tfulwider Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 Anybody know what's happening with Rutan's Skigull? Since it started flight testing three years ago I can only imagine they found some massive problems that are either taking a long time to fix or aren't worth fixing. I'd be interested to know which Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Matcho Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 He's still working on it and he'll be at Oshkosh in 2 weeks planning to talk a bit about it. Maybe he's saving some information until then. They did encounter some issues (reworked landing gear wheels for one) which they have corrected and addressed. Here's a Facebook post from Burt's wife Tonya back in August 2018: Quote SkiGull made a historic flight yesterday. It flew a passenger. I'm the first one to plug in a headset and fly backseat. Dick Rutan, aka The Velvet Arm, pushed up the power and away we went. Easy peasy rotation, take-off and climb. Dick let me take the controls at altitude. We circled over Hayden Lake, always maintaining safe glide cone to airport. He let me fly with EDS (Electronic Directional Stability system) ON and EDS OFF. What a difference. Its like good kitty and s**tty kitty. Good kitty purrs along; eagerly accepts trim; and optimizes the pilot's experience. S**tty kitty wants to claw the stuffing out of all of the furniture. Actually, SkiGull has satisfactory stability with EDS off, but really excellent handling when on. Brent Regan, designer of the EDS electronics and software, did a phenomenal job that worked perfect on its first flight. Back seat has a wide field of visibility left & right and lots of leg room for long appendages. My pile of cushions (carefully arranged by Mike Satren) were comfortable; engine noise quiet; and our intercom loud and clear. I was almost asleep as Dick put the airplane through its paces, gathering test data. We returned to airport after a one-hour flight. You can clearly hear the landing gear thump down, which is good because you can't see them, and you can't feel much added drag. Dick made a smooth, no flaps landing — he didn't even try to scare me. It was such a great flight that I forgot to kiss the ground. I kissed my husband instead. 😊 Quote Jon Matcho Builder & Canard Zone Admin Now: Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E Next: Resume building a Cozy Mark IV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfulwider Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 I think I just saw the SkiGull land at Oshkosh on one of the webcams. Nice! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Matcho Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 That's a surprise!!! I was watching the North/Warbirds webcam yesterday. Which view are you looking at? You can also tune into EAA Radio online. Quote Jon Matcho Builder & Canard Zone Admin Now: Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E Next: Resume building a Cozy Mark IV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Matcho Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Burt is also scheduled to speak about the SkiGull on Friday. If it's truly in OSH there will definitely be a lot of chatter about it. https://www.eaa.org/eaa/event/SkiGull?id=B2EE8CB8BE2049639BAF415DF76F3586 Quote Jon Matcho Builder & Canard Zone Admin Now: Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E Next: Resume building a Cozy Mark IV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfulwider Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 I was watching the Ultralight camera. Looked like it was landing in the background on 27. Saw a very similar color scheme/design, but it's possible it wasn't actually the SkiGull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfulwider Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 I think I may have mistaken a Republic Seabee for the Skigull. Sorry about the false hope! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Matcho Posted July 24, 2019 Share Posted July 24, 2019 That's OK, but you did send me off on a few searches yesterday looking for confirmation. 🙂 This year would have been great timing for its arrival, but oh well. Quote Jon Matcho Builder & Canard Zone Admin Now: Rebuilding Quickie Tri-Q200 N479E Next: Resume building a Cozy Mark IV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.