The STOL King was based on the 3/4 Storch kit being offered by a fello
in Australia which I believe had its origins in Europe somewhere (asid
from the original Fi 156 Storch). Essentially, I think it is the sam
aircraft but streamlined quite a bit. I had heard (web searches) tha
he had partnered with them but for some reason they went their own way
and thus this aircraft came out of it. I had thought the gear he use
was to cut down on drag because the 'original' Storch gear is ver
draggy. My assumption from reading about wings with slats is that
high angle is desired to maximize short take offs, being that the tai
can't go down any further like a Zenith Air CH 701 tricycle gear STOL
if you want a high angle of attack for maximum climb right away th
wing needs to have that high of an angle, and thus the long gear? Tha
might not come off as making a lot of sense since the tail comes u
right away anyhow, but there would sure be alot of room under the tai
for it to dip down into for an immediate high angle of attack as soo
as you wanted to yank it off the ground. Does that sound reasonable?
The statement that a "VW engine can produce 100 HP" is misleadin
because this engine is different yet it is still being referred to as
VW engine. Here is a link to their web page http://tinyurl.com/pbwb7
They manufacture new jugs with more coolant flow and use a special hig
volume pump to keep them cool.
If this aircraft can get close to its claimed performance, even if no
right on it, I would be happy and wouldn't have too much heartburn ove
the specs being fluffed a bit to keep up with all of the other fluffer
but if they are far from unrealistic I would sure like to know before
invest more time and money into this. The lack of performance detail
does have me wondering why. Maybe he won't publish hard specs becaus
he doesn't want someone to sue him if they crash the airplane and sa
the specs didn't make it? Or maybe because he is giving the bes
possible specs with the lightest built airframe and highest HP engin
possible with a skinny pilot and little fuel but won't publish i
because he can sell more plans if people think they can get tha
performance with a 100 HP engine? Maybe it really can?
If I could just find one person who is flying one who would be willin
to share their experiences and opinions about its performance (and ther
are completed STOL Kings out there) I could clear this up in a hurry.
have a couple of leads through web seaches but not easy to find contac
information.
Here is another kit version of the 3/4 scale Storch called the Crique
with performance figures similar to the STOL King but much heavie
(Modified, modified 'Storch'): http://tinyurl.com/qupra
Chris in Palmer, Alaska
Post by MorgansThere are BS flags all over the place, when looking at that web site.
Turn
around, and walk, no, turn and run away!
Why does it have such long landing gear? To look like a storch. The
difference is, the storch has it to get prop clearance, for greaat big
props. BS alert!
Now for what told me to tell you to run away.
Did you see the HP rating for the VW engine they will sell you? THA
is a
good one! (joke, that is) A VW engine that is rated for 10
HP????????
Give me a break!! If you somehow were able to get that much power ou
of a
VW, the valves and head would be a big melted pile of aluminum an
steel,
within 2 minutes, or less. Also you would have to run it at super high
RPM's, and that means you would need a small prop. Small props ar
only
good for poor take-off performance, and high cruise speed. Sound lik
a
STOL??? Nope. Run away!
--
Jim in N
--
Christopher
