Enlightening news today from Vit Kotek, Marketing Manager for Evektor, that ties up the loose ends on the recent parachute deployment of an Evektor SportStar. *** Vit’s statement, edited only for clarity: *** “An accident of the SportStar RTC aircraft occurred during flight tests at Kunovice airport (LKKU) on 18th May, 2011. The test pilot was performing spin testing at aft C.G. The pilot successfully completed the program, after completing 30 spins. *** Then he decided to perform a maneuver, which we’re still not fully clear about, which put the airplane into a flight condition the pilot could not recover from. *** He activated the ballistic parachute system which deployed successfully. *** The airplane suspended below the parachute landed on a lake close to the airport and sunk after five minutes. The pilot swam safely to the shore. The airplane was fished out after six hours. The pilot was not injured.

An anonymous source sent me an account (in Czech) and photos of an incident in Czech Republic that reportedly occurred when an Evektor SportStar, flown by an “experienced pilot”, was unable to recover from a spin.   *** It happened on May 18 over a lake near Ostrozska ​​Ves.  You can see the pilot climb out of the cockpit once it hit the water, before the aircraft sunk. *** These are some of the best photos I’ve ever seen of an actual deployment, rivaling the YouTube video of an Argentine Rans pilot doing aerobatics and suffering a wing loss in negative G yet was saved by the airframe ‘chute at an extremely low altitude — a real heart stopper, that one.  *** The Czech ambulance staff called to the scene treated the Evektor pilot for bruises and exposure. He was otherwise uninjured… very good news! *** Because Lake Ostrozska is an important source of drinking water for a large surrounding population, there was considerable concern that the 17-plus gallons of gas still onboard might escape from the plane and kick off an “environmental disaster,” according to an online Czech news source.

As I write an article on the current state of electric flight worldwide, sad word comes that prolific, talented German aeronautical engineer Martin Wezel has died in the crash of the prototype Yuneec International E1000 electric airplane. *** Wezel’s company, Flugzeugtechnik Wezel, was well respected for its gliders and microlights, which included the Sting and Sirius SLSA. His Apis and Viva designs were also being developed by Yuneec for electric power. The E1000 design may also have been Wezel’s. *** A new, tandem-motored four-seat design, it was being developed for market by Yuneec but also to compete in the NASA CAFE Green Flight Challenge, the $1.65 million-prize competition that’s coming up in July. *** E1000 was also entered in EAA’s upcoming Electric Aircraft Competition (Oshkosh 2011 in late July). Not evident at this point is whether another E1000 was built or will be tested.

In this post there’s both good news and bad news. *** First up: blog reader Pete Zaitcev commented on my blog yesterday that the Front Range Airport (FTG) visit, on May 14, by the LSA Tour #3 will coincide with the Rocky Mountain LSA Expo. *** FTG is about 25 miles east of Denver at Watkins, CO. The event is sponsored by the Colorado Pilots Assoc. *** Looks like a fun time and a smart call for the Tour to plan a stop there. Thanks Pete!More good news:  Cessna Aircraft delivered 106 aircraft in the first quarter, up from 80 a year ago, and much of the increase comes from deliveries of the 19 Skycatchers. Cessna’s Bob Stangarone has told me the company expects to have delivered 150 by year’s end. *** The unhappy news concerns two LSA crashes. *** A PiperSport crash cost a young CFI his life in Florida.

Dave Graham of Legend Aircraft just sent out word that the next LSA Tour launches tomorrow for a 4-day swing up the front range of the Colorado Rockies. See the list of locations below. *** “We’ve adopted the four-day format,” says Dave. “The six-day tour is just too tiring.” Reporting on the Tour’s recent swing through the Southeast, Dave reports about 250 people came out to the Greenville, SC location. There was a restaurant, good support from the hosting FBO, and “some business was done that day.” *** Not all the venues were as cooperative as they could have been, he says, but considers this a work in progress and expects advanced planning will help sharpen up the logistics and overall experience down the road. *** Check prior reports on the Georgia LSA Tour and Florida LSA Tour. Each dealer brings a demo airplane which gives potential customers a great opportunity to strap on the aircraft and compare apples to apples — which can be a challenge at major airshows, with aircraft booths spread all over the place amid the background noise of other aviation attractions.

