It was the ninth annual LAMA Dinner at Sebring 2016. Each year, the organization has tried to do something different and this year broke new ground.
In the past LAMA has brought in speakers such as AOPA then-president Craig Fuller, EAA then-president Rod Hightower, and FAA ex-administrator, Randy Babbitt. Except for the last, they were active in their roles when they spoke but this is evidence of how things change over a fairly short time. However, two things seem not to change.
America (or at least the mainstream media) continues an infatuation with electing a new leader. Every four years — though it seems more often as the election cycles increasingly jam together — the two big political parties trot out their new candidates. The other, more relevant (to readers of this website) unchanging fact is that pilots love to hear about and talk about the engines on their aircraft.
Archives for February 2016
Flight Design USA Forges Ahead with CTLSi
Breaking News … Recently Flight Design in Germany sent a letter to their dealers including this statement, “We have applied for a planned receivership which allows for reorganization of the company.” What does this mean?
Since Light-Sport Aircraft burst on the aviation scene in 2004, Flight Design built the largest fleet in the United States. Using internationally-accepted ASTM standards to good advantage, CT series aircraft also sold well in other countries. Flight Design USA president Tom Peghiny was the first ASTM Airplane Subcommittee chair for several years in the mid-2000s while Flight Design Germany’s Chief Technical Officer, Oliver Reinhardt served as overall F37 chair until very recently.
Parlaying their prowess in aircraft design, testing, and certification, Flight Design engineered an all-metal version of their carbon fiber CTLS, called MC, plus a four-seat certified aircraft design named C4, among other projects.
That may sound positive, but engineering-intensive projects require costlier talent and can consume boatloads of money.
SuperSTOL Gets Superpower with Titan’s 180 Horses
Article updated 2/16/16 — In a freshly-edited video (see at end), Just Aircraft key fellows Gary Schmidt and Troy Townsend provide extra comments and we add additional footage of SuperSTOL climbing strongly with the Titan.
Even before Continental Motors took over the former ECi, that company’s Titan engine has been turning heads. CubCrafters was first to this party, installing the 180-horsepower engine on their Cubalike LSA, demonstrating very short takeoff rolls before climbing steeply. Since then, quite a few other producers have embraced the potent engine and more are coming. This development is sufficiently interesting that I am at work on an article about three “divisions” of powerplants for LSA, light kits, and ultralights.
However, all other users of the Titan are unlike Just Aircraft’s SuperSTOL, which itself has turned many a head at airshow demonstrations. SuperSTOL was able to rivet pilots’ attention when it performed with the 100-horsepower Rotax 912, so imagine the neck-snapping twists that will occur when people get a chance to see how this moveable-slats airplane on tall, telescoping gear performs with 180 horses doing the pulling.
Merlin PSA Takes “Exhilarating” First U.S. Flight
One of the fast paced developments I’ve observed has been Aeromarine LSA’s new Merlin PSA. “PSA” stands for Personal Sport Aircraft and the Florida company may be truly onto something interesting.
While recognizing they are very capable airplanes, many lament the cost of carbon fiber speedsters with glass cockpits and autopilots. Aeromarine LSA perceives an opening.
Introduced at the U.S. Sport Aviation 2016 event in Sebring last month, proprietor Chip Erwin said Merlin PSA drew questions: “It only costs $35,000?” and, “That price really includes the engine?”
A longtime entrepreneur in the light aircraft manufacturing game, Chip sees a way to attract buyers with a very modestly priced aircraft that is fully enclosed, made with all metal construction and with interesting powerplant choices.
The first U.S. Merlin PSA is powered with the 65 horsepower Rotax 582 that provide outstanding performance for such a light aircraft.
Newest Special LSA Is … Rans’ S-20 Raven
The world of Light-Sport Aircraft has matured in the sense that we no longer have an airplane or two or three every month being added to the SLSA List. That may sound like a “industry slowdown” to some folks but I don’t believe that’s an accurate assessment.
A more realistic view is that the feverish rush days of 2004-2006 are over. That means not as many new SLSA are being offered though the truth is many of those 137 aircraft never found a substantial market.
Indeed, our market share list of SLSA airplanes shows the top 20 brands represent better than 85% of all sales. Regretfully, our ranking shows only airplanes as we are unable to pull good data from FAA’s database for motorgliders, weight shift trikes, powered parachutes, and other “alternative” aircraft.
All that said, I am pleased to announce one of our most solid companies — Rans — continues to introduce new airplanes like their S-20 Raven and to qualify them to be accepted by FAA as a fully-manufactured Special Light-Sport Aircraft.
Learn to Fly and Have Fun. Is that Wrong?
Flying is serious. You can … well, perish, perish the thought. Of course, you are vastly more likely to die in a car or maybe even in your bathtub. We all know that. We also know that aviation has not earned an enviably good safety record by emphasizing pure fun. The “fun” part may be implied but is that a bit too dry if we hope to attract newcomers to aviation?
For many years a long while back I was involved with hang gliding. I ran a dealership and flight school in the mountains around Chattanooga, Tennessee. I want to tell you that folks who jump off mountains in hang gliders know how to have fun. OK, technically, you don’t “jump off” mountains — you “launch” — and while those pilots do have fun, they are zealous about safety. In the early days, way back in the ’70s, the sport suffered a rash of accidents but today you very rarely hear about a hang glider accident.
Breezer Gains EASA’s Restricted Type Certificate
A well-worn line is often repeated by those trying to gain approval for an aircraft. The line is typically employed referring to FAA Part 23 type certification because that regulation dictates massive documentation of design, testing, production systems, and more. It is often stated humorously but it’s quite serious.
“When the paperwork weighs more than the airplane, you’re done!” It means an impressive amount of documentation is required to get FAA’s blessing for a new Cessna-Cirrus-Diamond-Piper.
In recent news about the approval of a Light-Sport Aircraft by the European Aviation Safety Agency, Breezer lays claim to a fairly rare credential.
Breezer is only the fourth LSA I am aware of to achieve Restricted Type Certificate approval from EASA, the Europe Union equivalent to FAA. The first two were (in order) PS-28 Cruiser from Czech Sport Aircraft followed by the CTLS-ELA from Flight Design. Both were awarded at Aero 2012.