Panther Sport Aircraft Forums

Posted: **Sat Aug 02, 2025 6:51 pm**

Posted: **Thu Feb 04, 2016 7:30 am**

Appreciate the report & look forward to hearing future reports, too!

Posted: **Tue Feb 02, 2016 9:49 am**

Great report Will. I'm back in the shop working on wing spars now after taking a break and going down to Sebring. I spent quite a bit of time with Dan and Paul there and have to say they are both great guys. As soon as we get more into spring and better weather, I just might hop over and see your new "cat". Larry v.

Posted: **Mon Feb 01, 2016 9:34 pm**

I am going to go cry joyous tears now!!! Thank you Will, for your patience, for your feedback and making this experience better for other builders by giving us your honest opinions, and for your positive personality. You are a joy to have as a customer and we are so glad you stuck with us and saw it through to the end. Thank you from all of us at Team SPA!

Posted: **Mon Feb 01, 2016 8:22 pm**

I am 17 hours into my phase one testing and wanted to share a few general thoughts on the Panther.
Between Bob Woolley’s and Paul Dye’s flight test reports I don’t have much technical data to add that hasn’t already been very well expressed by these very credible folks.

I am impressed with how delightful it is to fly a lightly loaded and well designed airplane. I really enjoy the control harmony and excellent ergonomics in which I have a roomy cockpit but yet I still feel like I am wearing the airplane. The only airplane I have flown with better visibility is a Breezy. An added surprise is the efficient cowling that seals tight and cooling is very even among all cylinders. The real surprise is that I may be having more fun in this cat than my RV-8. Simple and light is right.

I also enjoy having two airplanes - one a very responsive plane at speed with great performance and another when configured for landing. The latter is more Champ or J-3 Cub like to me in that the wing wants to keep flying and is very honest with good manners when you supply the proper control inputs. My stall speed is identical to the prototype. I found that, for me, 65 mph across the threshold for 3 point landings works best and 70 for a slightly tail low wheel landing. Trimming for these speeds gives me a 700-750 FPM sink rate. Want more? It slips great even with full flaps if the passengers don’t mind. So far 16 knots direct crosswind is my personal limit on patchy slippery icy asphalt. 5 months from now I may find my personal limit to be a bit higher on grass.

My only squawks have been the typical new airplane rigging and tweaking towards the goal of hands off flying straight and level and restricting some most of the air to my oil cooler to increase the oil temperature to the happy range. It’s winter in Minnesota, eh? I will continue to slowly expand the envelope until my Phase 1 is complete.

The list of people that help to get a project in the air is long but I need to mention a few. Big thanks to Dan and Rachel for their excellent support from day one. Little did they know they would have their most challenging customer early on. I am neither bright nor patient and they bridged the gap every time. They are the real deal and I look forward to witnessing their vision continuing to succeed and grow. Another big thanks to Tony Spicer for his personal support, humor,and awesome website with pictures and explanations that were a huge help to me in visualizing tasks. Sorry Tony but no pbj sandwich will be in my side map pockets as the Panther is too much fun to fly!

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