A good friend in aviation journalism and Editor-in-Chief of Plane & Pilot magazine is Robert Goyer. We’ve known each long enough to have stood around years ago at South Lakeland Airpark waiting to fly this or that new ultralight.
In his Going Direct column earlier this month, Robert wrote an editorial about FAA’s Part 23 rewrite project. Using an LSA viewpoint, I wanted to add some commentary to his observations. My goal here is twofold: (1) Show how success with LSA led to good things for other aircraft sectors, and (2) Show how LSA continue to significantly outpace sales of Type Certified Single Engine Piston aircraft.
Robert wrote, “The FAA announced earlier this week that the Part 23 Rewrite has taken effect. This means that the rule, which gives manufacturers leeway to employ what are known as consensus standards to meet airworthiness standards instead of the FAA’s prescriptive rules.
Archives for September 2017
Midwest Light-Sport Aircraft Expo 2017 — Another Success!
It’s over …yet it’s just begun. I refer to the Midwest LSA Expo, which, you might say, kicks off the LSA show season including light kits and ultralights in addition to LSA. Midwest runs in the first weekend in September, followed by Copperstate in October, followed by DeLand in November, and climaxing with the granddaddy of these shows, Sebring, in January.
Copperstate has more than LSA and light kits but it has a focus on those aircraft. The organizers enjoy such light recreational flying machines so they focus on this segment. That show is coming soon. DeLand will later host the second-annual event. Sebring will be hosting its 14th event. The last is the largest and best established of these and, indeed, has been the wellspring from which the others of these evolved …except for Copperstate, which will celebrate its 45th year in 2017 — impressive!
Tecnam’s Shapely P2008 Is Now a Canadian Advanced Ultralight Aircraft
America’s neighbor to the north is USA’s largest trading partner …yes, bigger than China, or any other single country. It may be hard to accept that exchanges with a nation of 36 million population exceeds China by almost a third, despite that Asian nation’s 1.37 billion persons and its export-promoting government. Nonetheless, it’s true.
Canada is also the #2 nation bringing regular reader to this website. Gotta love those Canadians.
Armed with those facts, I was intrigued to see the announcement from the big Italian company, “Tecnam P2008 now available in Canada.”
A few days back, Tecnam announced that Transport Canada, their equivalent to FAA, confirmed that the P2008 has been added to the Eligible to Be Registered Advanced Ultralight Listing (although the Tecnam model has not been added to their website list at this writing).
“P2008 aircraft may be registered in Canada as of this date,” wrote Civil Aviation Safety Inspector, Craig Davis of Transport Canada on August 14, 2017.
PlaneFinder 2.0 is Working! Find the Best Light-Sport Aircraft for You.
When I started this website back in 2004, even before Light-Sport Aircraft officially arrived on the aviation scene, I began by uploading hundreds of pilot reports that had appeared in various aviation magazines. Most were very detailed descriptions of many ultralights (both single and two seaters) and light kit aircraft. After flying nearly 400 models, I had information that most buyers lacked, so I often took questions that were similar to, “You’ve flown all these airplanes. Which one should I buy?”
The question turns out to be impossible to answer. It is something like asking me, “Which color car is best?” The answer depends on what you want. What I like is nearly meaningless unless your desires are almost identical to mine …and that’s very unlikely. If we spoke long enough at an airshow, perhaps I could learn enough about you — your experience, your home location, your expected use of an aircraft, your spending budget, and much more — such that I might advise you what might work for you.
Pipistrel’s Alpha Light Aircraft “Plugs In” at New Charge Station; Fuel by Electrons
Article Updated: 9/18/17 (see below)
Electric airplanes continue to catch the headlines… but don’t impact the market much (yet). That may be changing.
You rarely see advertising for Pipistrel, the Eastern European builder of several very sleek Light-Sport Aircraft. The company feels they generate interesting-enough news that media organizations will cover their accomplishments. As this and other articles prove, perhaps they’re right although most publications depend on advertiser support to allow them to provide coverage.
