Pilots seem to love more power. All other things being equal, a more potent engine is preferred to one with less power. Pilots also like sweet-handling airplanes. So, put 20 more horses in front of the S-19 Venterra and you’ve really got something. *** At the recent Mt. Vernon Midwest LSA Expo, I got to fly with Mark Stauffer in the Rans S-19 Venterra powered by the 120-hp Jabiru 3300. Saturday was beautiful and a great day for flying, but it wasn’t just the agreeable weather that caused me to land (quite well, thank you) with a big smile on my face. This combo is darn near perfect, in my opinion. Now, I’m also a fan of Rotax’s 912 series, but this six cylinder Jabiru engine was one of the few experiences I’ve had where the powerplant ran like the proverbial sewing machine. That comparison is often made but not always entirely factual.
Archives for September 2010
Flying Rainbow’s Cheetah XLS
One of the lesser-known S-LSA I caught up with at the Midwest EXPO was the Rainbow Aircraft Cheetah XLS. It’s an ultralight-style LSA — tube and ripstop Trilam fabric envelopes that are pre-sewn, pulled over the airframe components and laced up for tightness — with a rakish look and some rather unique features such as its dual throttles each folding out of the way with the armrest. *** For those of us challenged by aviation budget considerations, the price of $53,000 ready to fly is certainly a draw and makes it nearly the least expensive three-axis, traditional planform SLSA (lower-yet models include the CGS Hawk or the open-cockpit M-Squared Breese). You could choose weight-shift control trikes and powered parachutes for less greenbacks, but the Cheetah is one of the lowest cost fixed wing LSA on the U.S. market. *** The company that imports the Cheetah, Midwest Sport Aviation, was founded by three brothers who grew up going to the nearby Oshkosh airshows with their dad, a commercial-rated pilot.
Midwest Expo Wraps Up
The wonderfully run Midwest LSA Expo is history: Long Live Midwest. The show was well supported by the industry, with many manufacturers and vendors attending to meet the public for the three day event. *** All the industry and media reps I talked to, without fail, were universal in their praise for the enthusiastic, cheerful and unwavering commitment of the Midwest crew who bent over backwards to provide any and every service asked of them. *** Yet when the previous two days challenging weather (wind on Thursday, 95 degree heat and 25 mph + winds on Friday) finally gave way to a beautiful mid-70s, blue-sky day with light winds on Saturday, expected crowds were weaker than hoped although fly-ins were quite active on Saturday. *** All of the LSA dealers agreed that most of the folks who did turn out were more motivated and focused on LSA — there were few nosewheel kickers in this crowd.
Full-Blown Midwest LSA Expo
That title is a bit tongue-in-cheek, since the first day of the Midwest LSA Expo here in Mount Vernon, IL was what you’d call winnnnnndy! *** The big storm front grounded our flight of two Evektor SportStar MAXs two hours east of here Wednesday. That was after our long, headwind-bashing flight from Art Tarola’s Allentown, PA AB Flight center that added two extra hours to the journey (glad it was a MAX — super comfortable airplane to fly and spend time in). *** The heat and humidity (95 degrees) at least had 25 knot winds to help keep it bearable all day, but there was no flying to speak of until the last hour of the day when the wind died down. *** I took the opportunity to jump up and shoot a few landings with Bill Canino in his iCub, which was a hoot.
It’s Show Time for the Midwest LSA Expo
The second annual Midwest LSA Expo is set to launch. The exhibitor count is up from last year’s inaugural event, according to main organizer Chris Collins. Print and web publisher Roy Beisswenger has organized a slate of forums (click for a PDF list), including yours truly. Aviators Hot Line has a special edition and General Aviation News is producing the program, which this year will feature data about all exhibiting aircraft plus offer informative articles. If you can’t wait to see what’s happening or if you’re planning your visit, you can check out this program right here. *** Last year’s first event was praised for the good organization (fairly amazing for a first year when glitches usually appear). Hotels and restaurants weren’t far away and the airport terminal building offers dining, regular airport services, and regular bathrooms, not porta-potties. Indeed, how civilized!
