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/323139
EAA Experimenter 15 sair names but also had developed a much-improved GlaStar, the Sportsman 2+2. P ROOF IS IN T HE F LY ING If the proof of any airplane is in how it fl ies, the GlaStar does pretty well. Using the Cessna 172 as a benchmark, the GlaStar lands more slowly, cruises much faster, and is much more roomy and comfortable for two passengers than any 172. It does, however, lack rear seats. It is a lot less expensive, too, al- though admittedly some assembly is required. Early GlaStars were heavy on the ailerons, and to this day GlaStars have fl aps that require more than a little arm strength to activate, espe- cially if you are a little fast coming in. A very ef ective aileron anti-servo tab retrofi t has solved the heavy aileron issue, but the fl aps remain a bit of an annoyance that owners simply learn to live with. The GlaStar pioneered the leap from drawings to assembly instructions and added match-drilled wing skins—a fi rst—to their kits right from the beginning. No more laying out rivet holes on blank skins. The holes were already there and perfectly placed. And no more interpreting drawings. The instructions told you what to do, how to do it, and in what order. These fea- tures are standard on kits today across the industry, but in 1995 they weren't standard at all. The GlaStar paved the way for these innovative techniques that made building so much simpler. For a plane that started out as an economical alternative to the basic Cessna 172, the GlaStar was soon graced by no end of expensive upgrades as builders tried to outdo each other in creating the best GlaStar ever. Dual Garmin 430s, HSIs, and two-axis autopilots found their way into many 'Stars. While Van's RV builders seemed to be waging a battle to see who could build the cheapest RV-6, GlaStar customers were heading in the opposite direction. Today, in a used airplane market that has shown a marked preference for the Sportsman over the older GlaStar, there are some very nicely equipped examples for very reasonable prices. Many GlaStar builders were not content to build basic air- planes. They were similarly unwilling to be confi ned to fl ying tricycle-geared airplanes of of paved runways. Early on, a num- ber of builders put their GlaStars on fl oats with great success, Missionary Tom Needham used his GlaStar to access remote villages as part of his work in Cameroon. Needham has since passed the GlaStar on to another missionary and replaced it with a Sportsman. Glasair Aviation's Ted Setzer does some fi shing after landing this Sportsman on a sandbar. E A A E X P _ J u n e 1 4 . i n d d 1 5 EAAEXP_June14.indd 15 6 / 3 / 1 4 8 : 3 8 A M 6/3/14 8:38 AM