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We Fly: Quicksilver Sport 2SE

Quicksilver Sport 2SE
Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Quicksilver has achieved S-LSA (Special Category Light-Sport Aircraft) certification for its two-seat, open-cockpit Sport 2SE, making this factory-made open-air aircraft more accessible than previous ultralight or experimental versions.
  • The Sport 2SE offers a unique "low and slow" flying experience, emphasizing sensory immersion in the environment with a comfortable cruising speed of around 45 mph and benign flight characteristics.
  • Flying the open-cockpit Sport 2SE requires adapting to specific considerations, such as wearing a helmet, checking for loose items, and utilizing rudder-only turns due to the aircraft's design.
  • Quicksilver has a decades-long history of producing ultralight-style and experimental aircraft, with the new S2SE priced at $39,999 for a basic panel, also continuing to offer experimental kits.
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Perhaps you are the type of person who likes to go on road trips while traveling within the protective confines of a car. Or maybe you prefer to experience the trip with all of your senses, on a motorcycle, where you can feel the speed, touch the elements of nature, and hear and smell the environment you are traveling through. If the second category fits your personality, the journey itself is at least as important as the destination.

If that is the case, you are also likely the kind of pilot who likes or would like to fly open cockpit airplanes and ultralights. If your goal with general aviation flight is to get to a destination as quickly as you can, looking as fresh and clean as you did when you first climbed into the airplane, open cockpit flying is not for you. But the low and slow experience of open cockpit airplanes allows you a type of open-air freedom like no other.

Pia Bergqvist

Pia Bergqvist joined FLYING in December 2010. A passionate aviator, Pia started flying in 1999 and quickly obtained her single- and multi-engine commercial, instrument and instructor ratings. After a decade of working in general aviation, Pia has accumulated almost 3,000 hours of flight time in nearly 40 different types of aircraft.

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