Check out Bobbie Bailey’s Connie Amphib.
Many pilots are aware of aircraft referred to as flying boats. Among ultralight aircraft, the Aventura, SeaRey and Buccaneer stand out as good examples as do trikes like Polaris’ Flying Inflatable Boat. The flying boat reference describes those aircraft built around a boat hull with substantially different structure than airplanes equipped with two floats.
That clear definition is blurred by the introduction of a novel new ultralight from the inventive mind of Bobbie Bailey. His new Connie amphibian is neither flying boat nor a float-equipped ultralight. My BRS associate, Gregg Ellsworth, tagged it a “flying float.” Works for me.
Canada’s Lotus Float company offers a single float setup that functions much the same way but is an add-on to a wheeled ultralight. This may make a perfectly fine floatplane, but you have to do the fitting yourself, and it simply won’t be as elegant as Bailey’s Connie amphib.
Archives for March 2005
Part 103 Ultralight Trikes
Part 103 ultralight trikes aim at soaring pilots.
Many visitors to Oshkosh AirVenture 2003 expected the FAA to announce its new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft rule. New Administrator Marion Blakey reported signing off on the rule on July 30, but with two other agencies in line to review it, we aren’t likely to see the final version until 2004.
Visitors may not have expected to see more than a few Part 103 ultralight aircraft at AirVenture (some thought they would disappear as LSA approaches). But there were many. Next month I’ll write about two Part 103 rotary-wing aircraft, but this time, the subject is nanotrikes.
Nanotrike is a term to describe extremely light wheeled structures combining powered paraglider engines and contemporary hang glider wings. The idea is to create a low-cost, self-launching ultralight motorglider.
Trike Pod
Minnesota-based Seagull Aerosports debuted its Escape Pod at Oshkosh. Pushed by a single-cylinder Cors-Air engine generating 25 hp, the Escape Pod weighs only 75 pounds.
Transitioning?
A primer for ultralight pilots transitioning themselves and their machines
Ultralight pilots flying legal Part 103 single-place ultralights are not affected by the sport pilot/light-sport aircraft rule. The rules of FAR Part 103 remain the same. Current and future ultralight pilots are free to enjoy those freedoms. If they choose to become sport pilots at a later date, any training logged as a registered ultralight pilot can be counted toward the training requirements for a sport pilot certificate. The rule pertaining to legal ultralight vehicles also do not change.
The sport pilot and lightsport aircraft (SP/LSA) rule is now officially part of the American aviation culture. Some of us who fly Part 103-legal ultralights will continue to be ultralight pilots. Others who fly two-place or overweight machines must eventually transition themselves to sport pilot status and their machines to light-sport aircraft status to remain legal.
With the rule now final, we’ll address the requirements for those ultralight pilots and instructors wishing to transition themselves and their machines.
Product Lines – July 2004
St. Paul, Minn. – Paraphrasing a famous speaker, “You can satisfy all of the people
some of the time or all of the people some of the time, but, well| that’s about it.
I’m referring
to my story about Raven Sky Sports – it’s sale, then non-sale, and the challenge
to its name. First, I got in trouble for announcing
a purchase by an Oregon-based pilot. He and founder/owner Brad Kushner could
never quite close an almost-done deal. The would-be buyer was at first very upset
with me that I would share this news with the public without getting permission (though
I received an email announcement letter along with numerous other recipients). We
patched that up between us but then the sale never happened.
Next, I got a very unhappy but carefully written, four-page letter from the lawyer
who asked Kushner to stop using the name Raven Sky Sports. He thought I characterized
him in a poor light.
Product Lines – December 2004
WALLABY RANCH, FL — While northerners prepare for winter and snow, it’s hot and
sunny here in Florida. I’m in the state for a collection of aviation events, kicked
off by a big gathering at Malcolm Jones’ “Ranch.”
They called it the Moyes Boys Reunion. When most of us hear “reunion” we think
of Class Reunions, and many groan about having to attend. Since I similar gatherings
like Dockweiler and Grandfather Mountain, I was pleased to make this one. I saw old
friends I hadn’t seen in 20+ years. But what really moved me was meeting John
Dickenson, who may have been THE man who invented the hang glider as we
know it today. John taught both Bill Moyes and Bill Bennett
to fly “ski kites” as they were then called. Moyes went on to become a major brand
name. Bill Bennett once directed a leading company that gave Bob Wills his start
in the business.
