Instead, I refer to people who want to fly but may have challenges many of us don't face. If you had a passion for flight but you had lost the use of your legs, must you just give up?
Not if Charles Stites and Able Flight have anything to do with it. Of course, personal determination is also required.
SIU students trained in two 
Charles noted, "The handles in the center console operate the rudder and the others are for differential braking."
What if you had a powerful interest in flying but you needed special equipment? I don’t mean flat-screen avionics, powerful engines, or comfortable seats — though all those are indeed fun. Instead, I refer to people who want to fly but may have challenges many of us don’t face. If you had a passion for flight but you had lost the use of your legs, must you just give up? Not if Charles Stites and Able Flight have anything to do with it. Of course, personal determination is also required. Enabling Flight Charles founded Able Flight in 2006 with a believe that, “the life-changing experience of learning to fly is best shared.” He carefully designed the Able Flight Scholarships to enable people with disabilities to pursue that experience and he’s been nothing short of amazing in his success at this. Over 18 years of operation, Able Flight has awarded 130 scholarships minting 98 new pilots.
From my view — and to some extent for all the readers of this website — the single most valuable aspect of Midwest LSA Expo is the great ease with which one can take one or more demo flights. For me in particular, this is a unmatched opportunity to go aloft in an aircraft so I can write about it.
Regretfully, my video partner Videoman Dave was not allowed by U.S. authorities to enter the country from Canada, so we did not get to capture Video Pilot Reports where several aircraft get fitted with Dave's collection of seven 
Named for a small island in the Puget Sound region of Washington state near Seattle, 
While Vashon is colocated with Dynon in a Woodinville industrial park, Vashon maintains a separate corporate structure. Company employees of each defend the co-owned businesses as distinct from one another.
Vashon produces structural components and puts fuselages and wings together in Woodinville but these sub-assemblies are then transported to a hangar at the Paine Field Airport (KPAE) in Everett. This is the same airfield where final assembly takes place at Boeing’s massive facility.
Ranger has a listed empty weight of 875 pounds before adding options. That leaves a useful load of 445 pounds. With fuel tanks full of 28.1 gallons or 169 pounds, payload drops to 276 pounds. Fortunately lots of flying is done locally so half tanks are still plenty and would provide a payload of 361 pounds or a couple occupants at 180 pounds each. (Of course, this may change when FAA issues its new regulation in 2023.)
With half tanks and no baggage, demo pilot Kurt Robertson and I probably flew below the gross weight limit. We could have flown for better than three hours.
Vashon chose the 100 horsepower 
Taxiing Ranger uses a castoring nosewheel. This means steering with brakes at low speeds, so both seat are fitted with directional foot pedals, which allow for very tight turns. Castor steering takes a bit of familiarization but ramp maneuverability is unparalleled. Flight controls involve dual joysticks and a center-mounted throttle.
Takeoff was simple and straightforward. After liftoff, Ranger's rate of climb varied between 600-800 fpm to 3,500 where we practiced some stalls. Fuel burn during best rate of climb appears to be north of seven gallons an hour, about the same as a Rotax 912iS. Kurt reported he routinely sees 118 knots at altitude and burns 6-6.5 gallons an hour at this higher cruise speed.
Flaps are electrically actuated with a button — one push for 20 degrees; another push deploys flaps to 40 degrees. We used one notch for takeoff and either one, both, or none for landing.
Immediately, Ranger felt somewhat different from many LSA. First, the Continental emits a familiar growl to the Rotax 9-series' whine. Secondly, the heft of Ranger gives it a heavier feel, actually surprisingly like a Cessna 172.
In flight, Ranger is very well behaved, no wonder as this model shares some designer heritage with the Van's series that are highly revered for great flight qualities. You need only minimal rudder entering and exiting turns. Joystick pressures are fingertip-light (photo).
In stalls, the LSA can be called docile with no evil bones I could uncover despite fairly steep stall entries. Recovering from a full-stick-aft stall showed no steep break or wing drop. Ranger exhibits very modest pitch change when flaps are deployed up or down.
In slow flight or on approach to landing, Ranger was very stable and my landing was quite good even for a first-ever effort. At Kurt's advice I held 65 knots down low, then slowing slightly.
Cockpit width is stated as 47 inches, broad compared to most GA aircraft but about standard for LSA; it was roomy for Kurt and me. One neat trick: remove the seat cushions and you can fold both seats nearly flat allowing you to camp overnight in Ranger. It measures a generous 78 inches from the aft bulkhead to the joysticks.
