In Aero 2005’s massive display halls, light-sport aircraft from eastern European companies dominated. Yet one creative idea traveled from France. The Isatis 01 from AeroJames appears to have no room for its tractor engine…no wonder as the BMW engine is in the rear spinning its prop through a carbon fiber driveshaft. The logic is to give the pilot tremendous visibility and it works. The Isatis 01 and many other planes will be featured in my report for Kitplanes magazine (9/05 issue).
Archives for April 2005
Corvus at Aero 2005
Europe’s major aviation show Aero in the southern German town of Friedrichshafen is underway. The show is housed in seven huge halls. Three of these hold light-sport aircraft of all kinds and one of the most beautiful aircraft seen is this Corvus Corone from Hungary. With a superb finish, excellent features, and a most distinctive burgundy and gold paint job, this entry from the new Corvus company caught the attention of many of the show’s 45,000 visitors. Look for a review of Aero in the 9/05 Kitplanes and perhaps a separate story on the Corvus.
NH:Press 7/23/04
ByDanJohnson.com Launches New Features:SpecCheck, Pros & Cons, and PlaneView
ST. PAUL, MINN. – The Web’s largest resource for ultralight & Light-Sport Aircraft pilot reports, ByDanJohnson.com, recently launched new features aimed at improving a site member’s experience. The new features are SpecCheck, Pros & Cons, and PlaneView. Another eagerly-awaited feature, PlaneFinder, remains in development.
SpecCheck helps visitors compare specifications of multiple aircraft without having to page back and forth through printed buyer’s guides. Members select airplanes from a long list of aircraft presented on the site, denoting them as “Favorites,” and can then compare the wingspan, empty weight, and much more for each aircraft in tables created instantly by this database-driven Web site.
Pros & Cons is a popular an element of pilot reports appearing only in Ultralight Flying! magazine. The new Web site feature lets visitors contrast the positives and negatives of various aircraft in nine different categories. This a quick way to review what attributes you may like or wish to avoid and no other Web site, magazine, or book offers this resource.
NH:Press 4/09/05
ByDanJohnson.com Launches New Features and Content;Celebrates First Anniversary Online
ST. PAUL, MINN. – For pilots and newcomers interested in light-sport aircraft (LSA) and ultralight pilot reports, ByDanJohnson.com offers the Internet’s largest database of pilot reports. On its first anniversary, the website added “SPLOG ByDanJohnson,” a web log (or blog) of light sport aviation observations by Dan Johnson, the site’s author. Additionally, nearly 200 articles have been added to the site’s database in the last year.
“The upgraded site has much new content. In particular, SPLOG will catch the interest of those following developments in light aviation,” said Dan. A sport pilot-oriented takeoff on the popular blog concept, SPLOG is a series of photo and paragraph blurbs often giving advance information about new aircraft that Dan may subsequently cover in full-length aircraft evaluations. SPLOGs will be added weekly, or more frequently if warranted, with a complete archive of this quick-read content available at the click of a mouse.
NH:Press 3/28/04
Finally! ByDanJohnson.com Goes LiveST. PAUL, MINN. – After three years of effort, Dan Johnson is pleased to announce that his Web site will go live on April 12th, 2004, the day before the season-starting Sun ‘n Fun airshow opens.
ByDanJohnson.com is intended to be a source for literally hundreds of pilot reports on a wide variety of light aircraft, accompanied by thousands of photos of these aircraft. Dan’s work to create pilot reports dates back into the mid-1970s and covers a large fleet of ultralights and light-sport aircraft made in the USA or abroad.
“This is one of those projects where if I’d known how much work it was going to be, I might never have started,” admitted Johnson. “But, at airshows and at speaking engagements, pilots often ask, ‘You’ve flown all these airplanes. Which one should I buy?’ The question is difficult to answer because each person has different skills and needs, and I don’t usually know the individual asking the question,” Dan explained.
