Light · ICAO CRER

Rans S-7 Courier

Designer Randy Schlitter built the RANS S-7 Courier to train pilots for his earlier Coyote ultralight, giving it the same left-hand throttle, centre-stick tandem cockpit layout so skills would transfer directly between the two types. He named it after the Helio Courier, and it inherited some of that aircraft's short-field character: the high-wing taildragger flies well on modest horsepower and gets in and out of very short strips. First flown in November 1985, it has stayed in production through several variants, including the S-7S kit introduced in 2003 that qualifies as a US light-sport aircraft, keeping this simple two-seat STOL design available today.

Rans S-7 Courier, example photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Benchill · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Did you know?

A high-wing taildragger built to train pilots for the Coyote ultralight, keeping the centre stick and left-hand throttle.

Specifications

Length6.8 m (22 ft)
Wingspan8.9 m (29 ft)
Height1.8 m (6 ft)
Persons on board2
Maximum take-off weight0.5 t
Range230 NM (426 km)
Service ceiling14,000 ft (4,267 m)
Optimum ceiling10,000 ft (3,048 m)
Rate of climb750 ft/min (3.8 m/s)
Take-off distance100 m (328 ft)
Landing distance100 m (328 ft)
Fuel capacity66 l

Curated by CatchFlights from manufacturer documents, ICAO Doc 8643 and reference works; values are left out where no source could confirm them. Sources are listed on our credits page.

In CatchFlights

In CatchFlights the Rans S-7 Courier starts as a Rare catch. The tier is an editorial judgement of how special a sighting of this type is. The more often you catch it, the closer it moves to Common for you.

A catch counts for the manufacturer Rans, the S-7 Courier family and the model in your collection, and the daily Type Rating quiz asks about the types of each family.

Catch it yourself.CatchFlights shows the aircraft flying near you on a radar, so a type like this one is only a catch away when it passes overhead. Explore CatchFlights.

Browse all aircraft types, or learn to tell Airbus from Boeing.

Download

Catch what flies overhead

CatchFlights is free on the App Store for iPhone. On Android it is in closed testing on Google Play — join the testers and help shape the game.

iPhone · Android (beta)