It's a shame that Skyreach discontinued making these. At least they are still supplying parts. I came very close to buying one of these. I wound up with an Aeroprakt A-22 instead, but still think this is a great plane.
Tom, all of your videos are really good. But this one is excellent! It was an informative, educational and honest assessment. I like your pros and cons approach. Truly no aircraft is perfect. When selecting an aircraft you must check the boxes and remain honest with yourself. Everyone wants to go fast, but when they start to look at the $ associated with that increased velocity, they become wobbly in the knees.😵💫 Speed = $ (lots of it) and increased complexity along with higher maintenance fees. I’m an older private pilot and at this stage of my life, speed isn’t the big draw it once was. Really leaning towards the Bushcat in an SLSA format. I like the repairable qualities and would be tempted to order a second set of skins stored in reserve. Thanks again.
Hi Tom, I still like to live life like the old say goes ( it’s better to use a minute out of life, then lose your life in a minute) I don’t care how slow or fast is anyone’s airplane goes. I love watching you fly, because I enjoy the scenery. Look, I’m puerto rican and after playing with snow in Chicago for 29 years. my wife and I moved to Virginia Beach VA. Now now after 8 years we are moving back to Puerto Rico and I wish I have a bushcat because watching you Mr. Tom flying at the lowest altitude and doing what 80-85 mph. Anyone can enjoy the flight and the scenery way better. My god I just had a thought. imagine flying all over the island of Puerto Rico and all the surrounding island’s. Imagine. Lot’s of love for you and yours in behalf of my wife and this crazy Puerto Rican from Virginia Beach, VA.
BCT, great video. Insights from a model veteran are invaluable to a potential owner. You did a great job laying it out in a way that could only be done by someone who's been there and done that more than once. You almost had me fooled that Bob wouldn't be piping in. lol, of course didn't disappoint.
I just learned about air density today. It’s surprising that the Bushcat should perform better on a ⛄️ day like the one in the video than on a hot day.
Great video Tom! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Bush Cat. My brother and I placed our Bush Cat order with Aero Sport in December of 2022. The kit was completed and ready for shipment in October 2023. We’re excited for our kit to be put on a ship in 2024 for its journey to the USA and excited to start our build. We plan to put some videos out of our build and flying once completed. We always look forward to your videos.
Looks COLD up there... About time to make plans for Sun-N-Fun to warm up!! Hope you and Sharon can. make it. Enjoyed the flight with you. I hope Sharon is well. We're still waiting patiently here for word from Galt/Wonder Lake... eighteen-month anniversary of placing the order coming up later this month. Best wishes from North Carolina! Cliff and Ellyn.
Opinions are shaped by experience. So we can’t help but to be biased according to what we’ve experienced. Thanks for watching. I appreciate your “unbiased” comment. 🙂👍
Love your attitude about flying. Foe me it's the same and I'll extend that to include motorcycles. They are for my enjoyment along with all their little faults that make them interesting. Oh yeah, the music was a perfect fit with the scenery!
Thanks, Tom. I’m in the market for my own airplane and at the moment I’ve narrowed it down between the Bushcat and a Zenith 750 STOL. I appreciate the honest review.
The choice becomes easier when considering that if you prang the wing skin on a Zenith you’ll be unzipping a bunch of rivets. Tear a Bushcat skin and you’ll buy a new one (and while not cheap) it won’t involve drilling out a bunch of rivets and realigning all of the holes then re-riveting, reinstalling and repainting that wing.
Excellent vid Tom. The Bushcat is a great plane, unfortunately it does not meet our mission profile. Your sense of humor is similar to mine and you've often nearly caused a spit take.
Look into the small diesle heaters. For pre engine warm up. There is a bushcat in the hanger across from me at galt. Dennis super nice guy he tapes his radiators up a bit in the winter. Lol I am adding to my reply didn't realize Dennis was going to be in the video. Guess I should wait till the end before posting
I am two years off from making a purchase, if I buy a Bushcat it’ll be because of your videos. I wasn’t really interested in these until watching your videos. If they ever get an autopilot solution it’ll make it even more intriguing to me. I think those Dynon systems can run autopilot servos. It might be something I can add myself.
There’s a BushCat owner that is installing an auto pilot and Skyreach is keeping an eye on that project to see if maybe it’s a viable solution. Here’s hoping. Thanks for watching.
Thanks Tom, I’m flying in New Zealand and your video really got me thinking about the BushCat & its capabilities. It’s a real option to be considered!!!
There is emense value in not having to crawl around the stick between your legs in a small plane. I thought that stick coming out of the panel like a yoke on the Cessna skycatcher was weird, until I tried getting into an lsa with dual sticks.
Tom, a very fair and balanced review I thought. When I think of "light sport" I think of "light" and bouncing a lot in turbulence and windy days. Do you have any thoughts on this after 4 years of experience? Same question on summer days with 'turbulence' near the runway and bouncing around a bit. All the best to you and your bride. The videos are terrific!
