tall pilot in soaring gull?

[parleevoo]

Hello, All,

I've been shopping ultralights and the soaring gull could be just
what i'm looking for. A long cantilevered wing in an ultralight is
kind of unusual and any input on the plane's adequacy of structure
for a tall heavy guy would be appreciated. Also, at 6'4" do you
think I might have to shoehorn myself in? I just joined the forum
so these questions might have been answered already; if so, my
apologies.

Jim in SC

[derbaier]

Hi Jim, welcome to the group!
I am in the process of building the short wing Gull2K, so I can't
tell you much from personal experience yet. However, one of the MANY
reasons that I picked a Thundergull to build was it's roominess. The
other Jim on this group, from Florida, may be able to give you much
more info from personal experience with the Gull2K. Some of his
flying stories were another one of the reasons that I found the
Thundergull so interesting.

BTW, I'm up to the glueing and final riveting stage of my gull2K
wing building work, with 50 hours into the project so far.

--Dave

Hi Jim,

Welcome also. The roominess that Dave is talking about is particular to the
Gull 2K. The J series is not as roomie as the 2K series. It depends more on
your girth than your height. The seat can be installed in a way that could
accomodate your height. I used to weigh in at around 230 at a height of
5'9", so my girth was a bit large. It was a tight fit, but not uncomfortably
so. My bird is a J2 series with the 24 foot wing. It is quite a fun
aircraft. I'm sure that the 28 foot wing of the soaring gull would also be
quite fun.

George

[Don]

Welcome to the group Jim,
I have only been a member here myself for a short time but I have
found Mark Bierle the designer of the Thundergull to be very helpful
even for those who purchased Gulls 2nd hand like myself. I don't
know all of the people in this group yet so I don't know if any of
them own a Soaring Gull. You can contact Mark though at
http://www.thundergull.com/

Don In Oregon

[Alan Cossitt]

I agree with Don, Mark is always helpful, even to those of us who aren't the
original owners, but call him, don't email him or you will never get a
response ;-)

-Alan