Simsbury Fly-In
Beautiful 80 degree weather held off the looming spectre of fall and winter chills in the Northeast: perfect timing for the 25th Annual Simsbury, CT Fly-In and Car Show. *** Around 10,000 folks wound their way through the low green hills east of Hartford to attend, along with some local notables, including the original Terrafugia Transition flying car prototype (the flight test version with the canard, removed for v.2), Evektor’s SportStar Max, a Cessna SkyCatcher, EA-100 Eagle and dozens of GA airplanes and homebuilts. *** I flew a J3 Cub over the day before, then caught a hop for the show on Sunday with friends from Great Barrington Airport (GBR) in nearby Massahoosetts. *** One of the owners of GBR’s Berkshire Aviation Services, Rick Solan, (that’s his future pilot son Joe in the EA-100 Eagle) put snow skis on the Cub.
Breezin’ the Bahamas
Just heard from Mike Zidziunas of Breezer Aircraft USA who gave me a touch of the end-of-summer blues with his chronicle of a trip he just made with two Breezers to those magical isles in the Caribbean. *** “I was probably the most excited person at Airventure this year,” Mike writes, “when I heard the government of the Bahamas would allow sport pilots to fly there from the States using a driver’s license instead of a medical.” *** Mike knows the Sport Pilot turf well: he was one of the first to get the ticket and has been a Sport Pilot CFI since 2005. His flight school is strictly Sport Aviation and he’s flown LSA on hundreds of hours of cross country trips all over the US. *** “And now I can fly to my favorite place on earth!” *** Before the trek, there was of course the paperwork, including securing radio station licenses for the planes, radio telephone operators licenses for the pilots, customs user decals, and registration with eAPIS for customs manifest filing.
Envelope Pushers
Two aircraft are getting lots of buzz lately for their advancement of aviation technology. *** First up is the electrified Cri-Cri, which looks like a toy but is in fact an important joint electric R&D project of EADS Innovation, Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Association. *** The four-engine Cri-Cri originally debuted as a gas-engine powered, homebuilt acrobatic stunt plane many years ago. EADS modified the Hobbit-sized twin to serve as testbed project for developing electrical propulsion systems on helicopters, drones and other aviation platforms for the future. *** The original stunt plane had two piston mills, maxing out around 30 total horsepower. The all-electric Cri-Cri replaces those with four brushless electric motors. *** The “go-gas” comes from LiPo, or Lithium polymer, batteries, all the rage in RC modeling circles for years for their comparatively high energy density. *** Brushless motors boast 80% or better efficiency, compared to the 20% or less of average internal combustion engines.
IFR “Certification” of Avionics
Lately the subject of flying IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) has occupied my time and more than a few pixels on this website. The debate centered on flight into IMC (Instrument Meteorological Conditions… or situations with no or low visibility, or simplistically, flight into clouds). Although I spend 100% of every day on the subject of Light-Sport Aircraft and other flying machines used for aerial recreation, I can also make mistakes explaining all the ins and outs of the six-year-old regulation abbreviated as SP/LSA. I corrected my last SPLOG post on this subject, but I enlisted Robert Hamilton of Dynon to help further. Robert had politely explained to me that I’d made an error. Rather than tackling this myself, I asked him to contribute.
From Robert… “At Dynon we are often asked if our avionic products are ‘Certified’ for IFR flight. In fact, there is no such thing as ‘IFR Certification’ for amateur-built and LSA aircraft, and so answering the question requires an explanation.
Big View Flying
The folks at the CT Flier Forum kick off their 4th Annual CT Fly-in this coming Oct. 14-17 and it sounds like a blast…unless the sight of the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon and Zion Canyon aren’t enough eye candy to get your mojo working. *** Rooms are available at a $49 rate and around 40 aircraft have already signed up so don’t delay, scenic flight fans. *** My understanding is any LSA is welcome, but mostly Flight Design CTLS and CTSW owners will be there since it’s a CT forum. *** There will also be ground excursions to various places like Hoover Dam and Antelope Canyon, cookouts and such: should be a lot of fun. *** If you go, bring your own tie-downs just in case, and call now to get lodging and let them know you’re coming. *** Page Airport — KPGA — is the jumping off place.