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Rans Designs, previously called Rans Inc. (styled all in capitals as RANS), is an American aircraft and bicycle manufacturer based in
Hays, Kansas Hays is a city in and the county seat of Ellis County, Kansas, United States. The largest city in northwestern Kansas, it is the economic and cultural center of the region. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 21,116. It is ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. 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.Cliche, Andre: ''Ultralight Aircraft Shopper's Guide'' 8th Edition, pages B-48 & B-97. Cybair Limited Publishing, 2001. Downey, Julia: ''1999 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 15, Number 12, December 1998, page 65. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2005 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 21, Number 12, December 2004, page 53. Belvoir Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Downey, Julia: ''2008 Kit Aircraft Directory'', Kitplanes, Volume 24, Number 12, December 2007, page 69. Primedia Publications. ISSN 0891-1851Purdy, Don: ''AeroCrafter - Homebuilt Aircraft Sourcebook'', page 238. BAI Communications. Bertrand, Noel; Rene Coulon; et al: ''World Directory of Leisure Aviation 2003-04'', page 157. Pagefast Ltd, Lancaster OK, 2003. ISSN 1368-485X Taylor, John (ed): ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1984-1985'', page 711. Jane's Publishing Company, 1984. Taylor, John (ed): ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1986-1987'', pages 701-702. Jane's Publishing Company, 1986. Taylor, John (ed): ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1987-1988'', pages 698-699. Jane's Publishing Company, 1987. Taylor, John (ed): ''Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1988-1989'', pages 592-594. Jane's Publishing Company, 1988.


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 Ultralight aviation (called microlight aviation in some countries) is the flying of lightweight, 1- or 2-seat fixed-wing aircraft. Some countries differentiate between weight-shift control and conventional three-axis control aircraft with ailer ...
. Dissatisfied with the early ultralights available, he commenced construction of his S-4 Coyote prototype 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 A light-sport aircraft (LSA), or light sport aircraft, is a fairly new category of small, lightweight aircraft that are simple to fly. LSAs tend to be heavier and more sophisticated than ultralight (aka "microlight") aircraft, but LSA restrictio ...
market. In 2010 the line consisted of six basic aircraft designs.


Aircraft


Cycles

Rans is also known as a manufacturer of upright and
recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by ba ...
s. In 2011 the bike line included 16
crank forward A crank forward bicycle has the bottom bracket and cranks set further forward, relative to the seat, than a traditional upright bicycle. Bicycles of this type are also called easy bikes/EZBs, flat foot bikes (from Electra's 'Flat Foot Technology'), ...
upright bike models, 14 recumbents, three tandems and one
delta tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a Human-powered transport, human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) Three-wheeler, three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for pa ...
. ;Pedal forward *Fusion *Fusion ST *Cruz *Dynamik *Citi *Street *Sequoia *Hammertruck *Zenetik *Alterra Road *Alterra Ti Road *Alterra *Alterra Ti *Alterra 29 *Alterra 700x *Mini ;Recumbents *V-Rex LE *Ti-Rex *Enduro 26 *Enduro Sport *F5 *F5 Pro *Formula LE *Stratus LE *Stratus XP *Stratus XP TI *Stratus XP ALl *Xstream *Xstream 26 *Xstream Team ;Tandems *Dynamic Duo *Screamer *Seavo ;Trikes *Trizard


References


External links


RANS Official websiteRANS Bikes
{{American bicycle manufacturers Aircraft manufacturers of the United States Cycle manufacturers of the United States