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Flying to Sun-N-Fun

Hello my friends. I plan on flying the PiperSport to Sun-N-Fun next month. If you happen to see a guy wandering around lost with a red piperSport ball cap, stop him and say hello. It just might be…Continue

Started Feb 10, 2012

New Control lock for PiperSport and Sport Cruisers

Hello my friends. Ever since I have owned my PiperSport I have been concerned about damage to my controls caused by wind gusts or another plane blasting by. Several times even when pulling the plane…Continue

Tags: Lock, Control, New

Started Nov 27, 2011

PiperSport crash
5 Replies

PiperSport N40PS crashed Friday night. preliminary reportd are it came apart in the Air. The pilot was found a mile from the crash site. I will keep you informed as I hear more about the crash

Started this discussion. Last reply by Randy Kapp Jul 25, 2011.

PiperSport Crash

Hello my friends, Friday night we lost a PiperSport N420PS. The preliminary report was the plane came apart in the air. The crash occured after midnight. The pilot was found was found a mile from the…Continue

Started May 9, 2011

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Comment Wall (6 comments)

At 19:50 on March 26, 2010, Ben Fitzgerald-O'Connor said…: Hi Russ - welcome to the SportCruiser Community here - Do you currently own a SportCruiser / PiperSport? Looks like the number of our planes around will be about to shoot up with the recent Piper deal...

At 13:00 on April 6, 2010, Ben Fitzgerald-O'Connor said…: We've got a client here in the UK who is also switching from a Lance to the PiperSport - the Lance is a great plane, but if you fly for fun rather than needing to do continental hops, then the PiperSport will give you a lot more smiles per dollar.

The Pipersport should have quite a big presence at Sun'n'Fun, and the first deliveries are being made there to new owners as well. Certainly, if you've not yet flown the plane this will be a good chance for you. Coming from a Lance I'm guessing you'll find the much lighter stick takes a little getting used to, but keep the inputs small, and you'll be used to it in about 20 minutes from past experience.

Regards
Ben

At 13:28 on May 31, 2010, Ben Fitzgerald-O'Connor said…: Richard,

You asked about max RPM on the Rotax - generally cruise in the SportCruiser / PiperSport is comfortable between 4600 RPM (economy cruise in no rush), through 4800-5000 RPM, which are more typical cruise power settings - 4800 does us fine, where 5000 RPM is a slightly 'fast cruise'. NB if you have the fixed pitch prop (3 Blade Carbon Ground Adjustable), then you can alter the pitch to work well with your length of runway avilable, and flight preferences. We find 17-18 Degrees seems ideal for average conditions. The Rotax is a good strong engine, and if you look after the engine and change the oil regularly, you will get many hours out of it - I know one Rotax 912ULS on 4000+ hours now and going strong - most private planes don't get that many hours though (100-150 hours per year seems average).

If you want best performance and economy, then your prop setting slightly coarse might be a good idea. Fuel burn would be more reasonable doing this, It is also kinder to the engine to run below max continuous RPM, which is indeed 5500RPM (5800 RPM can be used for takeoff for 5 mins max).

Hope this helps.

Regards
Ben

At 7:16 on June 17, 2010, Ben Fitzgerald-O'Connor said…: Hi Richard - depending on what speed you are flying with, this may be the case - ie Straight and level in different flight conditions might well need a little trim one way or the other. If you were to repeat the experiment with slow cruise and fast cruise, you'll probably find different results.

NB - you have indicators as to the trim position in the aircraft - either on the Dynon display or on LED ladders depending on your config - the sensors are independant of the motors, so will give an accurate indication of the trim setting.

Regards
Ben

At 2:11 on August 19, 2010, Richard T. Russ said…: Ben I noticed that PiperSport UK has a vent window available. I have sent them a email but never received a response. Would you check on this and let me know how to reach someone.
Thanks,
Dick

At 21:31 on August 19, 2010, Ben Fitzgerald-O'Connor said…: Dick- what email address did you send a message to? certainly should have been responded to if you sent... did it by any chance go into your junk mail?