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Looking at Spacewalker II; who flies open cockpit?

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snaildrake

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
247
Location
Albuquerque, NM USA
I've been searching for a plans-built design I really want to build. I think my essential requirements are pretty clear now:

  • Easy for a low-hour pilot to fly
  • Daytime VFR within 200 miles of home
  • Enough useful load for two 200lb crew
  • Cruise at 100-120mph on <=6gph
  • Direct drive aviation engine for dependability
  • Able to fly effectively from paved airstrips at 5000-6000' altitude
  • Preferably LSA eligible
The Wittman Buttercup and Christavia Mk II have topped my list, but though they're solid and practical, neither excites me. Now I'm looking at the open-cockpit Spacewalker II, which has similar rag-and-tube construction with a wood wing. It's not the Ryan ST-A lookalike I'd love to have, but it's trim, has a cantilever wing, and is not marginally sized and powered like so many plans-builts. Martin Hone's elegant radial-powered Spacewalker II-RR (pictured) shows its potential.

I never considered an open cockpit before, but mostly I lumped them all together. How about a discussion of the Spacewalker II as well as its variants the Revolution and Sportster? What are the pluses and minuses of flying an open-cockpit plane? What kind of conditions can you fly an open cockpit plane in with reasonable comfort? Has anyone built, flown or worked on one of these planes? -Dan
 

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