S-10 Sakota

The RANS S-10 Sakota is the two-seat aerobatic version of the single-seat S-9 Chaos. Randy Schlitter designed it in 1988 and it first flew in March of that year. Production ran from 1988 to 2006 and resumed around 2009. The number built is uncertain: Wikipedia quotes 215 examples by 2011 but gives the same figure for the single-seat S-9 Chaos – the documented registrations for November 2010 are 42 in the USA, 6 in Canada, 12 in the UK and 58 on other European registers. What is certain is that the Sakota is far rarer than the S-6 Coyote II and appears only occasionally on the European market.

Structurally the S-10 is a mid-wing design with two side-by-side seats: a welded 4130 steel-tube cockpit cage, a bolted aluminium-tube rear fuselage and dope-and-fabric covering on fuselage, wings and tail. The base engine is the 64 hp Rotax 582, with the 80 hp Rotax 912 UL and 100 hp 912 ULS offered as options. The kit is an FAA-recognised 51 percent kit that requires no welding and is quoted at roughly 600 working hours. At 39.75 inches the cabin is narrow – the Sakota is a sport aircraft, not a tourer.

Its flying character comes from the small 8.8 m² wing and a wing loading of 49 kg/m²: a 210 km/h Vne, roughly 180 km/h cruise on the Rotax 582 and a 72 km/h stall. It is stressed to +4/-2 g at maximum takeoff weight and +6/-4 g at 670 lb (304 kg), so aerobatics happen at reduced load, in practice solo. Takeoff runs of 300 to 325 ft and landing runs around 400 ft keep it usable from small fields despite the sporty layout.

Strengths are the lively roll response for a fabric-covered ultralight, documented aerobatic strength, a low empty weight of 209 kg with the Rotax 582 and a simple airframe an owner can repair. The weaknesses: a narrow cabin and very little baggage space, higher maintenance and shorter TBO with the two-stroke Rotax 582 than with a four-stroke, almost no workshops in Europe with experience of the type, and a very thin market, which makes resale and valuation harder. No verifiable source exists for German ultralight certification of the S-10, so figures such as 472.5 or 475 kg quoted in adverts should be checked against the actual paperwork.

The Sakota is for pilots who want rolls and loops above the airfield, enjoy working on their own aircraft and can live with a rare type. Anyone planning to travel two-up with luggage is better served by a high-wing design such as the S-6 Coyote II or a modern touring ultralight.