Easy Raider
When Pilot published this flight test in September 2001, the aircraft was known as the Sky Raider. Shortly after this, the aircraft was renamed Easy Raider by its UK importer, Reality Aircraft. Test By Sqn Ldr Tim Cripps.
IT IS GOOD to see a new Small Light Aircraft (SLA) which deliberately sets out to fulfil the 'fun flying' spirit of traditional microlighting. The Sky Raider does not pretend to be a lightweight GA tourer, exploiting every kilogram of the 450 kg limit. Instead, it offers the sort of affordable farmstrip flying which Cub pilots enjoy. Indeed, it is quite similar to the Cub, not least in its performance and docile handling.
I was fortunate enough to join the team of test pilots evaluating the Sky Raider at Old Sarum, so I gained an unusually extensive insight into this little plane in all sorts of tests and extremes of C of G. What I saw impressed me.
The importer, Terry Francis, has wanted his own plane since 1975, after acquiring a little experience with RAF flying clubs in Germany. He built his own Quickie 2, which took him seven years, and ended its short life in a take-off accident at Thruxton. Undeterred, Terry went to Sun 'n Fun, where he saw the Sky Raider and fell in love with it. The makers, Flying K Enterprises, were keen to get into the British and European markets. They therefore gave him every support including supplying two kits, one assigned for testing, if necessary to destruction and eventual replacement. At every stage they have readily adopted the small improvements suggested by Terry and by Guy Gratton of the BMAA, and have even incorporated them into their American kits. So the Sky Raider has made unusually fast progress through the approval process.
In line with the trend towards quicker and easier building, Terry is offering kits with all of the critical work already completed. Dedicated builders may still choose to do more themselves, for instance, bonding the plywood ribs to the tubular alloy spars, and Terry will assist with jigs if they like. He will also help with the Polyfibre covering if first-time builders are diffident about that. But essentially, this is a very quick and easy kit to build. Terry reckons it takes only three weeks for him and his friend, Tom, to build one. That is with both of them working eight hour days--and some of that time is spent waiting for paint to dry.
As to the skills required, no one needs worry! To check the clarity of the American build manual (which is being slightly Anglicised), Terry set Tom various tasks to do solo, such as building an aileron. Tom, whose DIY skills until then had not extended beyond hanging shelves, had no trouble at all.
The quality of the kit is excellent. Everything is of fully aircraft grade material and the welded steel tubing is all beautifully powder coated (metallic paint) in whatever colour the customer desires. Some of the paint has inevitably clogged the bolt holes and the builder has to ream these out before fitting the bolts. Terry says the only challenging job is stretching and fitting the eight turns of undercarriage shock-cord, and he can even help with that if needed. Furthermore, the major components are all so small and light that one really can do the work in a typical one-car garage.
The wing is a masterpiece of lightness and simplicity. Its front and rear spars are both 21Ž2 inch diameter alloy tubes, to which are bonded preformed ply ribs, together with drag/anti-drag diagonal bracing struts. There is a slight under-camber, which contributes to the relatively high fineness ratio of 9:1. There is one-inch washout i.e. between 1° and 2°, and the trailing-edge is equally divided between ailerons and flaps, both of which<