The large space aft of the seats can hold up to 100 pounds. While most loading won't tolerate that much baggage weight, the space is large enough for sleeping bags, tents, fishing poles, and other (lighter weight) outdoor gear.
Buy All-American? — The western U.S. company boasts that its Special LSA is fully American. "Ranger R7 is designed, engineered, tested, and manufactured at the Vashon Aircraft factory headquarters near Seattle, Washington, and is assembled at its Paine Field assembly and delivery center (on the same airfield as Boeing's wide body airliner factory)," said 
Sometimes a new Light-Sport Aircraft producer bursts on the scene in dramatic ways. Think of Terrafugia and their folding wing flying car or Icon and its sexy A5 LSA seaplane. Others enter from different positions of strength. One of the newest of these is 
While organized as completely separate companies, Vashon shares common ownership through the name John Torode, the founder of Dynon Avionics. The two businesses work hard to stay separate but it's clear one success might help the other just as John's earlier success in the tech industry lead to Dynon being formed.
When you 
Estimated production numbers in 2019, if this is something you wish to divulge.
Is the R7 only for those interested in Sport Pilot/LSA?
Anecdotes from customers/operators and how you have addressed requests/problems (the true indicator of excellence).
Where is your exhibit located and who will a person meet there?
That's quite admirable for a fresh-out-of-the-gate design entering a marketplace with more than 140 Special Light-Sport Aircraft appearing on 
"Our team has been extremely busy since we've been back from Oshkosh," added Amy. "Traveling to the show in four of our Ranger R7s was an awesome experience and we had an easy arrival into Wittman Airport Saturday morning." Arriving two days before the show began proved wise when heavy arrival traffic delayed many inbound aircraft as the show was starting.
"We flew from Everett, Washington (KPAE) to [Wittman Field], stopping at several airports along the way," Amy continued. She said "the public release of our aircraft at Oshkosh had been in the plans for years. To have the chance to show off our airplanes was indescribable."
Now that the staff is back home, Amy finished, "We have our work cut out for us … [as we] continue building and delivering these amazing airplanes!"
Even more recently, another Vashon LSA was delivered. "We delivered our second Ranger to a local flight school right at our home airport at Paine Field," boasted Amy! 
From Washington State arrives a fresh, new airplane created from scratch to enter the Special LSA space. You don't know the company but you may know the people, at least indirectly. Welcome to Vashon and their new Ranger R7!
Ranger R7 is an all-metal, two-place, high-wing, single engine airplane equipped with tricycle landing gear and castering nose wheel. The company says Ranger has been in development for five years and has been flying for more than two.
Vashon Aircraft was founded by John Torode, and the Ranger R7 was designed by Pacific Northwest aeronautical engineer, Ken Krueger. Does the name Torode sound familiar? It should. This is the man behind Dynon Avionics. Other key players are General Manager Scott Taylor and Marketing Manager Amy Bellesheim.
The team picked the name Vashon Aircraft because "we wanted to give it a Pacific Northwest rugged, utilitarian 'jeep' feel," said Bellesheim. "You can go out in nature, get dirty, and get back in the airplane without worrying about messing the airplane up. We live among national parks so the name Ranger comes from [these] parks. We chose R7 because it sounds modern and cool."
The design goal appears to be a rugged outdoor-action airplane but with sophiciated avionics, a natural if unlikely pairing resulting from the close relationship to 
Vashon claims to be one of the first companies to form pre-painted metal. "We purchase sheets of stock aluminum that have been painted and then form them into parts using a modern turret punch, laser, and hydropress technology. Because of that we have taken a whole step out of the airplane building process by eliminating the need to paint after assembly," reported Bellesheim. "We also spent a lot of time developing painted rivets so that they match the airplane."
For power, Vashon chose 
The prototype Ranger has "canvas slate gray upholstery, light gray floor and sidewalls, a gray instrument panel, and gray center console. At higher price points, you can add other colors and accents. As they move into producing additional aircraft, "the colors for interior will be either gray or black or a combination of both."
In progressive upgrades, you can get more goodies in their "Glacier" package for $107,500; or their "Redwood" upgrade for $114,500, or the "Appalachian" for $129,500, a variant described as their "flight school model."
"We won’t take deposits," said Vashon. "We won’t take your money until we have an airplane for you."