LAMA President Dan Johnson released the manufacturer organization’s first newsletter of 2010 with some interesting news. There’s lots in there: I’ll endeavor to summarize: *** In the beginning, there was FAA, and FAA created Light Sport, and saw that it was good. *** And FAA decided it could rest, but first it said, “We shall smile down and only monitoreth thee…so long as thou provideth third-party oversight.” *** “Forsooth, thou shalt police thine own to maintain compliance with The Rule, lest fedgov lightning bolts shall rain down in the form of aggressive compliance auditing and other regulatory interferences.” *** To forestall FAA’s wrath, third-party oversight is offered by LAMA through extensive audits of LSA company procedures and documentation. *** An initial LAMA audit costs roughly $7,000, depending on services needed. Several — but not nearly all — manufacturers have signed up for LAMA audits. *** Evektor, European producer of the SportStar, was one of the first companies to successfully complete a LAMA audit.
Archives for January 2010
Super SportCub Rocking Out
Just talked with CubCrafter’s PR head Jon Bliss to check out the haps on the left coast – Yakima, WA to be exact – with the company’s Super SportCub and other Cubalike models. *** “We’re doing as well as we’ve done in a long time,” says Jon. “We’ve even got a backlog of orders.” *** As I said some months ago: *** Bad economy – bah! *** CubCrafters expects to move 50 LSA total out the door next year (2010), with the ASTM-certified (spring of ’09) Super garnering most of the orders. *** If you’ve got a Cub in your dreams, it’s worth checking out the Super, especially if eye-popping takeoff/climb performance is on your wish list. *** The airplane sports the company’s own CC340, high-compression, electronic-ignition engine. News here is, and it’s allowed for in the ASTM spec, that the engine can be run at 180hp for as long as five minutes, then must be throttled back to 80 hp for cruise (around 5 gal/hr fuel burn) to keep it in the LSA-legal performance envelope.
Neiman Marcus: “Icon A5 Is Top Gift!”
Right in line with Icon’s high-viz marketing push for its A5 amphib LSA comes the announcement that iconic big-ticket shopping purveyor Nieman Marcus has the futuristic waterplane as the number one (and priciest) fantasy gift in its 2009 Christmas Book. *** The Icon is currently in extensive flight testing at Tehachapi, Ca, one of the soaring meccas of the west but also near Lake Isabella, so both the land and water chops of the A5 can be thoroughly wrung out. *** An interesting sidenote mentioned in the piece: Matthew Gionta, ICON’s chief technical officer, is quoted as saying 33% of the A5’s current customer base has “never flown before.” *** That’s a testimony to the vision of the company’s founder, Kirk Hawkins, who believes the ICON will bring new pilots to aviation with its glossy marketing of the A5 as a kind of flying jet-ski you can easily trailer to your holiday getaways.
Pre-Christmas Roundabout
Ramping up to the big day when that jolly red-flightsuited Sport Pilot in his original LSA -a two-place, roof-landing, 8 RP (reindeer power) flivver – will fly all those XC legs to good little pilot’s chimneys, herewith some stocking stuffer newsies and tidbits to help wind down 2009. *** Kennedy Aircraft Service & Repair serves up a blog with tasty tidbiti about the SeaRey amphibian which is (forgive me) making a splash on the water-fly-sport scene. *** An interesting info site called The FAA Buzz (not affiliated with FAA) has a blurb about Virginia Aviation, provider of FAA-approved E-LSA inspection courses. V.A. is now cleared by the fedgov to conduct an LSA repairman’s course (LSRM) on weight shift control aircraft. *** Speaking of bugs-in-teeth flight, Precision Windsports has a quick-read page on the relative merits of E-LSA vs. Amateur-Built kits. Browse around the site, they’ve got lots of good trike info and pix (as seen here).
Whatever Works!
