Experimenter

August 2013

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/149316

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Watching Just Aircraft's new SuperSTOL descend onto the Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In and Expo's Paradise City Runway 9, I thought everything about the plane screamed rugged! Huge tundra tires complemented sturdy main-gear struts and high-lift devices extended from the leading edges. Barn door–size Fowler flaps and long-chord ailerons reinforced the aircraft's own dramatic statement of purpose. For years Just Aircraft's resident designer, Troy Woodland, watched partner Gary Schmidt fly his Helio Courier from tiny patches of ground—often from Just's own tiny runway. The Helio Courier inspiration seems apparent in the execution of the SuperSTOL. When the Helio Courier showed up in the aviation marketplace, it deepened the meaning of "short" in the short takeoff and landing acronym "STOL." Woodland's latest design for Just Aircraft raises the bar even further by shortening the runway needed to a level rare in real-world operations. Watching it land and take off left little to be surprised at in the runway-performance arena when it came time to fly. In fact, the most surprising aspect of the SuperSTOL emerged in flight, EAA Experimenter 15

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