Picking up my electric aircraft coverage again with an email from Phoenix Air USA kingpin Jim Lee with the latest updates on the PhoEnix electric motorglider NASA/CAFE race entry, which just came out of the paint shop and has all its pretty parts put together…and a beautimous bird she is indeed.”We put the PhoEnix together,” Jim tells me, “my last day in Czech so we could finally see what it looks like. Man am I excited now! I can’t believe that I will be the one to fly such an amazing ship.” Color me green with envy. *** Jim’s deep and broad soaring background should stand him in good stead tweaking every last ounce of performance from the gorgeous, one-off soaring bird. *** He’s also got a few more details on his Phoenix blog. Here are some highlights: *** Conceived for the NASA CAFE Green Flight Challenge… “A race that offers big bucks for the winner ($1.65 million total), but with a bar set so high that it is unlikely that anyone will win it.

Although this isn’t an LSA story per se, it comes out of Flight Design, the top-notch, top-selling LSA company in America, so I thought you’d be interested to know the company debuted its C4 4-seater at Aero last month and just came out today with some pricing and delivery numbers along with some specs. *** Perhaps the most interesting number to me is the $250,000 “target” price for the American market, along with a €220.000 price for Europe and the rest of the world outside the U.S. *** When’s the last time we saw a new, state-of-the-art 4-seat airplane at a price close to that? *** Also noteworthy is the minimal disparity between the overseas and U.S. prices, reflecting the company’s desire to minimize (yea verily, to almost negate!) the currently soaring euro/dollar exchange rate imbalance. *** Some interesting details about the all-carbon fiber composite airplane: • Engine choice: two engine options to best suit fuel availability and cost in the owner’s region: either a traditional aviation engine that can run on auto fuel, or a turbo diesel engine that burns Jet A fuel.

I heard again today from Jim Lee who’s still overseas helping prep the PhoEnix electric motorglider for July’s big, $1.65 million CAFE Green Flight Challenge (GFC) fuel-efficient flight competition in Santa Rosa, CA. *** Jim sent along photos of the electric nosecone with integrated feathering prop/spinner assembly. First test flights of the PhoEnix are planned in a couple weeks. *** BTW, the enhanced streamlining afforded by the much smaller e-motor boots the lovely creature’s performance from L/D 32:1 to 36:1 — a 12.5% increase! That’s great for soaring and also means less power required to sustain flight, the Big Picture for endurance at this stage of electric aviation.  *** The GFC PhoEnix entry will be powered by a 44 kW motor and controller developed in house by Phoenix Air. *** Lipo (lithium polymer) batteries, popularized by the RC model industry for their light weight and high storage capacity, will hold the electric “gas”.

Well, Thomas, you’ve done it again: gotten me to blather on so long with your as-always thoughtful and knowledgeable comments that I exceeded the comment buffer so have to palaver on here in another post. *** Well, that’s why they call it a weBlog I guess: it’s a place to hang our thoughts out to dry. *** So what’s below is a response to your comment from yesterday’s post, with a couple more pix thrown in to thump the eye candy factor. *** I think we can’t overlook the market factor here. Just as car manufacturers know where the buyers are, it could be what we’re seeing with these projects aiming toward higher/faster/more payload electric are manufacturers figuring that they’re since they’re going to sell more of the expensive, travel-capable airplanes than sailplanes and motorgliders anyway, why concentrate time and resources on a transient, historically tiny share of the market? Leapfrog to the future, expect the tech to come along as needed.

Yesterday a reader commented on my electric flight post, specifically about the LZ FES, a pretty sexy add-on that just won the Lindbergh LEAP prize for best new electric propulsion system. He wondered whether electric flight for now required light weight motorgliders or whether heavier, 15M plus sailplanes/motorgliders would be workable for electric power. *** My answer began to get too lengthy to stick in comments so I’m posting it here, and thanks Thomas for your enthusiasm. *** I talked over this very subject this week with Randall Fishman, the award-winning electric flight pioneer. His take on where we’re at right now is in my Profiles in Vision column, coming in the July issue of P&P. *** Randall’s whole trip is to get people up in the air with electric power right now, and not for 150,000 clams either. To summarize his own one-man research and development plan, it’s all about lightweight motorgliders.

