Hennie wrote: >>I've asked all South African KR2 owners if anyone flies his KR2 regularly with two up and the short answer I received was NO! I find this hard to believe and would like the opinion of other KR2 flyers all over the world on this so that I can share with those in South Africa.<<
I've said many times that the width of the "plans-built" KR2 is simply too narrow for two normal adults. I weigh 138 pounds and my wife is about the same (both skinny by American standards), and we're a tight fit in N891JF. I've flown in serveral stock-width KR2s, and I can tell you that anything longer than an hour is going to be painful for two folks that pass for "normal" these days. The big problem is what to do with the passenger's shoulder and arm, because two people's shoulders can't occupy the same space at the same time! So the passenger has to put his arm behind the pilot's head. Sounds easy enough, but the geometry of humans is such that it's very uncomfortable, and that hand has to be folded up because there's an aft deck there and the hand won't fit otherwise. Hands don't like to be folded for an hour. What people may not understand about the KR2S is that it is built to exactly the same width. The one dimension that begged to be changed the most, went untouched! I'd flown in KR2s with several folks before I got to the boat stage on mine, and widened mine 2.5 inches at the shoulder. That number was arrived at after measuring my wife and I with an inch between our shoulders. Wider folks will want more width. Widening the plane is not a huge hit to speed. Weight is another consideration. I think nothing of flying folks in N56ML, especially light ones. The difference in climb rate and pitch sensitivity is barely noticeable. Throw a 250 pounder in there and it makes a difference on both fronts, especially climb rate, and I have 130 HP out front, but it's still doable, and at least they physically fit. I've already decided that N891JF (stock width KR2) is going to be a single seater, unless the weight and balance has improved since I last flew it. According to the W&B sheet, it starts out very close to the front of the CG range with a light pilot and full fuel, and it was still noticeably more pitch sensitive than N56ML (widened KR2S). I'll be doing a new weight and balance soon, and I probably shed a few pounds during the "refurb" effort. Let me get some more hours on it and I'll report back, but for the moment I'm thinking it's a single seater except for kids. Some Brit can correct me if I'm wrong, but the Brit rules for KR2 gross weight and CG location is so tight that kids is all they can carry. For more on this kind of stuff, see http://www.n56ml.com/kopinion.html . After I get N891JF back in the air, I'm going to rewrite this stuff, having gained more KR2 experience in a plane with weight and CG limits that I've verified, as well as KR2S experience that needs to be updated as well... Mark Langford, Harvest, AL ML at N56ML.com www.N56ML.com
