RANS COURIER
Available on wheels or Murphy 1500
floats
Canadian BUL or AULA registration
2015/01/11
This S-7S
was first licensed in 2001 and still looks almost like new.
Equipment
includes: ELT, Strobes, Com, Intercom, air speed, alt, rate of climb, slip, G
meter,
The panel is a composite lay-up. Here is a
picture of the panel taken approaching
This is one
of the first “S” model Rans Couriers and
it does have a few differences when compared to the current model. If you are
not familiar with the various models of the Courier, you might find some useful
information in my write-up on Models and also in
the section on Engineering
Changes. If you are buying an S-7, you should understand all the
differences between this “S” model and both the long tail or short tail.
The serial
number of this kit is 0599268 S which is unique in that the S was included in
the serial number; this is not now done.
Except for
some cowl mods added by the second owner, the fuselage is all S from spinner to
rudder although the fuel system is a little mixed.
The wing is
the stock wing of that year but with the S wing tips and rear jury struts and
has equal length flaps and ailerons.
The fuel
tanks are the 9 gallon plastic with outlets to hoses front and rear. Instead of the earlier plastic “Y” to get the
two lines per tank to one, there are aluminum T fittings with aluminum lines
continuing down to the drain and forward to the shutoff. The hoses from tanks
to Ys are new.
Venting is
through the tank filler caps. Many people prefer this earlier method of venting
the tanks because the tanks can be filled to a higher level. On the current S
model venting, which comes out from the top of the tank rather then the neck,
overflow occurs with less fuel in the tanks.
The
previous owner installed the hinge and pin cowl fasteners. These hold the rear
of the cowl to the fuselage and the top cowl to the bottom cowl and provide a
very clean, slick package when compared to the factory method which uses the ¼
turn Southco fasteners. The air for the
oil cooler rad comes through the scoop below the spinner.
One
important feature of the S7 is the roominess of the cabin. My friend Brian is
6’4 and 280lbs (?). He gets in and out fine and feels it is quite a comfortable
cockpit with good ergonomics. It was a hot day when we flew into that grass
strip south of
You can see the lack of fasteners
and the tight fit of the cowls.
The additional tanks were just on for the flight east
from
Brian
appreciates a couple of other features of the S model that the short tail and
long tail do not share. The sitting position is a lot more comfortable because
the rudder peddles sit a couple of inches lower due to the deeper firewall on
the S. This is important even for smaller pilots.
The other
advantage is that because the coolant rad is ahead of the firewall, there is no
hot coolant flowing through the cabin (except for the cabin heater at the
firewall) as it does on the models with belly rads so on a hot day like the one
above, the cabin stays cooler.
The
“focalized” motor mount on the S model
makes for a smooth engine and the under engine exhaust system not only sounds
throatier but gets the muffler away from the firewall and carbs as it is on the
short and long tail models. The motor mount rubbers were replaced in Sept/12.
The
interior is clean and excellent.
That’s a towel overhead to keep the
sun out. I have the plastic baggage
close out for it. Took it off while replacing the fuel line.
From 98 on Rans eliminated the
inverted “U” tube behind the front seat.
The boot cowl is lined with fuzzy
fabric. The copper tube on the parking brake valve is to seal it while the gear
is off while on floats.
For cooler
weather there is a muffler hot air heater although I have this one disconnected
now. That round plug below the parking brake valve seals off the heater
inlet. Click here for
interior pictures taken 03/29/2013
I’ve
installed both a coolant thermostat (red canister) oil thermostat and cabin
heat rad as well as metal heat shields between all exhaust pipes and coolant
hoses. The oil cooler is 2 ½ times bigger than the Rans stock cooler and it is
mounted below the engine with its own scoop. The stock coolant rad is angled
down to force most of the incoming air through it. All temps are normal in both
hot and cold weather.
Most hose
clamps are the constant tension style which do not damage the hoses like gear
clamps.
The engine is a 912ULS with 355
hours total time (as of 2015/01/01)
Serial is 4425648
Below it the micro heater rad with
built in fan which does a great job.
The forward end rib close off is not installed
ahead of the rear one shown above but I have them.
Owners have
experienced elongation of the bolt hole that secures the landing gear in place.
Current kits have additional thickness welded on to the sockets. I have added
additional padding to this one as well. See: http://www.stoneylake.org/pipcom/gear%20socket%20fix.htm
The prop is
a
At first
glance the plane looks great and overall is quite new looking. If you examine
the finish carefully you will see that the paint job is not show plane quality
in that there are a couple of runs and hangar rash chips and maybe a small
patch or two.
Even with
that, the last guy I showed it to felt the finish was 8 or 9 out of 10. I
wouldn’t rank it quite that high but you can see from the pictures that it is
quite good.
The tubing
was oiled internally.
Tires are
800’s with
$37500 cndn
(Today about 30000USD) on wheels, 47,500 on floats and I challenge you to find an S model ( not
just a “long tail”) in this condition for less and, especially with Murphy 1500
floats.
This is
with BUL registration AULA will cost about $600. Has been registered in US
Needs new
wind screen (crazing marks cause glare) May need repair on Altimeter and ROC.
705 877
8404
For an
interesting comparison of float performance, there are two Youtube videos you
could watch.
They were taken
on the same day with similar conditions including the same people on board
(total passenger weight 425lbs) and similar fuel load. The Rans gets off in
less time and much less distance than the 150 hp PA-18.
Just east of Jackson Hole