team Panther
Engineer and Builder
Team Panther
Engineer and Builder
-
Steamer
- Posts: 8
- Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2015 10:09 pm
- First Name: Stanley
- Last Name: Johnson
- City or Town: Placitas
- State or Province: New Mexico
Panther operational questions
Hello,
I'm new to this site and have several questions on the Panther. I'm considering the kit as it seems to fit my needs very nicely. I've followed its development and like what I've seen and read.
The questions.
Can it be transported with the wings folded or must they be removed to haul it around on a trailer?
Could it be towed on its wheels with wings folded/no trailer?
What is a real world cruise speed for the big Corvair powered Light Sport version?
Is the cockpit sealed well against weather?
I've seen videos of pilots flying Sonex all over North America. I see no reason that the Panther would not be as well suited to travel as the Sonex. Comments?
Thanks,
Stan "Steamer" Johnson
I'm new to this site and have several questions on the Panther. I'm considering the kit as it seems to fit my needs very nicely. I've followed its development and like what I've seen and read.
The questions.
Can it be transported with the wings folded or must they be removed to haul it around on a trailer?
Could it be towed on its wheels with wings folded/no trailer?
What is a real world cruise speed for the big Corvair powered Light Sport version?
Is the cockpit sealed well against weather?
I've seen videos of pilots flying Sonex all over North America. I see no reason that the Panther would not be as well suited to travel as the Sonex. Comments?
Thanks,
Stan "Steamer" Johnson