Thanks for chiming in. I fly in turbulent air all the time. The BushCat handles the bumps very very well. I have a theory as to why that is the case. There are no rigid ribs in the wing. You have a leading edge spar and trailing edge spar. The wing is formed only with batons. So you have this empty space in the wing’s interior while the individual batons sleeved into the fabric material are free to move and give vertically in flight. The upshot is that strong wind gusts are absorbed as they rush into the batoned wing. If you have a metal or composite wing (which is rigid) you end up feeling every bump in the cockpit. Not so with the BushCat. The wings act like pillows to absorb the turbulence. I’ve flown in gusty 45kt winds and the ride is not harsh at all. I’ve flown a 172 in similar turbulence and got a much more jarring ride. No, the BushCat is smooth going in gusty air. Just ask any BushCat owner. They’ll tell you the same. Great design. Thanks for watching.
Tom, do you run on 100LL? I always have and have made sure to change the oil every 25 hours. Just wondering if you had any issues after 500 hours. Thanks! Great video!
Yes, I run avgas in my BushCat. Reason being that 100LL is always available everywhere I fly. Not so with Mogas. Never had any issues or problems of lead building up in the engine. IMO there's undue concern about 100LL. Do your oil changes and you'll be fine. Thanks for watching.
Tom, I watch your videos all the time! I have a question about your instruments! What are your transponders and radio. If they are f.u.n.k.e. How does the ads-b work for your setup ?
Radio and transponder are by TRIG. I have a stratux for ADS-B. Don’t ask me anything beyond that because I don’t know. 🙂. I leave the details to AeroSport. Thanks for watching.
Thanks Tom. This video was very informative. I have one additional question. Do you find the seating position with your legs laid out rather straight to be uncomfortable at all? (I've haven't flown in one yet, but I've sat in one several times down at the Deland FL Air Show and that's the first thing I noticed getting in).
No, I’m not uncomfortable at all in my BushCat, even after four hours on long cross country. It really is like an easy chair. Thanks for your question.
I flew a Quick Silver Ultralight with the stick on the right and throttle the left. It was natural that way. I missed by 10 minutes a test flight in a BushCat at Oshkosh a few years ago. I would love to fly in one one day. Ever fly to Griffith Indiana??
Oooo you honest man, absolutely dot on and reminds me of my Skyrangers. I used to have one that occasionally opened the door mid flight which was a little disturbing. We fly these beasts and half the fun is pondering over a widget bolt or design flaw with your flying friends. They certainly aren't perfect (like me) but the view from one when you've taken off from a short strip as the suns coming up or as it's going down is worth every bit. I compromised and bought a new C42 which is solid bodied and built by the Germans who know a thing or two. It is faster yes, and it is a more stable beast, but I do still pine for that Skyranger. Thanks for the video fella ace as always
I’ve flown in 30kt winds gusting to 50kts. The BushCat can handle it but it’s not like I go looking for those conditions. My personal minimums: If the TAF says gusting to 25kts I stay home.
The "class" MTOW is 1320lb with a useful load of 572lb, which means that with full tanks (25gal @6lb = 150lb of fuel) you have 422lb for occupants and cargo. Since the MTOW is dictated only by the class in which they wish to sell the BushCat, I wonder what's the actual MTOW. Would they say?
I don’t know, but I believe it would be quite a bit higher. I have a friend with a BushCat on floats which is rated 1440lbs MTOW and it climbs like a rubber ball. Since performance is comparable to the Kitfox I would imagine their 1550lb designator would be close. Just speculation of course.
I also like center sticks, easy in and out. You could put a door lift on, the parts are readily available online. I use a complete cover on the oil cooler and use 1,2 or three 2 inch tape depending on the temps. 40 degrees 1 strip, 30 degrees 2 strips, 20 degrees completely covered. I made a cockpit cover from some fabric and bungee straps, prevents rain water from entering. It seems like people opinions are based on previous flying experience, I came up from ultralights, so flying at 80-85 mph is awesome. Those coming from GA say anything less the 120-100 mph is too slow
There is one BushCat owner who is installing an autopilot and the manufacturer is monitoring his work to see if it might be a viable option. We’ll see. Thanks for chiming in.
Good luck finding a used BushCat. BushCat owners tend to keep their airplanes. When they do go on sale they're sold within a few days. My suggestion is to keep a lookout in the ads and if any Bushcat comes up for sale, just buy it no matter what they are asking. You'll be very happy.
I dont like the trim location and it's a hard plane to trim anyway. It's a very draggy plane, it descends really fast when you power to idle. I also am skeptical of it's durability with the sail cloth covering. I think it's also pretty slow, it would be much more useful if it could cruise at 100 Knots. It's does not like turbulence at all, it's very uncomfortable to fly in gusty conditions. Other than that I like the one I fly a lot!
Flaps and VGs are good for SLOW takeoff and landing speed. Why? TIRES! The tires wear much less and last much longer if you takeoff and land right at stall speed. Saves $$$$!