Glasair Factory Tour and the Sportsman 2+2

Today I got the pleasure of taking the family to Arlington, WA to tour the Glasair factory and to check out their Sportsman Two-Week To Taxi (TWTT) program.  This is an aircraft that I have seen several times at the Oshkosh Airshow and have always been amazed at the performance and versatility of this experimental aircraft.  Although I am not all that ambitious at this point to take on a full blown “kit” plane, this TWTT program allows you to build a really fantastic aircraft under factory supervision, quickly and safely.  The endstate is a really great and safe aircraft.  Before I get too far into this, here are some of the basic specs & performance figures:

Performance	180 h.p.	210 h.p.
Top Speed (TAS at sea level)
	167 m.p.h. / 145 kts.	186 m.p.h. / 162 kts.
Cruise Speed (TAS)
75% power at 8,000 ft.	158 m.p.h. / 137 kts.	172 m.p.h. / 150 kts.
65% power at 8,000 ft	154 m.p.h. / 134 kts.	167 m.p.h. / 145 kts.
Stall Speed (at max. gross)
No flaps (Vs)	58m.p.h. / 51 kts.	58 m.p.h. / 51 kts.
Full flaps (Vso)	48 m.p.h. / 42 kts.	48 m.p.h. / 42 kts.
Rate of Climb
Solo	1,850 f.p.m.	2,100 f.p.m.
Max. gross	1,000 f.p.m.	1,200 f.p.m.
Range (at 65% power)
Range Standard Fuel VFR Reserve mi.	829	733
Range Standard Fuel VFR Reserve n.m.	721	638
Fuel Consumption (at 65% power)
	8.5 g.p.h.	10.2 g.p.h.
Service Ceiling (estimated)
	20,000 ft.	21,500 ft.

 

Specifications	Standard Model	Carbon Fiber Option
Fuselage Length
Lycoming engine (rigged for flight)	23 ft.	23 ft.
Lycoming engine (wings folded)	24 ft. 8 in	24 ft. 8 in
Wing Span
Rigged for flight	35.0 ft.	35.0 ft.
Wings folded & tail removed	8.5 ft.	8.5 ft.
Other Wing Data
Area	131 sq. ft.	131 sq. ft.
Aspect ratio	9.1	9.1
Wing loading (at max. gross)	17.5 lbs. per sq. ft.	19 lbs. per sq. ft.
Structural limit loads (at max. gross)	+3.8 / -1.5 Gs	+3.8 / -1.5 Gs
Maximum Height
Tricycle (on gear)	9 ft. 4 in	9 ft. 4 in
Tricycle (wings folded)	7ft. 1 in.	7ft. 1 in.
Tail dragger	6 ft. 11 in	6 ft. 11 in
Cabin Dimensions
Width (at hips)	44.0 in.	44.0 in.
Width (at shoulders)	46 in.	46 in.
Door width	37.0 in.	37.0 in.
Door height	31.5 in.	31.5 in.
Baggage space / Rear passenger area	37.0 cu. ft.	37.0 cu. ft.
Rear door width	26 in	26 in
Rear door height	31 in	31 in
Weights
Maximum gross weight (on wheels)	2,350 lbs.	2,500 lbs.
Maximum gross weight (on floats)	2,500 lbs.	2,650 lbs.
Empty weight (typical)	1,350 lbs.	1,350 lbs.
Useful load (typical)	1,000 lbs.	1,150 lbs.
Full-fuel payload (standard tanks)	700 lbs.	850 lbs.
Maximum baggage capacity	300 lbs.	300 lbs.
Fuel Capacity (usable)
Standard tanks	50 gals	50 gals

So this morning (Friday) we showed up to the factory which is typically closed except for the TWTT program.  Harry DeLong, the Directory of Customer Service gave us the tour of the factory and showed us all the steps on how the parts of the kits are built and packaged.  In many ways, it’s very similar to the Cirrus factory, only most of the aircraft is metal except for the fuselage.  The factory is much larger than I expected and Harry said they employ 35 full time employees.  Just recently Glasair was purchased by a Chinese investor and one of the big projects for them is to create a certified version of the Sportsman, but that’s a ways off. 

After the factory tour, we went into the TWTT building where there were four Sportsman aircraft at different stages being built.  In here, the owners and factory assistants were hard at work working on the aircraft doing different tasks as directed by the FAA.  The TWTT program is unique in that at the end of two weeks (14-days), the plane is ready to conduct a run-up and then taxi.  The following Monday, it will be inspected by the FAA to insure that it is airworthy and then it will be flown for 40 hrs to test all systems and flight characteristics.  Once this is done, the plane goes in for paint and then after 4-6 weeks, they call the owner to come fly it home.  Pretty amazing when you think of what all goes into the plane.

The first thing that caught my eye was the amazing fit and finish.  The plane is every bit as quality, if not a higher level of quality to a Cirrus (yes I know, apples vs oranges), but at a fraction of the cost.  Up close everything just fits really well and the design has truly been messaged to show that it was thoroughly thought out.  The next thing was the paint.  WOW, I always thought the guys at Midwest Aircraft Refinishing did the best job, but this place is equally as impressive.  IT IS STUNNING!

Glasair has built a lot of these aircraft to date and they have plenty of options to choose from.  Although the basic airframe is the same, but beauty of being able to make the plane a tricycle gear, tail dragger, floats, skis, or tundras, all converted over in a couple of hours is pretty amazing.  There are several engine and propeller options as well as different avionics packages too.  Below is the Deluxe IFR package which quite frankly would give my SR22 a run for its money.

Although I was not able to fly the plane since it was LIFR all morning, I did sit in them and snooped around a bit.  They aren’t huge inside, but still pretty roomy.  The back area you can configure with two rearward facing seats and in that area you can put 300lbs of stuff.  The CG envelope is huge, so weight balance shouldn’t be much of an issue.  Most aircraft have a useful load of just over 1,050 and if you go with the carbon fiber fuselage, you get an additional 150lbs of useful load.

 

Do to the fact that owning an airplane is pretty expensive; the option of experimental is much cheaper and makes it legal for you to do the work on the aircraft yourself.  The fact that this aircraft flies at 150 knots at 75% on 10 gallons of gas, can carry over 1000lbs of people and stuff, and land and take off from 400’ (depending on weight) is pretty darn impressive. 

Although I will own another Cirrus someday, the performance figures are really amazing and at this point in time, this plane would meet our mission and be a lot of fun to fly and explore the area in.  It also would be cheaper to own than the Cirrus, but the problem is that it would probably cost more upfront to build and own a Sportsman than to buy a used Cirrus.  Lastly, I would like to have “built an airplane” on my resume, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see and do a little more research.  As I am quickly finding out, the fact that you have so many options to choose from, the price of the plane can quickly grow, so I’ll have to take a good hard look at my requirements and see what I can come up with that might be affordable.  It will be interesting to see if we go this route.  If not, I look forward to going back up to Arlington to take a test flight.