Eric Lindbergh, grandson of Charles A. Lindbergh, awarded the LEAP Prize to Pipistrel’s Ivo Boscarol at the just-finished Aero General Aviation convention in Friedrichshafen, Germany. *** The 3rd annual e-Flight gathering took place there also, and Lindbergh’s Best Electric Aircraft award went to Pipistrel’s Taurus Electro. *** There were some notable challengers in the category and three finalists: the Taurus, the Electric Cri-Cri (power by Electravia), and Eric Raymond’s Sunseeker II solar airplane. *** Also awarded was the Best Electric Propulsion. The two finalists were the LZ Design FES (Front Engine Sustainer) system and the Rapid 200 Fuel Cell propulsion system from Polytechnic Torino. *** The LZ FES was the winner. *** The LEAP 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award went to Bertrand Piccard, Andre Borschberg and the Solar Impulse Team for its electric around-the-world project airplane. *** A romantic, and apt, spin on the awards is linking today’s electric pioneers to Lucky Lindy’s amazing transatlantic flight in 1927, which pretty much singlehandedly changed the global perception of aviation from a daredevil hobby or foolhardy mail delivery system to the common transportation, recreational and warfare tool it has become.

Aero Friedrichshafen, Europe’s big annual GA convention, has more than 600 exhibitors showing their wares and innovations right now through tomorrow. *** Sub-titled The Global Show for General Aviation, if you want to see what’s happening and what’s coming down the pike, you’ll not find a more intensely focused representation than at Aero. *** The show spreads displays from many big names and newcomers alike, up through bizjets, across its 11 big hangar-style display areas. *** I like this show, although lamentably I’ve yet to go, because it never fails to draw cool new stuff, in particular Microlight/LSA developments and electric and solar powered birds. Thousands of visitors flock to the “e-flight Expo” at Aero, in its third year as part of the show. *** Two big events will highlight the show this year: the Berblinger Flight Competition and the awarding of three LEAP prizes from Erik Lindbergh (Lucky Lindy’s grandson).

Catching up on some particulars with Randall Fishman of ElectraFlyer after our chat at Sun n Fun, he told me he’s selling his prototype C model for $49,000. Here’s what he had to say about it and other aspects of his electric powered aircraft pioneering efforts: “We have sold trikes since 2007. Most of our sales are propulsion kits, batteries and chargers for people either building something new or converting to electric. The first two of the new motors are in my shop now and we will be mounting them for testing. “The C is a one off conversion of a plane I already owned (a Moni kit motorglider). I want to sell it now to help finance the new projects. It is really the first successful electric airplane other than some exotic million dollar science projects such as the solar planes. I hope there is a collector out there.

Hard on the heels of their prototype LSA Tour after Sebring last January and the recent Sun ‘n Fun 2011 in Lakeland, Florida, the 2011 Georgia LSA Tour gang is at it again. *** Three makes of Cubalikes alone will be there, as well as the other LSA you see in the nearby mailer. *** This time they’re swinging north from the Sunshine State to bring The Word to several Southern airports.  *** Here’s a great way to avoid the airshow crowds and have some meaningful one-on-one with top industry reps. *** Specifics below: be sure and call in case of changes due to weather. Update later on 4/7/11 — See our earlier report on the Georgia LSA Tour where you’ll find more readable phone numbers plus dates for the stops. —DJ

After the disastrous tornadic storm that blew through the area last Thursday, Lakeland was blessed with warm, then hot, picture book Florida weather and good crowds, right up through final day Sunday, as the fabulous Blue Angels, a stunning demo by the Air Force F22 Raptor, Patty Wagstaff’s always-incredible acro routine, and the Aeroshell T-6 squadron doing its thing: always great to see those (noisy but iconic) big old WWII trainers do such graceful, precision loops and rolls in formation through the sky, leaving billows of white smoke to mark their path.I was a bit under the weather last night so no blog…knew I shouldn’t have eaten that chicken…but back at it today to fly with Bill Cox as he previewed Garmin’s exciting new GTN touch screen technology. *** Then pounding the sneaker rubber to finish up the rounds of the five exhibit hangars and survey new products and gadgets. I even bought myself some oil-filled insoles to calm my throbbing tootsies…one ends up walking miles and miles at these airshows, unless you can pop $60/day or more to rent a small personal electric cart.