"Coming to America" is a common refrain from light aircraft producers in some countries. Why? The obvious reason is that most designers perceive a huge market in the USA. Another is that shipping from the USA to other countries proves easier than shipping from their home countries. Other reasons also exist but those two are enough to decide in favor of the move. One builder of a LSA seaplane is Atol Avion, based in Finland. They have been moving steadily toward approval, production, and sale of their Atol amphibian. Anssi Rekula, co-founder of Avion and the director of sales said, "We have a lot of news and it’s centered on delivery of production airplanes. He enumerated:

• We have received new investment to support our European certification, which is expected by the end of 2017.
• We have established our North American operation in Brunswick, Maine.
• We are scheduling customer demo flights in Finland as soon as the crew is back from Oshkosh 2017 where customers can see and fly the all-new cockpit design (images), and,
• We have received our first order from Australia …so all is good and very positive.

Refreshed Design

"Atol's cockpit is totally newly designed and looks great," added Anssi. The long established tradition in aviation (and most industries) of adapting the good ideas of other designers shows in Atol's new MVP-like approach. Anssi explained, "Atol's new articulating canopy retracts up and back, getting out of the way, allowing pilot and passenger to stand upright and access the cockpit from the front if desired, which makes docking and beaching easy. Our avionics retract with the canopy allowing them to be out of harm’s way, avoiding water spray. The seats are removable so when operating solo you can load up with gear to take advantage of our industry leading 600 pound useful load. Carbon fiber is accented with beautifully finished wood trim providing the feel of a classic automobile… it truly is striking." Among LSA seaplanes a 600 pound useful load is also striking. Anssi explains how they achieve that, "The outer layer of our hull is Kevlar with cold-molded, foam-cored birch. This combination is extremely rugged, light and strong. We use fabric covered wings featuring Oratex. These can be lighter than carbon fiber with the added benefit of field repairable. This is a real plus for a seaplane." “Finland has 188,000 lakes," said Anssi, "so we know the joys of water flying as well as the demands. Many of these lakes are remote and require range and reliability to access so we designed the Atol 650 for this environment.” Atol's 650 designation refers to 650 kilograms, the metric equivalent of FAA's 1,430 pound seaplane weight limit.

U.S. Production Site

Anssi introduced Paul Richards, Avion's official rep and president for Atol USA, Inc. "He will be in charge for fundraising and starting production for ATOL 650 LSA in Maine," noted Anssi. "We think Atol USA is the best and fastest solution for us to be able to serve our North American customers. Our Rovaniemi factory in Finland (photo) will produce for the rest of the world and continue product development,” Anssi added. Atol USA will produce the 650 at Brunswick Executive Airport (KBXM), site of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station. A local development authority has created a manufacturing technology incubator and is "currently constructing an environmentally-controlled composites layup room, curing oven and paint booth designed to aviation standards and sized to accept wings, fuselages and other large structures. These complement our CNC machining center, welding shops, 3D printers and on-site Composites Engineering Research Lab," said development director Steve Levesque. "We make these assets available to companies throughout the State of Maine." The northeastern state has a long history with amphibious flight having been the home to Lake Aircraft for decades. We expect to deliver these airframes beginning in the first quarter of 2019 and at a firm fixed price. What price? "Current pricing is $179,000 for delivery through 2018, although most of these positions are allocated so our open slots begin in 2019," explained Paul. Want to know more? Review Atol's technical specifications here. Or, contact Paul at Paul.Richards@Atol.US or call 603-828-5373. This video shows Atol in action: https://youtu.be/fQRCKp8zgHc

