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weckles
05-18-2012, 06:47 PM
I am looking for nose wheel LSA. Being 72, it is getting differcult to satisfy FAA medical people in OK. I have seen numerous taildraggers, but not many nose wheel LSA. If someone could "suggest" some nose wheel LSA's, I would appreciate it.

martymayes
05-18-2012, 07:23 PM
I am looking for nose wheel LSA. Being 72, it is getting differcult to satisfy FAA medical people in OK. I have seen numerous taildraggers, but not many nose wheel LSA. If someone could "suggest" some nose wheel LSA's, I would appreciate it.

I thought most of them do have a nosewheel. Are you looking for a classic, one of the modern "egg" shaped jobs or ultralight style (open air)???

steveinindy
05-18-2012, 07:43 PM
I thought most of them do have a nosewheel.

That's my impression as well. Most of the one's I have seen are nosewheel equipped. The Cessna 162 Skycrasher is one, the Pipistrel oddities are others, then you have the classics that fit the bill. Outside of the classics, I can't think of any (other than a few one off ultralights) that are taildraggers.

Any particular reason you're not interested in a tail dragger? If you've never flown one, no time like the present!

Bill Greenwood
05-19-2012, 11:22 AM
One LSA that I have flown and liked is a Gobosh, and it has a nosewheel. I personally like the looks of low wing planes in most cases better than high wing. The Piper Sport is another.
I think almost all of the new design LSA s are nosewheel.
Of course a classic Cub or Champ tailwheel plane also qualifies as an LSA.

Maybe an Ercoupe also?

Bill
05-19-2012, 11:52 AM
The Aerotrek 240 has a nose wheel and meets the LSA criteria. You can also buy an already-built experimental that satisfies the LSA rules. A few that come to mind are the Sonex and Waiex (they are available in both nose and tail dragger flavors), and the RV-12 (only available as a nose wheel equipped airplane). I'm sure there are plenty of others, but those are the ones that came to mind first.

weckles
05-20-2012, 07:00 PM
Thanks for all the replies. Please let me clarify. I am looking for a classic nose wheel plane that will qualify for a LSA, 1320 max weight. My budget is 20-30K. Thanks for everyone's help.;)

Eric Witherspoon
05-20-2012, 08:27 PM
Ercoupe, but only certain models. And it can't have been "upgraded" to a later (non-LSA) standard, and then "brought back" to the original, LSA-qualifying configuration. That part of the rule doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but it is what it is.

Now that I've raised the Ercoupe name, someone on here I'm sure has the details as to exactly which models qualify.

martymayes
05-20-2012, 08:30 PM
Thanks for all the replies. Please let me clarify. I am looking for a classic nose wheel plane that will qualify for a LSA, 1320 max weight You're right. Not many trike gear models to choose from. Ercoupe, Champion 7FC Tri-traveller would be cool to have but you don't see them for sale very often.

weckles
05-21-2012, 06:52 PM
Thanks for your info, eric and marty. The champion 7FC max weight is 1450, so not an LSA. I did see an Ercoupe 415-no rudders. Any comments on a 415 as to performance, reliability, etc??

Thanks

steveinindy
05-22-2012, 03:37 AM
Any comments on a 415 as to performance, reliability, etc??

The simplest way to put it is to point out that it is one of the best designed light aircraft of all time. I've never actually had the controls of one, but I've ridden in several and it's a delight. It's one of the few "slow" airplanes I have an absolute love for (and you can ask the guys around here....I normally quickly lose interest in anything with a cruise speed of under 200 knots).

martymayes
05-22-2012, 05:56 AM
I did see an Ercoupe 415-no rudders. Any comments on a 415 as to performance, reliability, etc?? They fly like other low horsepower light airplanes, are in general easy to maintain, but have a few warts. Might want to check one on for size as the cockpit is pretty small and requires climbing in an out of vs. opening a door and stepping in from the gound.

Dana
05-23-2012, 06:39 PM
I'm with Steve... why a nosedragger? Few classics have a nosewheel. Other than the Ercoupe, and some rare variants of the classic taildraggers (there were a very few nosewheel Aeroncas and Taylorcrafts, but most were converted back to taildragger). Another option might be some of the ultralight derived planes like Challenger, Quicksilver GT400 and 500, etc.

If you learn to fly a taildragger (it's really not that hard) you'll likely never go back to training wheels... :)