Patrick Fanning’s Art Works
RANS S-14 Airaile
In March 2004 I started to construct a kitplane. It’s a RANS S-14 Airaile, a single-place, high wing, pusher design with a Rotax 503 engine. It flew in July of 2004.
The crate arrives and I start unpacking
Three weeks later it’s on wheels, rudder pedals and battery are in, and I’m riveting on the belly pan skins.
Working on the instrument panel.
Aluminum panels taped in place prior to riveting.
Starting to put Dacron skins on tail surfaces.
Clamps, blocks & homemade tools are necessary to get skins tight enough.
Putting the Rotax 503 engine on the mount.
Pull the red handle and a rocket fires out the back and pulls the parachute canopy out. ‘Hope I never have to find out if this works.
It’s a finicky chore to get the holes drilled and this tail assembly mounted inside the boom tube so that the rudder post is perfectly vertical.
The base plate for the ballistic parachute is a tight fit in the rear of the cockpit enclosure. Parachute pack straps onto the white square.
A nine gallon plastic gas tank nestles into the inboard bay of each wing.
Before covering the wings they are attached and rigged for equal aileron operation and washout.
Then the wings come off for covering, insertion of the ribs. At this stage two coats of automotive clear have been sprayed, and the stripes are about to be taped and painted.
Wings go on for the second time. I changed from red to blue for the stripes.
The plane went to the airport in late July and flew very well. I became fascinated with taking aerial video from the plane. I made a documentary about my video experiments, which led to an interest in making movies, which took up so much of my time that I wasn’t flying the plane much. So I sold it in early 2006.
Updated 12/1/06