The trip we did was in company with 3 other aircraft, 7 people in total. We went to see Lake Eyre which is a dry salt lake that only fills with water if the rain falls in certain  river systems in the north of our continent. It's full at the moment, hence the trip. We flew 21 hours, 12 landings around 108 knots air speed average and 13.5 Aussie litres of fuel per hour.
My RANS S19 Venterra.
This aircraft is my 3rd RANS build. I have also plans built a Hummelbird which in reality probably served me well in the building of the 19. My first RANS was an S4 and my second an S6S. The 6 I owned for 19 years and still flew during the Venterra building.
I love making things, had Meccano sets when I was a boy, so the 19 was ideal. This kit was just like Meccano and everything just FITS.
However, like all kit aircraft you have to be a forward thinking person and a self starter but this is really not that hard.
I first paid my deposit in 2006, received my boxes in 2009 and first flew the plane in late 2014. With my kit I received 3 books ( parts, figures and instructions) and later I obtained 2 DVD's on interior and engine fitment. There was not really anything I couldn't figure out with the manuals and I can say I probably only rang RANS 2 or 3 times for more info during construction. Leading up to building I collected brochures, stories in aero mags, and as much printed material as I could as it is surprising how much you can glean from pictures of your new build.
I enjoyed the building over a 4 year period and my garage became a meeting point for other enthusiasts  and even passers- by showed interest. As I said before everything just flows ( FITS) together by following the book procedures . Naturally there were some things which required some self made changes. I had cockpit floor rails which weren't quite pressed correctly but making some rivet line shims ensured a smooth flow of the bottom fuselage skin. The same type of shims I made for the sub ribs over the fuel tanks to ensure a smooth flow of the top wing skin. I made extra strips to go under the rivets of the forward plastic wing tips and " notched " the areas on top wing skins where 4 sheets lapped over each other. This prevents that awful bump I've seen on other aircraft.
My brakes failed early on and I made metal lines from the calipers up the gear legs to join the Parker plastic lines at the fuselage edge. This better dissipates the heat generated at the calipers and prevents the lines swelling and sliding out of the olives. (Simply as they are no longer there).
OK there is some cutting fitting and work to do with the Windscreen, Canopy and engine cowling , but it is all achievable with a little finesse and forethought.
I have a small ongoing issue with my Canopy sliders as I did not modify the 4 forward rivets on each side enough and they drag when closing. It is however getting better as the slider gradually wears down the offending tails over time.
Initially when I first started taxi testing I found it difficult to steer and keep straight with the castering nose wheel. This contributed to the heavy use of brakes and the brake failure. I did not take off in this plane until I could master the ground handling. That was 8 hours. ( My Hummelbird stayed on the ground for 14 hours, and that is a taildragger)
The ground handling of the 19 is now automatic and second nature to me.
If I had a real criticism it would be the fuel caps. They are sometimes hard to remove as you have to tighten them up to prevent leakage. It's sometimes hard to remove them when the tank changes shape ( as all plastic tanks do , even in cars ) and it's hard to get fingers down the sides of the scuppers. I made a small tool out of an expandable oil filter remover ...........works just fine.
I had to make an oil cooler blanking plate to get the temperature right, but that is not really a RANS kit issue.
I've done 115.5 hours in this plane and for the last 50 or so I can honestly say the cowling has not come off. How many aircraft do you see belonging to your friends who are always tinkering, and the cowling off most of the time.
The airfield I operate at has a gravel runway and stone chips on the propeller back face  are an ongoing problem. I have however now been better able to manage my taxiing and rolling where it is becoming less of an issue.
In summary if I were to express it in percentage terms the aircraft build was .5 % real hard and 99.5 % normal simplicity. There is a lot of help on the Internet , from builder groups.
I love flying my Venterra now, it is a "natural " aeroplane. You could fly it at midnight with your eyes shut.

David King

David King and his award winning Venterra in Narromine, Central New South Wales