Sp140 buyers remorse?

I am planning on leaving ICE motors totally. I have a very nice Nirvana Instinct 200 and lots of extras. I have had this amazing machine for years and absolutely love it ! Bar none the most comfortable and definitely most reliable on the market ! With all that said , I know some guys have purchased electric and later decided they want longer flight times. I am interested in trading for a SP140 or I’ll sell mine out right this fall to buy an SP140 then. Just thought I would throw this out there now. Thanks

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I’m in the same boat as you. Iike my set up (skytap Angel & moster185) but want the simplest/relaxing/reliable way to fly. Can’t tell you how many times a pull starter kept me from my sunrises. Curious to see some other responses. I believe if you’re not crazy about long XC flights than the sp140 clear winner all around. That’s my $.02 :slight_smile:

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I would say rather than looking at other peoples regrets for flying times, review your personal average flying times to see if it meets your needs. You sound happy with your current setup so you should look not only at fly times but also the other things attracting your thoughts to E.

I am looking to convert my Flexwing trike to E – Fly times are also a concern for me - but my pro/cons list is mostly weighted in the pros side for E.
pro
lower life time maintenance
Dependability ​
no warmup
no handling oil/gas

Cons
Flight time
Wife complaining about me spending more money😂

Cheers

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Yes , I’ve definitely done my home work. I’ve flown a lot both long and short flights. In the last year I’ve come to realize my flights are almost always lest than an hour. I figured when flight time in electric got to an hour it would be time to switch. It’s time :wink: also been doing more thermalling and electric really fits the bill then :+1:t3: Good luck on the conversion , sounds like a good idea for sure

What’s the opposite of buyers remorse? That’s how I feel about my SP140. You can’t have it! :laughing:

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That’s awesome !! Glad to hear and yes I’m jealous :wink::+1:t3:

Sounds like your there ready to drop the hammer, but I dont think your going to find anyone at this stage to trade an SP140 for the ICE, maybe an X4 but I think the 140 is superior except for the folding – better put your ICE up for sale.
Best wishes.

I wouldn’t trade my X4 for an ICE. I’m not even sure I would trade it for a SP140. I love that there is no turning tendencies, regardless of the power setting. I get 30 minutes with the 8 pack. I’m as happy as a pig in swirl…

Although my flying style does tend to be gentle puttering around, enjoying the view.

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Maybe thats the next evolution – Single folding tri prop with folding cage.:thinking:

I have a bit of the inverse: buyer’s remorse for an ICE over an electric.

I find that most of my flights are under an hour. I don’t do a lot of XC so even if I wanted to fly longer I could potentially bring more batteries to the field and swap them out.

Handling gas / ensuring proper age as I don’t have access to ethanol-free gas is something of a stressor.

And my specific model requires some finaggling to get into my apartment, which definitely deters me from e.g. early morning flights. It takes me about 20 minutes to get it out the door, reassemble, load it onto my tow hitch… then I have to repeat the process in reverse returning home.

Considering trying to sell my ICE at a loss :sweat_smile: … and I haven’t even had to deal with any maintenance yet.

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Yes - for a trike it is large at 16.8m^2

Typo?
Is that meant to be 26.8 m^2 for a trike?

I am asking because there are only a few PPG wings that small (like the Apco F1 or the Ozone Freeride or Viper 5) and for most normal weight pilots flying them on a trike will challenging due to the high wing load. Speed will be high and wing responses might me very direct.

I have been flying the 18.6 sqm projected area Apco F1 size 22 at max rated load of 165 kg at a trike and can tell you that it works well, but definitely needs attention during takeoff.

For most pilots I would recommend larger wings when flying with trikes.

Not a typo
Flexwings faster with less lift vs Parawing slower with more lift. 16.8 is a bigger wing, considered a soaring wing on a single trike and my instructors wing is also 17m^2 on 2 seater
12m^2 on the Evolution Rev trike is looking nice.
Cheers

I am not 100% sure if I get you point correctly.

A 17m^2 wing on 2 seater PPG trike with two persons - no way!
… unless that is two 40kg guys.

If you actually mean it, then you are talking about >10 kg / sqm wing load ranges.
Can it be done? Maybe.
Should an average dude try it? Definitely no.
If you do it then you probably feel like you know it better than most established large vendors out there. Bold!

There are bold pilots and old pilots, but no bold old pilots.
Please stay safe folks!

PS: I also fly a Dudek Boson 31, which is the smallest officially tandem rated PPG reflex wing I am aware of. The weight range is 140 - 260 (300) kg at a wing area of 26,7 sqm projected / 31 sqm flat.

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