SportStar Checkout

After a recent bout with flu I recovered enough to do an early morning check ride in the SportStar before I can start giving dual instruction (flying lessons). I met John Calla at Adventure Flight training at 0725.

The hangar was chilly so we stuffed a hair dryer into the oil access slot and tossed a blanket over the cowling while we completed the preflight and moved airplanes. The day was sunny bright with calm to light winds which promised to pick up by noon to 20 knots.

N711EV, Evektor SportStar

Preflight is straightforward, with a few differences required by the low wing and engine. The Rotax 912ULS uses a dry oil sump which means a correct oil reading requires the prop be cycled a few times until a distinct "burp" is heard, indicating oil has been pushed into the sump. This airplane uses motorcycle oil, NGK spark plugs, and 91 or better octane auto gas (ethanol permitted !). This has me mentally calculating the saved few dozen dollars ...

Other preflight notes:

• Check the flaps after you drain the sumps or you won't be able to reach the sumps. 
• The WoodKomp prop wiggles a bit. It's fine.
• De-lamination of the composite prop is the only grounding issue.
• It's light and easy to push around - no towbars needed.
• Prop speed has to exceed 284 RPM to hand start. We won't be hand propping.
• The tires are standard 6x6 and the gear looks stout. This airplane will handle student arrivals.

We climbed in one at a time to avoid tipping the airplane back on its tail. The rudder pedals were adjusted for a tall person (I'm 6'1") and I had plenty of leg room! The sports-car style seat was comfortable and the 4-point harness provided security. We dropped the canopy and it quickly fogged up.

Simple but modern VFR panel. Center display is a Dynon EFIS

Startup is simple: Brakes APPLIED, Fuel tank to LEFT, Everything OFF, Master ON, Choke ON, fuel pump ON, Throttle IDLE, switch to ON. She started up instantly -- no three or four blades and then catch. It starts faster than my Honda Accord.

Brakes are high up on the pedals and require positive movement up -- a good thing with students who often ride the brakes. Nosewheel steering is positive and almost too good. More on that later.

Canopy and view of interior

Runup is standard. 15 degrees of flaps, steady application of throttle, soon we're rolling. This is the closest to the ground I've ever been while taking off in an airplane. Even the Chief has the seat higher above the ground. It feels a bit like a well-made go cart as it rolls. at 60I lifted the nose (which requires positive pull back -- this is no tailwheel). Once in nose up attitude the airplane suddenly leaps into the air and now we're climbing at 80 MPH and over 1000 FPM. Best rate is 60 MPH but the nose is so high you can't see forward.

We were climbing fast -- this is outstanding  performance in any GA Single, yet this one only has a 100 HP engine! The visibility is the next "holy cow" moment -- I have never flown in an airplane with this much visibility. It's truly as if you're sitting on top of the airplane as opposed to in the airplane (even though the seating position is most definitely sports car "in").

I didn't take any in-flight pictures as I was focused on the checkout and John was busy doing the CFI demo. I flew some shallow then steep turns and it was very responsive. The stick is in a natural position and once airflow reaches flight speed remains centered. Pushrods are directly connected between the stick and ailerons, helping  establish immediate feedback between pilot and airplane.

The trim will take some getting used to -- I've been spoiled with very tactile trim the last couple of years (C205 trim wheel and Chief trim crank, both directly connected to the elevator). Even in the A36 I only used electric trim for "gross" trim and manual trim wheel for fine adjustments. This airplane only has electric so I'll need to get a feel for the range, effort, and  indications (a small display on the left side of the panel, very hard to see from the right side).

The engine instruments were in front of me (right side of panel) and it still took some adjusting to see RPMs above 4000 (redline is 5800 with the Rotax 912). Nevertheless, it was amazingly quiet. I had my normal David Clark 10-year-old headset, but the overall noise level was far quieter than any other airplane I'd been in.

We headed south a bit for some slow flight and stalls. Speed control is as basic as it comes: reduce RPM, trim up, add flaps.Flap application imposes a definite pitch forward. This is opposite of most Cessna trainers and is obviously a function of the design (split flaps) and location.We slowed from 90 to 70 to 60, then I pulled the nose up for some 40 KIAS flying -- solid.

There is no stall horn but so what? With power reduced to idle and the nose picked up a bit the tail buffets enough that I could almost hear the airplane telling me "I'm fixin' to quit flyin.'' I think this is far more effective than a stall horn, which usually provides an uncomfortable background noise to (for some students) and uncomfortable situation. Better the aspiring aviator learn to feel a stall than rely on a gimmick. But it's not my turn to run the FAA.

A little more slow flight and another power off stall (38 KIAS or so) and then power on (departure) stalls. These are almost silly -- who would ever climb out this steep and let this happen? oh, wait -- lots of folks, as evidenced by the NTSB database.

Anyway, with full power the airplane felt like it was point straight up. The stall break was definite and it really didn't take much to get the airplane flying again -- we had nosed over enough that it resumed flying on its own. Nice.

We had limited time so we flew back to Lancaster. I'm a pro on the radio but it's always weird to have someone else with you who is used to prompting students. I smiled to myself, made the calls, and we were given a right base to runway 13. So we wouldn't fly a normal pattern this time which make it a bit difficult to get a handle on the normal approach picture. I still didn't have the trim figured out and speed control was not good. I landed a bit long and with some drift - I chalk that up to a new to me seating position (I need to figure out what my straight guides will be -- edge of nose? tip of spinner? oil access door line? something...).

It's not an airplane you'll want to land flat and fast -- the nosewheel steering is sensitive and it would be easy to over control.

We taxied back and shut down. When you switch OFF the whole thing stops, NOW. There is no putt-putt-pffft....

0.8 in the log and we'll fly one more time so I can get more time in the pattern and get an overall feel for this airplane. It's quite a shift from my LSA Chief, but all in the right direction. If general Aviation is going to survive, it will be because of these airplanes.

Here's another blog post about the SportStar

Some other airplanes in the hangar:

Bristrell SLA

Grobosh LSA