T2 “Competition Class” Glider from Wills Wing
America’s top hang glider manufacturer released their new T2 topless hang glider by offering demo flights to qualified pilots at Florida’s Wallaby Ranch located a few miles south of the Disney complex. Just before the Sun ‘n Fun airshow opens, Wills Wing traditionally hosts an event at the hang glider tow park. In one busy day during this year’s festivities, four tug pilots launched 277 flights! Good soaring weather benefitted the gathering which occurred just before the U.S. Nationals started at the Quest Air tow park a few miles north of Wallaby.
New “Ride” from Europe
From the designer who brought you the popular SkyBoy comes the MD3 Rider currently being marketed by FlyItalia based near Milan, Italy. This attractive LSA-type airplane was created by Jaroslav Dostal, the man behind the Interplane SkyBoy. Jaro started with an interest in hang gliders and went all the way to FAR 23 commuter aircraft before returning to light sport designs. Look for a report in Kitplanes magazine (8/05 issue). And, I’ll have more to report after attending the Aero 2005 show in Germany.
Seagull Aerosports takes a new angle
Seagull Aerosports takes a new angle on weight-shift construction with a fully enclosed cockpit.
Developer Michael Riggs might prefer I called his Escape Pod something other than Everyman’s Motorglider, but if you have any interest in self-launched soaring flight, Riggs’ invention is one of the most cost-efficient purchases you can make. The Escape Pod costs thousands less than ultralight motorgliders and literally hundreds of thousands less than sailplane motorgliders.
Oh, and one more thing this kind of flying machine is a hoot to fly. That the Escape Pod also transports easily, can be stored in a small space and is attractively shaped are icing on the cake.
Sure, it’s obvious-I like the Escape Pod. But could it be for you, too? Even if this aircraft isn’t your type, you might enjoy reading about how thoughtfully it was designed.
Trike Motorgliders
Before the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) rule was recently passed, trike enthusiasts had several other ways to fly such aircraft.
Product Lines – April 2005
ST. PAUL, MINN. – Here’s an interesting perspective on the World Meet in Hay. The
missing Manfred (Ruhmer) saw the event in his own way and expressed himself
clearly. He didn’t go|which also means somebody else got to win after Manfred has
won the last two World Meets. In the fifteen World meets that have been held since
1976, only one man has achieved more. Tomas Suchanek won the event three times
running, a record. Looking at the history of hang gliding’s
main worldwide competition, a New Zealand pilot unknown to most Americans, Terrence
Delore, won the first event. He was followed by Josef Guggenmos, the talented
German wing designer (’79); by Brazilian Padro Paulo Lope (’81); by famous Australian
Steve Moyes (’83); by British legend John Pendry (’85); by another Australian
Rick Duncan, now a partner in AirBorne (’88); by Robert Whittall who also
went on to paragliding competition fame (’89); and then three times in a row by Czech
pilot Tomas Suchanek (’91, ’93, and ’95); by German Guido Gehrmann (’98); twice by
Manfred (’99 and ’03); and now by Ukrainian star, Oleg Bondarchuk (’05).
Product Lines – March 2005
OSHKOSH, WISC. — While the deep snow swirls in strong winter winds up here in the
southern tundra, it’s enjoyable to think about the 15th World Meet taking
place in sunny, hot Australia where this time of year is “summer.” The event concluded
just as this column was sent to the editor, and I’m pleased to report a few highlights.
Some contest enthusiasts followed this on Davis Straub’s
Oz Report (ozreport.com) from which I’ve distilled a few points of interest.
The new
reigning champion of flex wings is Oleg Bondarchuk of the Ukraine. Working
for Aeros, he was, of course, flying an Aeros Combat L and finished with a
clear lead over second place finisher Rob Reisinger of Austria flying an Icaro Zero
7, followed by fellow Austrian, Gerolf Heinrichs, flying a Moyes Lightspeed S4. Congratulations
to these top three finalists in hang gliding’s top worldwide competition. You may
also note with interest that the top three pilots flew different brands so no company
“swept” the top positions.