On a trip to North Carolina (it was both FLYDAY and my birthday!) I rented a Vashon Ranger to fly from Hickory, North Carolina, to Mt. Airy, North Carolina.
The Ranger is an LSA (light sport aircraft) that seems to have been designed to be a bigger, more sophisticated version of the Cessna 150/152/162, going so far as to use the Continental 0-200 engine made famous by the Cessna 150 and updated for the Cessna 162.
With a full glass panel, auto-pilot and a center stick, this LSA is fun to fly, efficient and (technically) affordable, but not without its quirks and compromises.
00:00 Fire up the Ranger and taxi at Hickory Airport
01:00 Takeoff
01:59 Introduction to the Ranger and this flight
03:40 A modern Cessna 150?
04:20 Uses the Continental 0-200D engine (plus fuel burn discussion)
05:45 Full Dynon glass cockpit
06:25 Auto-pilot discussion
07:35 Center stick control (and difficulty getting into the plane)
09:20 Free-castering nose wheel
10:20 Good cargo space but low useful load
12:25 It's light!
14:17 Cost and summary of my review
16:30 Good ventilation/sliding windows
16:50 Recommendation - Conclusion
17:55 Landing at Mt. Airy airport
