I don’t really know when the Leon family sleeps. They must, of course, but their steady output of high-quality, reasonably-priced products that pilots need must make for many long workdays.
Recently, our friend Jim Moore of AOPA wrote about Levil’s BOM (Broadcasting Outer Module — and here’s our video about that). BOM is an innovative, self-powered device that you merely hang on the wing and without further installation, it offers a wide variety of information to an iPad or Android tablets (several of them at once), transforming these relatively-low-cost consumer devices into full-blown ADAHRS instrument panels. Pilots flying Type Certified Cessnas and other GA aircraft love this solution as it is effective and cheap, and does not violate their airplane’s Type Certificate. BOM offers LSA and Experimental Amateur Built pilots a way to keep their investment far lower while largely keeping up with our most deluxe Light-Sport Aircraft running Dynon, Garmin, or MGL’s fine panel-mounted instruments.
Archives for December 2017
Why Should You Care About Sport Flying in China?
My guess is most readers do not care particularly about recreational aviation or sport flying in China. After speaking to many pilots at airshows, I know Americans are somewhat aware of flying in other nations but we enjoy so much freedom to fly in the USA and we have so many choices of aircraft, airports, and flying gear that the rest of the world seems almost irrelevant.
We most definitely are the lucky ones. We can and do take for granted the idea of hopping in your airplane — whether ultralight, LSA, or a speedy four passenger GA aircraft — and flying to a pancake breakfast or for one of those $100 hamburgers. We can fly almost anywhere we want, anytime we choose, for hour after hour if we like. Sure, some airspace is closed to us or perhaps too congested but, by and large, we can do what we want in the air.
After Winning Certification… Here Comes Rotax Aircraft Engines’ 915iS
What a great Christmas present for the Rotax Aircraft Engine team members (lower photo). The latest powerplant from the Austrian company that supplies a large majority of the powerplants for aircraft covered on this website will soon become available.
The company announced from their headquarters in Gunskirchen, Austria that on December 19th, 2017, they received a European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) Type Certificate (TC) for its new Rotax 915 iSc3 engine.
Some companies, such as BRM Aero, have been testing the new advanced, fuel injected, intercooled engine. It is the most powerful model ever for light aircraft from Rotax. All airframe makers will probably be surprised that the final version yields even more power.
“The EASA TC allows BRP-Rotax to [begin] producing the certified 915 iSc3 A engine for the European market thus allowing us to fulfill the request of our customers for a more powerful Rotax aircraft engine with proven reliability,” said Thomas Uhr, general manager BRP- Rotax, vice president Powertrain BRP.
Continental Motors Named “Manufacturer of the Year”
Continental Motors powerplants are manufactured in Mobile, Alabama, which is now also home to an assembly plant for Airbus airlines. That would seem pretty stiff competition for an award for manufacturing.
You know this decades-old company for their popular 100-horsepower O-200 engine that remains a common powerplant for Special Light-Sport Aircraft. After their purchase of the 180-horsepower Titan engine line, we increasingly began to see their engines in the light aircraft space. An growing number of airframe developers have selected the Titan X-340 to power their models.
So perhaps you’ll join me in applauding Continental Motors Group after the city’s Chamber of Commerce named Continental Motors as its “Manufacturer of the Year” for 2017. This annual award recognizes companies for their economic growth and commitment to the local community.
“Continental has long been the cornerstone of our ever-growing aviation sector,” said Troy Wayman, the Chamber’s Vice-President of Economic Development, Mobile Chamber of Commerce.
US Sport Planes Takes Over North American Sales of Jabiru Light-Sport Aircraft
For many years the brand name Jabiru — both airframes and engines — has been associated with Pete Krotje and his family and other team members, doing business as Jabiru North America. Pete began in the business near Oshkosh, Wisconsin before seeing the appeal of milder weather in Shelbyville, Tennessee.
Now, the familiar brand from down-under Australia is headed further south in the USA. The brand with the funny-sounding name will end up being represented by another light aircraft industry veteran, Scott Severen.
The official news release on this change declared, “In a move initiated by Jabiru North America, LLC, US Sport Planes of Denton, Texas has been appointed as the North American importer and distributor for Jabiru Light Sport Airplanes for North America.” The two businessmen reported US Sport Planes (USSP) will be the exclusive importer and market the full line of LSA airplanes manufactured by Jabiru Aircraft Pty, Ltd.
Major Benchmarks for Manufacturers Serving the Light Aircraft Community
Recently, a couple major benchmarks were reached by some of our important brand names. These notable achievements deserve mention given their relationship to the LSA and light aircraft sector that this website serves. One is an airframe builder and the other is a avionics giant.
Van’s Aircraft’s Immensely Popular RV-Series
According to a recent report in General Aviation News, “[When] David Porter took his first flight in his RV-7 on Nov. 24, 2017, he probably didn’t know he was making history. The Martinsburg, West Virginia pilot’s kit-built airplane became the official 10,000th Van’s RV-series aircraft.”
Van’s labeled David’s first flight as “official” because more than 10,000 RV-series kit aircraft are definitely known to be flying, but the company recognizes it may not know about all of them.
President of his local EAA Chapter (# 1071), David spent three and a half years building his RV-7 from a standard kit.
Flying for You … Video Pilot Reports
Sometimes I am told I have the best job in the world. Hmm, could be.
My work entails some of those things no one truly loves, like paying bills, but it also involves flying airplanes for review. That part is indeed quite a pleasure.
In this post, I want to tell you what I flew at the DeLand Showcase 2017 plus a little about how we do these VPRs or Video Pilot Reports.
For many years, I wrote such things for print. That still happens but most of my reporting now goes online and my more detailed pilot reports have significantly — though not exclusively — gone to video …hence “VPR.”
At DeLand 2017, I went aloft six times, five to evaluate aircraft and once on a photo (and video) mission.
Video reporting consumes much more time than an interview, 30 minutes or more simply to attach some or all of our eight Garmin VIRB cameras inside and outside the subject aircraft.