This German sportplane is as strong as it gets
The Germans have never had a monopoly on quality, but there’s little question that American drivers have long regarded German cars as some of the best in the world. Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Audi all have reputations as high-quality, high-performance machines. While German lightplanes have benefited from the same uncompromising quality control, they’ve been notably less successful in the U.S. and world markets. The delightfully handling Extra 300 series has made its mark as an excellent aerobatic machine, but other German-produced aircraft have found tough sledding on this side of the pond. Ruschmeyer was a fun retractable that never caught on the first time around in the 1990s, then was revived a few years ago as the Solaris, which still hasn’t caught the pilot public’s fancy.
The Remos G-3 is an airplane from Germany that could change all that. The G-3 represents the dream of German designer Lorenz Kreitmayr, a lifelong aviation fanatic who was determined to do things his way.
His way turned out to be the light-sport aircraft market. In many respects, the Remos is one of the most exotic LSAs available. Kreitmayr initiated design efforts in 1993, and the prototype first flew in 1997. Following a recent infusion of capital by software entrepreneur Eberhard Faerber, the factory in Pasewalk, Germany (an hour’s drive from Berlin), is currently turning out about one airplane every two weeks, and many of those G-3s are finding their way to the vital U.S. market.
I flew a G-3 with Doc Williams of Corona, Calif. Williams purchased his Remos through Remos USA, (888) 838-9879, in Fullerton, Calif., the West Coast distributor for the line. At first sight, the Remos promises a different experience, and it delivers exactly that. It’s an attractive little airplane, and one can easily see that good quality control and intelligent design were foremost in the Remos’ conception. As partial acknowledgement of Kreitmayr’s efforts, the G-3 was voted “Aircraft of the Year” at the AERO Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in 2000.
The G-3 is constructed primarily of carbon fiber, a nearly ideal material for airplanes, a third lighter than fiberglass, yet twice as strong. Fabric-covering is also used on portions of the Remos’ wing.
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