Never Say Die Dept: A St. Louis, MO. dealer calling itself the Renegade Light Sport Mall offers several LSA for sale, and the company’s not shy about finding the market wherever it’s hiding. *** I stumbled across this listing on Ebay for the FALCON Light Sport Aircraft, which Renegade champions in the auction as THE BEST LIGHT SPORT AIRCRAFT ON THE PLANET. *** We’re glad to see the Falcon hanging in there. It’s a very attractive U.S.-made airplane with a Lycoming engine. We’ve had our eye on it for some time but haven’t been able to get a flight in yet…maybe at Sebring.
ELSA Trainer Owners – 1/31 Deadline!
January 31st (about 3 weeks away) is an important date for anybody who owns an E-LSA aircraft that’s used for training, whether or not they actually use it for training operations. *** If owners don’t apply for the amended certificate by the 1/31/2010 deadline, their current airworthiness certificate will expire, and another will not be issued! *** Kinda serious stuff. *** Not sure your ELSA falls under this category? Check your airworthiness certificate. On the right side under the serial number and model is the word “expiry.” If the box has “unlimited” in it, you’re golden. But if it has the date “January 31, 2010”, it was originally given the operating limitations for flight training, and you must renew it! *** The fedgov rationale in play here: you cannot amend a certificate if it’s expired. After Jan. 31, you’re toast. *** Quick background: Apparently the ruleworks involved in permitting flight training in ELSA to continue in general is bogged down at FAA.
In A Sling – And Happy!
The more I look into the story about those two wild and crazy South African dudes (post below) who flew around the world in the LSA of their own design and manufacture, the more interesting it gets. *** Just heard back from James Pitman who offered this: *** “We’re just getting into production at this instant here in SA and will deliver the first 20 planes to local buyers. We absolutely intend to be in the US thereafter – hopefully commencing in the second half of this year. We have an established close friendship with Matt Liknaitsky, who is the distributor for MGL Instruments in the States, and we’ll be getting help and advice from him on how to best serve the US market…Thanks for the good wishes for the year – we’ve got a hang of a lot of work ahead of us, but we’re excited about the prospects and are having a good time, both working and flying.” *** Can’t do much better than that, eh?
Around The World In 40 LSA Days
Last July I ran an item on the grand LSA adventure of two South Afrikaaners, James Pitman and Mike Blyth, who set out to fly around the world — in an LSA! *** Happy to report the boys finished the epic flight, all 45,150 km (27,090 miles) with a stop at EAA Airventure 2009 to boot – in 40 days! *** One memorable highlight: two friends of the pilots greeted the return landing in Full Monty mode: they waved large South African flags, wearing boots…and nothing else! (check out those merry buffsters in the photo). *** The story was just carried on the official Johannesburg, S.A. website, written by Makoena Pabale. *** Anybody who doubts the durability and utility of LSA, take note: the chariot of choice was the Sling, built by The Airplane Factory right in Joburg. *** BTW: the company is their own startup, and the Sling is their first design.
Hangin’ In The Mall — A Fable For 2010
Once upon a time, there was a purveyor of flying machines and a trainer of pilots in the great kingdom of Texas that wondered why more people hadn’t come to fly the Planes of Sport. *** “I have an idea,” said the Duke of U.S. Aviation Group. “Let us sally forth to the local market mall at the waxing of the moon, and offer Flights of Discovery for one full moon cycle. Only then, if we still have unsatisfactory student numbers, shall we moaneth our dire and hopeless fate.” *** And so his loyal band of sky serfs and flight vassals transported a Remos GX to a busy mallway, manned the booth with eager promoters night and day, and lo and behold, one moonth later, the Duke was happy to report that 170 Flights of Discovery had been sold, along with 130 leads on partnerships as well as several potential solo purchasers.
Winter Ops
I’m sitting at my desk, gloom and doom outside the window as the snow flakes fall, wishing I had one of these: a Legend SkiCub. *** I confess I succumbed to a nostalgic moment, remembering the wonderful trip I had with Darrin Hart and the boys from the Legend factory in Texas down to Sun ‘n Fun in Florida a couple years back. Wish I had a Cub nearby on skis, because right now, that’s a stylin’ way to go. *** Glad to see Legend’s hanging in there through the tough economy.