Rans Designs (often stylized RANS) is a Kansas-based manufacturer of aircraft and bicycles. If that seems an odd combination, probably an aviation history lesson is in order.
Since its founding in 1973, Rans has developed and marketed contraptions as weird and diverse as pedal-powered sail-trikes, hang-gliders, sail-planes, ultra-light powered aircraft, and finally, light-sport aircraft. Year in and year out, Rans products have sold briskly and consistently. By the early 2000s, the company was producing a dozen different aircraft models.
In 2006, however, Rans mastermind Randy Schlitter binned several designs and refocused his considerable energies and expertise on the increasingly relevant and profitable light-sport aircraft market. Numerous memorable machines ensued: the S-18 Stinger II, the S-19 Venterra, the S-20 Raven, and today’s S-21 Outbound.
In 2022, after 48-years of inspired work and a legacy of innovative aircraft, Mr. Schlitter is stepping down from overseeing Rans’s day to day operations and turning the company over to twenty-year employee and former sandblaster, welder, and general go-getter Tony Dopita.
"We're just very confident that Tony will lead the company into a bright future," Schlitter remarked. "It has already had a positive effect on our buying audience. They see me as the aging founder, and it gives them the security that the company is more than just me."
Mr. Schlitter’s “aging founder” credentials will serve him well as he ascends to the lofty station of Rans CEO—from which he plans to guide the research and development efforts upon which future Rans designs will be predicated.
Notwithstanding the overall shaky U.S. economic outlook, demand for Rans aircraft—particularly the S-21 Outbound—remains strong. The company’s order books are scheduled out one-year for the S-21 kit and a whopping four-years for the ready-to-fly airplane. The protracted lead-times speak to Rans’s nonpareil reputation among aerophiles, and the quality, utility, and flat-out enjoyability of its two-place, 985-pound (empty), +6/-4G-rated, STOL, tail-dragging, S-21 Outbound.
Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, ANN's Aero-TV has produced over 5000 aviation and feature programs, including nearly 2000 episodes of our daily aviation news program, AIRBORNE UNLIMITED, currently hosted by Holland Lee. Now in its third decade of operation, parent company Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published nearly a half-million news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.
Very High Frequency The frequency band between 30 and 300 MHz. Portions of this band, 108 to 118 MHz, are used for certain NAVAIDs; 118 to 136 MHz are used for civil air/ground voi>[...]
Aero Linx: Aviation Suppliers Association Established February 25, 1993, the Aviation Suppliers Association (ASA), based in Washington, D.C., is a not-for-profit association, repre>[...]
Have A Story That NEEDS To Be Featured On Aero-News? Here’s How To Submit A Story To Our Team Some of the greatest new stories ANN has ever covered have been submitted by our>[...]
From 2021 (YouTube Version): Colorado Campus Offers aVariety Of Aerospace Entertainment And Education Wings over the Rockies Exploration of Flight is the second location for the Wi>[...]
Also: Paramotor Champ's, Electric Ultralight, ICON BK Update, Burt Rutan at Oshkosh! The Popular Rotorcraft Association is reaching out for help in rebuilding their private runway >[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (05.17.24): Very High Frequency
See All