Rans S-20 Raven


The Rans S-20 Raven is an American homebuilt aircraft that was designed by Randy Schlitter and is produced by Rans Designs of Hays, Kansas, introduced at AirVenture in August 2013. The aircraft is supplied as a kit for amateur construction and it is anticipated that it will later be offered as a complete ready-to-fly-aircraft in the light-sport aircraft category.

Design and development

The S-20 combines features from the Rans S-6 Coyote II and Rans S-7 Courier models. It differs from the S-6 in having the whole fuselage made from welded 4130 steel tubing and not just the cockpit cage and it uses the S-7's wings.
The aircraft features a strut-braced high-wing, a two-seats-in-side-by-side configuration enclosed cockpit accessed via bowed-out top-hinged doors to give increased shoulder room, fixed conventional landing gear or optionally tricycle landing gear made from 7075 aluminum with wheel pants and a single engine in tractor configuration.
The aircraft fuselage is made from welded 4130 steel tubing, while the wings are of aluminum construction, with all surfaces covered in doped aircraft fabric. Its span wing mounts flaps, has a wing area of and is supported by "V" struts with jury struts. The cabin has a width of and features a large overhead skylight. The acceptable power range is and the standard engines used are the Rotax 912ULS or the ULPower UL350iS powerplant.
The aircraft has a typical empty weight of and a gross weight of, giving a useful load of. With full fuel of the payload for the pilot, passenger and baggage is.
The manufacturer estimates the construction time from the supplied kit as 500–700 hours, with kits forecast to commence shipping in February 2014. A ready-to-fly LSA version is expected to be on the market by late 2015 at a cost of about US$120,000.

Operational history

In January 2014 one example was registered in the United States with the Federal Aviation Administration, although a total of two had been registered at one time.

Specifications (S-20 Raven taildragger)