Earthstar Forums

How often do single-seat Earthstars come up for sale?

Interested Onlooker,

Bob

Here in southern California, I have not seen any come up
for sale since I became interested in the ThunderGull.
When I went to visit EarthStar near San Luis Obispo earlier
this year Mark had a couple that he was selling for
a couple of his customers. You could give Mark a call
at (805) 438-5235, and ask him about what he knows of
anything currently for sale?

--Dave [ building mine from a kit :-) ]

Thanks, Dave. Tell me about your project i.e. model, engine, etc.

Bob

Hi Bob,

I am building the ThunderGull 2000 with a 20 foot all metal wing.
There is also an option to build a 24 foot wing, and/or an option to
build the wing as fabric covered. The engine propeller combination
that I decided to use is the HKS with a DUC 68 inch 3 blade
propeller. I have around 100 hours into the construction right now,
and almost all of that has been in the wing. I still have to attach
the tips, flaps, and ailerons, but I figure the biggest part of the
job is building the wing itself, which is finished now.

--Dave

Here is a JT2 that I just heard of in the Portland Oregon area.

#############################
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Cossitt [mailto:alan.cossitt@v...]
Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 8:35 PM
To: 'Ron Carroll'
Cc: 'Alan Cossitt'
Subject: RE: I'm considering selling my JT2...

Ron,

Haven't set a price yet - I'm still doing some research to
try to find a fair price and still not 100% that I want
to sell it (90% sure I want to sell it). Price will
probably in the low 20k range.



a.. Aircraft is about 6 years old. Built by Ken Despain while he was working at the Earthstar factory.
b.. About 400 hours on the airframe.
c.. Empty weight about 460 lbs.
d.. 100.4 hours on the engine. Engine is a Hirth 3203 (fuel efficient, reed valve version of the 2706) that I purchased to replace the lemon 2706 that was on the airplane. Have had no problems since I purchased the new engine.. Gearbox reduction of 2.59. Engine will need its 100 hour inspection. Will probably need less than $100 worth of new parts. Probably will not need a de-carb at this stage.
e.. Condition is very good. Some hanger rash and scratches on windows. Couple small dings on elevator leading edge and main wing. Airplane is ready to fly. No new systems have been added in the past 100 hours.
f.. Prop will be a new model fixed pitch PowerFin. I purchased the PowerFin to replace the prop that was on the aircraft. I currently have an adjustable IvoProp on the JT2, but I'm going to keep this for my next aircraft.
g.. No damage history while I have had it (other than hanger rash). Ken damaged one wing by dropping it while taking the wing off. He has repaired this and I have seen no affects in the 200+ hours I have flown the airplane.
h.. The main instrument panel will probably need to be redone. I've added new instruments but haven't done a new layout. Panel from Mark is about $65
i.. Will need new main tires. The current ones are worn.
j.. Aircraft has two 10 gallon wing tanks and a 4 gallon header tank (24 gallons, total. Probably 23 gallons usable). Header tank is used as a reserve and for the fuel injection gas return. The header tank has an opening to the air allowing for the bubbles in the return gasoline flow to percolate out of the gas going to the engine. This protects the fuel injection system (especially the high pressure fuel injection pump).
k.. 26 ft wing (same as Odyssey)
l.. Performance appears to be about normal. In good conditions takeoff distance around 200 ft with 900 fpm climb. This is with me at 220 lbs in the aircraft.
m.. I've done a good job maintaining the aircraft.
n.. Instruments
a.. New Stratomaster digital airspeed indicator (as well as the old analog instrument)
b.. New Grand Rapids digital EIS with VSI and altimeter
c.. FlowScan fuel flow gauge. Redid the fuel flow system for more accurate readings.
d.. Fuel level for header tank.
e.. Hobbs meter (turned on when fuel injection turned on)
o.. Since I've purchased the aircraft, I've made the following improvements:
a.. Rewired the fuel injection and all other engine wiring. Used PIDG style connectors, strain relief and Teflon aircraft wiring to improve the reliability of the wiring. Critical for fuel injection systems.
b.. Moved the ignition system off the engine and have placed it on the back of wing. This removes engine vibration from the ignition system increasing reliability.
c.. Redid some of the wiring of the front panel. If you were to build a new panel that would be good time to do a better job of this. Ken knew how to structurally build an airplane but he was a idiot when it came to wiring. I've removed and improved the worse areas, but more improvement can be done ;-)
d.. Created independent electrical circuits for master (avionics) power and fuel injection power. Avionics can be turned off without affecting fuel injection and electric starter. This is an important safety factor.
e.. Completely redid the fuel system. Replaced and rewired the tank fuel pumps with aviation quality fuel pumps and moved the pumps to the back of the wing (they were on top of the wing). Doing so saved weight, increased reliability, FlowScan accuracy and decreased the stall speed of the aircraft by several miles per hour (soft field takeoffs now can be done by 30mph, full power). Replaced all fuel hoses. This setup has about 100 hours on it w/o trouble.
f.. Dynamically balanced the current prop (IvoProp). This has reduced wear and tear on the aircraft. The dynamic balance will not be valid for the fixed pitch PowerFin.
g.. Redid the engine mounts, moving to softer rubber and using hard rubber where appropriate. This made a noticeable improvement in vibration.
h.. Added turbulators behind rear door. This reduced the aileron cruise tab adjustment to almost nil.
i.. Added fairings to the wing and landing gear. This improved the efficiency of the aircraft by about 5%. The IvoProp improved efficiency about another 10% and the new engine about another 9%. With the current setup, at 3000 ft density altitude I'm getting about 97mph TAS at 4.2 gal/hour cruise (92 mph IAS). Fuel injection allows high efficiency cruise at high altitudes. My estimate is a TAS of about 102 mph at 7000 ft at around 4.2 gal/hour. If you wanted to add a IvoProp adjustable pitch prop to this aircraft, I'd be glad to help you.
j.. Added stick stop for elevator. This allows you to know when elevator is at full climb and reduces strain on elevator cables
k.. New battery
l.. Rewired and relocated the fuel injection computer with better strain relief and protection against water getting into the computer.


I think I've covered everything ;-))



Ron, I forgot to mention this: My JT2 has the "speed wing" modification
giving it a gross of 1200 lbs and a VNE of 150mph. I believe the standard
JT2 is 960 lbs and 120 mph.


-Alan

Hey Ron - Here's your chance to rejoin the TG ranks :-)))))

C'mon, ya can do it. Ya know ya miss it. Sell the Kitdog and get
back to soaring with the Gulls.

Jim C