Rans Designs


Rans Designs, previously called Rans Inc., is an American aircraft and bicycle manufacturer based in Hays, Kansas, United States. The company name is a portmanteau of the first and last names of the company founder, Randy Schlitter. Rans has produced over 3000 aircraft in kit form and as completed aircraft.

History

Rans was founded in 1974 as a pedal-powered sail trike and unpowered land yacht manufacturer. Early pedal-powered sail trikes were the Delta SX, Eagle 4, Windhawk and the Monorai. The company was successful in the marketplace, producing over 1500 sail trikes, and also in racing. Even two place tandem pedal-powered sail trikes were produced, like the Rans Gemini. Rans sail trikes were used by such people as avid sailor Bob Hope.
After trying hang gliding and considering designing an ultralight sailplane, Schlitter turned his attention to designing an ultralight aircraft. Dissatisfied with the early ultralights available, his S-4 Coyote prototype was commenced in November 1982. Schlitter founded a new company Aero-Max, with investment from a friend to produce the S-4. The S-4 first flew in March 1983, but the company broke up over financial issues and the design fell to Rans to produce.
Schlitter kept designing new aircraft and by 2006 had a stable of 12 designs in production. On 1 June 2006 Schlitter ended production of many of the designs to concentrate on the new light-sport aircraft market. In 2010 the line consisted of six basic aircraft designs.

Aircraft

Model nameFirst flightNumber built/as ofType
Rans S-2 Coyote19831Single seat, high wing, conventional landing gear ultralight
Rans S-3 Coyote19831Single seat, high wing, conventional landing gear ultralight
Rans S-4 Coyote1983246 Single seat, high wing, conventional landing gear ultralight
Rans S-5 Coyote1983included in S-4 totalSingle seat, high wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight
Rans S-6 Coyote II19881842 Two seat, high wing, tricycle or conventional landing gear light aircraft
Rans S-7 Courier1985325 Two seat, high wing, conventional landing gear light aircraft
Rans S-9 Chaos1986129 Single seat, mid-wing, conventional landing gear aerobatic ultralight
Rans S-10 Sakota1988147 Two seat, mid-wing, conventional landing gear aerobatic light aircraft
Rans S-11 Pursuit19913 Single seat, low-wing, tricycle landing gear lifting body
Rans S-12 Airaile19901000 Two seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear light aircraft
Rans S-14 Airaile1991125 Single seat, high-wing, tricycle landing gear ultralight
Rans S-15 Pursuit IINot-builtTwo-seat, low-wing, retractable tricycle landing gear lifting body
Rans S-16 Shekari199422 Two seat, low wing, conventional or tricycle landing gear light aircraft
Rans S-17 Stinger199638 Single seat, high-wing, conventional landing gear, open cockpit ultralight
Rans S-18 Stinger II200030 Two seat, high-wing, conventional landing gear, open cockpit ultralight trainer
Rans S-19 Venterra200711 Two seat, low wing, tricycle landing gear light-sport aircraft
Rans S-20 Raven20131 Two seat, high wing, tricycle or conventional landing gear light-sport bush aircraft
Rans S-21 Outbound20171 Two seat, high wing, tricycle or conventional landing gear light-sport bush aircraft

Cycles

Rans is also known as a manufacturer of upright and recumbent bicycles. In 2011 the bike line included 16 crank forward upright bike models, 14 recumbents, three tandems and one delta tricycle.
;Pedal forward
;Recumbents
;Tandems
;Trikes