Product Lines – November 2004
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Just as the October “Product Lines” was headed to press a last-minute
update was inserted into the column by USHGA’s alert art director, Tim Meehan. At
the end of last month’s column I was writing about Alan Chuculate’s paraglider
aerotow trike, the SlowTow. A week after the deadline, Alan wrote, “The SlowTow
project suffered a major setback on Wednesday when Floyd Fronius crashed
in the trike and crushed a vertebrae and his heel. It was a classic case of a low
altitude aerotow problem resulting in the towplane pilot getting pitched down and
not releasing early enough. Both trike and glider were airborne at approximately
150 feet AGL.” Alan reports that Floyd thought the glider had released because the
towline was slack. He began to descend and turned left to reconnect and try again.
“But as he turned left the towline tightened rapidly, the glider climbed dramatically,
and the trike was slowed and pitched nose down.” Perhaps Floyd should have released
at the first sign of the problem, but it takes a short time to comprehend the situation
and he didn’t have those precious seconds.
Product Lines – October 2004
St. Paul, Minn. — Wills Wing has released their new Sport 2 model
in the 135 square foot size. The company says, “The Sport 2 135 is a high
performance glider for lighter pilots that’s easy to fly and land. All of the HGMA
vehicle tests are completed, and we are releasing the glider for sale at this time.”
The new model comes with their popular Litestream control bar and an aluminum faired
base tube. WW reports that the Sport 2 can achieve a glider of about 13:1. The smaller
model weighs only 54 pounds (your shoulders will love it!) and, as its mainly
intended for smaller pilots, the control bar is three inches shorter than on the
larger 155 model. More stats: Span is 29.3 feet (versus
31.5 on the 155), hook-in weight is 130 to 200 pounds (versus 150 to 250), and it
will work best for someone with a body weight of 130 to 160 pounds (versus 150-200
for the larger model).
Product Lines – September 2004
OSHKOSH, WISC. — Last month I was thrilled to report the Over Everest achievement
of Richard Meredith-Hardy and fellow pilot Angelo d’Arrigo. Since then,
I established contact with d’Arrigo for a story I prepared for Kitplanes magazine
(Nov. 2004).
After I investigated the project more thoroughly, I gained a clearer picture of
the enormous challenges. So| As we left our heroes last
month, Meredith-Hardy reported d’Arrigo was being bounced around after both aircraft
flew through some high altitude turbulence. No surprise, really. In thin air at 29,035
feet the hazards are real — even if you’re standing still. According to tug
pilot Meredith-Hardy, the “time of useful consciousness is less than one minute”
without oxygen. Only with rigorous training over long periods have some climbers
made the ascent without oxygen. The temperatures are colder than a cruel Minnesota
winter with the wind howling. During their final ascent climbers take one step, rest
for a full minute, then repeat| for hours.
Product Lines – August 2004
ST. PAUL, MINN. — Wow! Feel the chill! Am I nuts, talking about chill in August?
Even in my home state of Minnesota (just south of the Arctic), it’s summer and steamy
with mosquitoes the size of B-52s. However, the year-round conditions on top of Mount
Everest never get steamy| except maybe when a powered ultralight trike puts on an
airshow for hardy mountain climbers who made it to the world’s highest peak. This
news was first reported at the end of May by AvWeb.com, an Internet-only aviation
news outlet (bold emphasis is mine).
Headline: “MICROLIGHT CONQUERS EVEREST — So, what would you do if the turbo-intercooled
Rotax 914 engine powering your Pegasus Quantum trike, flying under a Pegasus
XL wing, was so hard to start that it flattened two batteries before finally catching?
Perhaps they were mildly hypoxic, but Angelo D’Arrigo and Richard Meredith-Hardy
chose to fly that engine (typically capable of 115 hp) over the world’s highest mountain
— towing a hang glider (a rigid-wing ATOS 2 from Icaro 2000) for good
measure.
Product Lines – June 2004
CENTRAL FLORIDA–
At the start of the big Sun ‘n Fun airshow, I had the pleasure to fly John
Dunham’s American Tug built for him by ultralight producer, M Squared
of Alabama. This design resembles the popular Quicksilver ultralights that evolved
from the original hang glider of the late 1970s. Beefed up for the hard duty that
is aero towing, the M Squared entry is a robust ultralight that should be capable
of steady operation as a tractor of the air. American Tug is a single-place aircraft
employing a 32-foot span, high-lift, slow-flying, single-surface, strut-braced wing.
While Dragonfly has been the lone fixed-wing tug in the USA, flight parks and clubs
now have another choice. And, importantly, the American Tug — as opposed to the
“Australian tug,” John says — costs substantially less. A basic Rotax 582-powered
tug should sell for about $20,000 says John. The American
Tug I flew, with a custom-configured 680 cc Rotax engine rated at 100 hp, demonstrated
an acceptable climb rate while towing plus excellent low speed controllability.