"This was my best birthday present. All went well with no surprises," reported an excited Anssi Rekual, sales manager and front man for the Finland-based builder of the LSA seaplane called Atol. An airline pilot today, Anssi added, "I have only one year to go with Finnair and then I can focus fully on Atol." The head of design and company CEO, Markku Koivurova flew for 26 minutes and reported that aircraft was easy and convenient to fly and everything worked normally. Approach to stall and slow flight characteristics were tested on Atol registered in Finland as OH-XNA followed by a perfect landing. Markku flew at Rovaniemi international airport (EFRO) at the Arctic Circle. Speaking on behalf of the Atol team, Anssi was relating news that the reborn Atol took its maiden flight on Tuesday, April 9, 2015, just in time for the company to have significant bragging rights at the German Aero Friedrichshafen show set to open in two more days. I am already present at the convention hall attending ASTM meetings that occur before the show opens. Congratulations to Anssi and his team from Atol Aviation, Ltd.! I use the term "reborn" because Atol is not a new design, unlike several other exiting new LSA seaplanes in various stages of development. In 1984, designer Markku Koivurova started development of Atol, then a wood composite amphibious aircraft. The original model's first flight happened 27 years ago in August of 1988 in Rovaniemi, Finland. The first flight on water was achieved a few months later off nearby Lake Norvajärvi on October 20th. Martekno Finland, Ltd., began production of the original model in 1990 and the first deliveries were made in 1991. Leap forward twenty years to 2011, Atol AvionAtol Avion, Ltd., was established. Anssi explained, "I contacted Markku then and talked him into restarting the business. It took four years to complete the design changes, build a prototype and redo all drawings after completing fresh calculations needed for certificates." He explained that Atol Avion is a small group with modest funding. "We have on average three hired staff and mostly just our own savings to use." The refreshed group began building a new prototype with a longer fuselage and numerous other changes. "The manufacturing technology of the structure and systems and the level of aircraft finish has been further improved," Anssi related. "Design of the engine cowling and fuselage extension has been refined. The nose, canopy and upper fuselage are redesigned for optimal aerodynamics and to reduce twirling in the tail." Admirably, and despite all the recent changes made to the refreshed design, Atol Avion promised to continue to support Atol aircraft manufactured by the first Martekno organization. That pioneering Atol model was and is sold in Europe as a ultralight or microlight kit with a gross weight of 495 kilograms or 1,090 pounds. Now conforming to the ASTM standards using the 1,430 pound (650 kg) weight for seaplanes, Anssi said, "Our Atol 650 LSA is converted from Markku's original by extending the fuselage by a meter and redesigning cockpit area and engine installation. Basic material is still wood composite but fibers, including carbon fiber, has been used also and all details have been updated." Find a full description and specifications for the revised and upgraded Atol here. Atol Avion reports that they have also sold three planes and will deliver those to clients this summer. "We have also confirmed a financial program that enables us to now totally focus on assembly," Anssi wrote. Tapping into modern social media methods, he continued, "We are opening a crowdfunding process to finance our production, so all aviators and wannabes can buy a share or two of Atol Avion, Ltd." He said the company will add more about the fund raising effort on their homepage soon! Just in time for popular European show, Anssi communicated, "We got our first Atol Mobile Hangar trailer and are packing the aircraft in it and will soon begin our trip to Friedrichafen!" Ever the gentleman, Anssi asked to give credit where due. "Our technical office team is composed of two Bachelors of Science degree holders with majors in aeronautical engineering plus two students. They made huge progress with certifications and establishing connections with EASA, FAA and Trafi (Finnish aviation authorities). We have been lucky to also have a group of great aviators who have given their expertise and knowledge without compensation" He was quick to add, "Not to forget two great ladies, Sinikka Koivurova and Pia Rekula have backed us and allowed all late nights to be spent to finish Atol 650." Atol 650 is presently en route to Friedrichafen, Germany in the far south border of the country where visitors can see the freshly flown aircraft.

Ah, the Christmas season is soon upon us (or already is judging by familiar music playing on every speaker you hear). It sounds like a great time to go put your new seaplane in the water ... especially if you live up by the Santa Claus toy workshop. Wait a minute! Can that be right? Yup! Atol Avion Ltd., recently notified us, "We have finally performed first water taxi tests of our production prototype on December 14th, 2014 at Rovaniemi, Finland. After thorough systems tests, water taxi tests were performed on Kemijoki River near the Arctic Circle ... just a few miles from Santa's home. Our plane worked as planned and proved to be even better than expected." As a Florida resident, I have plenty of local acquaintances that think such an exercise sounds crazy, to be out water testing an amphibious airplane in winter. They mean here in Florida where it's on the cool side ... you know, 50s and 60s. Yet look at the photos and realize we are not showing several images that reveal the Atol airplane with ice droplets formed over its tailplane parts from cruising around in water cold enough to have mini icebergs floating. I ran into the Atol Avion crew at last year's Aero Friedrichshafen event (another is coming over April 15-18, 2015). The group at the show was composed of a number of airline pilots and among them Anssi Rekula, whom I first met at AirVenture Oshkosh a few years ago. Anssi is a cofounder of Atol Avion. He worked as a licensed maintenance and flight engineer at the Finnish Coast Guard keeping Search-and-Rescue helicopters flying before starting a career flying airliners for Finnair. Fresh as the photos look, the Atol airplane has been around since 1984, albeit looking quite different from the example in the nearby photos. In an age where we have amazingly sophisticated designs made of modern materials — think Icon's A5 and MVP.aero's namesake MVP as but two gleaming examples — Atol has a core made from wood. Why would they stick with such an "outdated" material? According to Atol Avion, "Development of wooden aircraft structures was discontinued when reinforced plastic aircraft became more popular in the 1970s." They note, however, that empty weights of gliders and motor gliders increased by 20 to 30% when they began making extensive use of the slippery new exterior finish. "When the development of Atol was started 30 years ago," the company continued, "wooden structure was selected for this very reason. Reinforced plastic displaced the wooden structure for manufacturing reasons, and its increasing popularity stopped the development of the wooden structure. We chose to continue development of wooden structure manufacturing methods and, as a result of this work, we prefer to talk of a wood composite structure." Wood composite structure is one of Atol's strengths, Anssi told me. "The strength-to-weight ratio of wood is superior to the majority of building materials. Only plastic structures reinforced with carbon and aramid fiber exceed the qualities of wood, but at a much higher price." Also, carbon fiber structure is so strong, Atol expressed, that structures need to be over-dimensioned in lighter aircraft in order to attach them to the other structure. As a result, competitors' aircraft built of carbon fiber are much heavier than Atol. As an example, partly due to building materials and partly to offer features they believe customers want, Icon had to go obtain a weight exemption from FAA. Speaking with authority up in the Arctic Circle, Atol stated, "Contrary to what some believe, the wooden structure posses excellent weather resistance. If the structure has been designed and built correctly, and it is stored and maintained properly, it can be used for decades." In our climate-obsessed world, a strong feature of wood structure is a smaller carbon footprint compared to other material. Also, Atol notes, "Wood binds carbon, whereas the manufacture of aluminum and reinforced plastic materials release it." Anssi was very proud of the recent water taxi testing in the icy waters of northern Finalnd. "We have been waiting for this day for a long time and surely our clients will appreciate the product they'll get." The company already has orders on the books but now offers two remaining slots for customers in the 2015 production schedule before the price of the basic plane will be raised from €125,000 (about $155,000 at today's exchange rate) to €139,000 ($172,000) for orders received after May 1st, 2015. My close examination of Atol at Aero last year revealed many clever engineering qualities. Combined with a well-established airplane that has good flight qualities, Atol deserves consideration.

