Mon, Sep 11, 2023
While ANN CEO and Editor-In-Chief, Jim Campbell, was stomping around EAA AirVenture 2016 on his “What’s New” rounds, he stopped to talk with Randy Schlitter, the founder and owner of RANS Designs, which is the company that produces the RANS line of kit-built airplanes. While RANS has been around for a long time, they still managed to come up with something new in the RANS S-21.
For those of you who are familiar with the RANS airplanes this truly is “Breaking News.” RANS has been noted for building tube-and-rag airplane designs, but the S-21 separates itself from their other models by being a combination of tube and metal.
In the video you’ll see the early workup of some of its structure which combines welded tubing with aluminum covering. This allows the front section of the airplane to provide the high structural integrity and crash protection of welded tubing, while the wings and aft section are the more standard aluminum construction.
Schlitter goes on to provide some details about the kit and the overall features of the airplane. It’s been designed to be powered by a 180 horsepower engine and provide cross-country performance. The conversation continues into the cost and other details that a kit builder would be interested in. This video works perfectly if you’re comparing kit-built airplanes.
Aero-TV is a production of the Internationally syndicated Aero-News Network. Seen worldwide by hundreds of thousands of aviators and aviation adherents, Aero-TV has produced over 2000 aviation and feature programs, including several hundred episodes of our daily aviation news program, AIRBORNE, hosted by Bri Cross & Christopher C. Odom. Parent company, Aero-News Network, has the most aggressive and intensive editorial profile of any aviation news organization and has published nearly 200,000 news and feature stories since its inception -- having pioneered the online 24/7 aviation new-media model that so many have emulated.
©2016 Aero-News Network, Inc., ALL Rights Reserved
More News
Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) The frequency band between 300 and 3,000 MHz. The bank of radio frequencies used for military air/ground voice communications. In some instances this may >[...]
During The 7 Second Descent, There Was Another TAWS Alert At Which Time The Engine Remained At Full Power On October 24, 2025 at 2115 mountain daylight time, a Cirrus SR22T, N740TS>[...]
From 2009 (YouTube Edition): Educational Organization Aims to Inspire by Sharing Tuskegee Story Founding leader Don Hinz summarized the Red Tail Project’s mission in simple, >[...]
“This feels like an important step since space travel for people with disabilities is still in its very early days... I’m so thankful and hope it inspires a change in m>[...]
Also: New Katanas, Kern County FD Training, IndiGo’s Botched Roster, MGen. Leavitt Named ERAU Dean The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) has wrapped up its inves>[...]
ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.19.25): Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF)
See All