An example of how Pipistrel seduces the aviation press is with an announcement proclaiming their partnership with ride-sharing giant, Uber …specifically about that tech company’s aerial ambitions. At the recent Uber Elevate Summit in Dallas, Texas, “Uber signed a partnership with Pipistrel aircraft producer for large-scale deployment of electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles (VTOLs).” Pipistrel said initial vehicles [will] be used in a flight demonstration by 2020.
“Pipistrel is the only company in the world that builds and sells electric aircraft today … they are a valued partner in making Uber’s VTOL network a reality,” said Mark Moore, Director of Engineering for Aviation.
The Airplane Factory USA’s Sling Flying Machine Continues to Climb
“Oshkosh is all about airplanes, right?” asked The Airplane Factory USA‘s Jean d’Assonville. I loved his remark since that is how we promote ByDanJohnson.com. “It’s all about the airplanes!” is how we modeled our line after Apple’s Steve Jobs famously said, “It’s all about the music,” when promoting iPod (remember those!?) in the early 2000s.
Jean — one of the TAF heroes who has done long portions of the South African company’s several (yes, several!) flights all around the globe — went on to write, “This was my third Oshkosh and what rang true for me is that Air Venture is actually all about people who love airplanes! It is the people who dream them, build them, fly them, polish them, sleep in or under them and just simply love them. Yes, it’s the people!”
Jean is right. The airplanes are the main message here and at AirVenture but they exist to give satisfaction, education, and inspiration to those who fly our wonderful light aircraft.
Breezer Aircraft Debuted New “Sport” Model Light-Sport Aircraft
In a eNewsletter to what they call “Breezerians,” the German company with the same name as their model reported a festive debut to their newest model called Breezer Sport.
At their home field and despite weather problems for arrivals coming from the south, the airport got “overloaded” with traffic.
The Breezer event was “not too hot, not too cold, great clouds for such an event, and little wind,” reported Wolfgang Nitschmann. “In short, a dream; even the catering was excellent.”
Among a collection of airplanes, rare and contemporary, Wolfgang and team unveiled their new Breezer Sport, joining other models called LSA Elegance and LSA Attraction. All Breezer models are available as B400 or B600 editions, the former being those conforming to Europe’s Ultralight Class, limited to 472.5 KG (with a parachute system, as is mandatory in Germany). The latter are the 600 kilogram Light-Sport Aircraft models.
Here’s our earlier looks at Breezer when first announced in the U.S.
Midwest Light-Sport Aircraft Expo 2017 Opens Today
Article updated…
Stuck as I am in Florida preparing for the onslaught of Hurricane Irma… with great regret, I am missing for the first time the Midwest LSA Expo in Mount Vernon, Illinois (about an hour east of St. Louis).
Yet the good news is that some airplanes for which I expected to do Video Pilot Reports will still be in attendance even if I am not. My ever-present videographer Dave Loveman is also onsite, coming all the way from Canada, so those cross country flying efforts will not be in vain.
Traveling from Arizona is Ed Ricks and the Paradise. Flying even a bit further from California is the Aeropilot L600. Those of you able to attend Midwest LSA Expo 2017 this year can examine those aircraft and a ramp full of other top brands that have so faithfully attended this event (see the layout and exhibitors here).
Belite’s Chipper Two-Seat Light Kit Aircraft Proves Itself
Belite entrepreneur James Weibe has successfully used his tech industry background to raise interest for his latest project, this time his first two seater called Chipper. (It was named Pipper but that apparently energized the anxieties of Piper Aircraft lawyers so James altered the name.)
James has informed his Facebook and email readers with continual updates. After making initial flights fairly recently, he has judged the aircraft able to make a cross country flight.
Chipper uses power from the 912 Rotax, but rather than the more common 100-horsepower ULS model, James is using one of my favorites, the 80-horsepower, regular-autogas-burning version. I like it because for lighter aircraft, such as Chipper, this 912 has plenty of power and it is about as trouble-free as any aircraft engine I’ve ever flown.
“I flew Chipper to Angel Fire, New Mexico,” James exclaimed. “I flew nonstop one way (960 miles roundtrip) from Wichita, Kansas to Angel Fire, performed flight tests, and then returned to Marion, Kansas before the sunset.” Now that’s a good day’s flying.