I had some business to attend to throughout the valley today, which included stops in Aurora and McMinnville, so I flew to those destinations to save time on driving. During a stopover in McMinnville, I was surprised to see the new Vashon Ranger light-sport aircraft that was introduced just a few years ago parked on the ramp. Of course, I had to photograph it since I've never seen one until today!
McMinnville (MMV) 9
Preview:
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| Vashon Ranger R7 (N321VR) parked on the ramp. Arrived earlier this morning from Orcas Island. |
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| The Vashon Ranger is a light-sport aircraft produced by Vashon Aircraft in Woodinville, Washington and is supplied as a complete, ready-to-fly aircraft. Development started in 2013, but wasn't formally introduced until 2018 at the 2018 AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. |
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| The idea for the Ranger was to provide a cheap and affordable aircraft for the flight training market; to accomplish this, Vashon Aircraft manufactures the majority of parts itself to reduce costs and shorten the supply chain. Another unique market the Vashon Ranger supposedly serves is for bush flying, and one of the interior design features include seats that fold flat to allow sleeping in the cabin when camping. In spite of all the hype for the airplane however, it does apparently suffer from a low useful load due to the choice of engine, which is the Continental O-200D, which is considered old technology and is at least 50 lbs. heavier than other newer engines that are now available. Even so, I'd like to fly the Ranger one day just to see what it's like! |
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