New Savannah Build

[Kyle Communications]

Thats a excellent weight

 

[eightyknots]

On 24/11/2021 at 8:07 PM, microman said:

Cheers eighty knots - I must admit, having another Savannah in the hangar, and two others very close, not to mention having already built one, all made it a whole lot easier than someone building in isolation. Even so, we made a few cockups, usually because we couldnt follow the instructions so just worked it out for ourselves and we didnt always get it right. I was determined to get it as light as possible, so left out the adjustable seats, (the new factory cushion seats are brilliant so if you are tall it is actually more comfortable without the metal seats. We only painted parts of the aircraft, and of course the E-prop keeps the weight down. Result - 299.6kg so it can lift its own weight.

I was not aware of the new cushion seats. How are they different from the fairly complex to construct (but an engineering marvel!) adjustable seats? I am 186 cm tall so I may be interested in comfy seats for taller people, especially if it will (a) save weight and (b) save me seat assembly time ...this is all depends whether these new seats can be retro-fitted, of course.

 

BTW: finishing up under 300 kg is really impressive: yours may the the lightest Savannah S on the New Zealand register!

[microman]

My partner and I are both around 182cm so we need to get as high as possible and also as far back as possible. (both of us have hip problems so we need to have our legs as straight as we can get them). We found that the new cushion seats are much thicker than the old ones, and with additional cushions underneath ($9 from Bunnings) we dont need the adjustable metal seats so at this stage we havent made them ( we will make them - for any future owners of the aircraft) The new cushion seats are just another upgrade - every new batch of kits seem to incorporate various improvements and additions (like the new leather control stick surround and the sunshades). I suggest you leave out the adjustable metal seats at this stage and simply build up to the height that you need with cushions. One builder here did the same as us, but he even left out the metal runners - which we decided to leave in because we felt they added strength. Talk to Philip Seale - he might do a swap - the new cushions for the old ones.

[facthunter]

Cushions are all you have  in a lot of basic aeroplanes  You DO need to be sitting in the right position for visibility and control access particularly the pedals and brakes in a Tailwheel plane.. You don't need a known handicap. Nev