"Isn't it just a niche market?," asked a reader in a recent email. The query came after he read about a flurry of new seaplanes and the writer wondered if it could be worth all the investment pouring in to these projects. Development progress in this particular sector-within-a-sector (LSA seaplanes) seems to be far outdistancing development in other parts of the aviation world. So, are efforts to develop increasingly sophisticated LSA seaplanes economically justifiable? It's a worthy question. Another answer: "Well, why not?" An amphibious LSA seaplane can land on water or land, could fly as fast or nearly as fast as a land plane. They can look cleaner with gear that disappears. They already have another 110 pounds to work with (though admittedly much of that is needed simply to achieve an amphib seaplane and even that is not enough for all manufacturers). If you want an LSA, why not one that's more versatile? Whether the question is properly answered or not, it appears nothing will slow the development. I reported quite a flock of LSA seaplanes several weeks back. I've seen even more at Aero 2013. I'm also aware of new designs that I've agreed not to discuss. Among this furry of development are some extremely handsome, highly developed aircraft that may challenge even the most innovative land planes we see in the Light-Sport Aircraft sector. With this post I am showing an entirely new version of a seaplane that has been around for two decades, the Atol from Atol Aviation. "Our first flight will be in just few weeks and timewise we are not able to come [to AirVenture Oshkosh] this year," wrote Anssi Rekula. You may note the images accompanying this article are not of an actual aircraft. Anssi added, "At the moment the plane is in the paint shop and therefore [I cannot supply] fresh pictures from a real plane." If you want to follow this particular project, here's the project link. Of course, a primary downside of seaplanes is that they cost more than a similarly built land plane. They have more parts, need additional engineering skills (designing a boat hull represents another discipline beside aerodynamic engineering). They nearly always weigh more so they'll likely use more fuel. Some very beautiful land LSA — I think now of examples like Arion's sleek LS-1, but many others are available — that cost only 60-70% of a seaplane. Plus, a big consideration ... the newest seaplane designs have yet to prove themselves, as aircraft and in the marketplace. Many otherwise worthy aircraft designs simply never caught on with the majority of buyers and faded from view. Among the seaplanes in development that you probably haven't heard much about is one from Texas. The Dallas Business Journal recently wrote, "John Brown, CEO of Independent Aircraft, has been chasing the dream of creating an amphibious airplane for nine years." And see if the following line has a familiar ring to it. "After relocating Independent Aircraft to Denton in 2010, [Brown] said he's now a year away from having a fully functional aircraft that he calls the Sea Dragon Gen 2," wrote staff writer Nicholas Sakelaris. Nine years and still a year away. Amphib LSA seaplanes aren't simple creations but that sounds like a long time in engineering ... yet it isn't the only one with years of work behind it. Whatever the challenges, I am certain we'll see new entries including some that I've examined in confidentiality that are highly innovative. Along with already promoted designs like Icon's A5 and Lisa Akoya and current success stories like Progressive Aerodyne's SeaRey (the most recent Special LSA) and SeaMax, the flying boat sub-sector is rich with choices for consumers. As with LSA land planes, not all the news LSA seaplanes will be embraced by the market, but choice is always good and creative engineering solutions are fun to contemplate.