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News & Video on Light-Sport Aircraft, Sport Pilot Kits, and Ultralight Aircraft

AeroJones Aviation

Website: http://www.aerojones.com/

Email: aerojones@aerojones.com

Phone: (011) 886-4-2461-8

Taichung City, 407 - Taiwan

A Tale of Two CTLSs — AeroJones Reaches a New Benchmark for LSA

By Dan Johnson || 4 Comments

Sun 'n Fun 2023 means spring and helps kick off a season of recreational flying. As the year progresses and Oshkosh arrives, we have our fingers crossed for FAA to issue the Mosaic Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). At AirVenture 2022, we were promised the draft proposal by August of this year. The following month FAA's Sport Pilot / Light-Sport Aircraft regulation will celebrate its 19th birthday. That means LSA will turn 20 years old in 2024 and by the end of the year we should have Mosaic. It has been a fast and furious twenty years! In those two decades, LSA have arrived and flown in nearly every country on Earth. A few years ago, I evaluated total worldwide market size — see this article or this chart — for LSA or LSA-like aircraft and found more than 66,000 aircraft worldwide. Eight years later, that number may be 80,000 aircraft although I made no attempt to repeat that time-consuming global survey*. Speaking of forward progress on a global scale, home-grown organizations are beginning to mature. Here's one story of steady success.

Western or Eastern CTLS?

Measured using aircraft deliveries, one of the slowest adoption rates has been in the Asia-Pacific region. Economically, this region has developed impressively in the last half century but only more recently have conditions improved to the point where an airplane producer could thrive while serving only this region. We know Chinese money is invested in (or wholly owns) many of general aviation's top brands, including Cirrus Design, Continental Motors, Mooney, Diamond, Icon Aircraft, and others. However, money flowing to those companies does not support sales in Asia-Pacific. Most of those enterprises are mainly active in the USA and have only small operations (if any) in China or around the Pacific nations. However, that is slowly changing. Since my travel around China in late 2017, many changes have occurred. AeroJones has a patient investor with a longer horizon and the company has rewarded him by steadily increasing business. While those developments continue, the Taiwan-owned company has clearly demonstrated their ability to build airplanes. A tour of AeroJones' production facility showed off a modern, orderly shop with well-trained personnel building CTLS aircraft.

Congratulations, AeroJones!

A regional success story, AeroJones presently builds in Xiamen, China on the country's coastal southeast. However, they are nearly done constructing a new-from-the-ground-up factory located with rampside access to an airport. AeroJones was established in 2013 and is completing its 10th year in business, a noteworthy accomplishment it will celebrate officially in 2023. A decade ago, AeroJoes signed a contract with German CTLS developer Flight Design. After receiving extensive training from company engineers, AeroJones turned on their factory machinery. Gaining government approval — a kind of Type Certificate is required by CAAC, China's FAA — took many months. This was all new ground for both company and officials. In those ten years, the AeroJones team learned to build a high-quality Light-Sport Aircraft and do so with repeatability. The company recently completed its #50 CTLS. "We are #2 in China and #1 in the World," said Hsieh "Tai" Chi-Tai in news last year. Another China producer, Sunward with its Aurora LSA (article) has a small lead over AeroJones within China's borders but the CTLS builder is also active elsewhere in Asia-Pacific such that their numbers exceed Sunward. (After Aurora won FAA acceptance as an LSA, we have not seen the model again in the U.S.) Delivery by Air — This is so ordinary to Americans and Europeans that it would never be news to speak of delivering an aircraft to a customer by flying it to them. "Well, of course, you would!" However, in countries with mostly-restricted airspace, aircraft are commonly delivered by truck, a lengthy ordeal that can expose the aircraft to transport damage unless packed very carefully. Like all such producers, AeroJones does their primary assembly work using non-airport facilities. They then disassemble, transport, and reassemble their aircraft at an airport some hours away. At that location, training is conducted and newly-manufactured aircraft are test flown. Until recently, that is the method used to deliver all light aircraft in China. It's a large country and truck delivery adds a lot of extra work and time. Last year. AeroJones broke new ground and air-ferry-delivered a new CTLSi to a customer (article). Steps like these, so taken for granted by western aircraft producers and their customers, represent large, productive steps in Asia.

What's Next?

AeroJones leadership has kept German engineers working in a development bureau well after establishing their manufacturing and securing government approvals. What are these engineers doing? Are they planning a new aircraft? Perhaps one bearing their own AeroJones label? Possibly, as their current contract to build CTLS covers Asia-Pacific only. That market is large geographically but has a far smaller pilot population than Western nations. Because all growing aircraft producers yearn to enter the U.S. market, this must be on their mind. No one is saying yet but I'll keep my eyes and ears open.

ARTICLE LINKS:

* Not all counted aircraft portrayed in these words or numbers were produced in the 20 years of LSA. Some aircraft entered the registry as xLSA, for example, complying two-seat Ultralight Trainers became ELSA. Overseas information comes in many different categories making comparisons more difficult. Nonetheless, information in the chart is the most comprehensive information presently available. Interested readers can find detailed U.S. light aircraft data by visiting Tableau Public, our database page that focuses solely on Light-Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot-eligible kit-built aircraft.

Sun ‘n Fun 2023 means spring and helps kick off a season of recreational flying. As the year progresses and Oshkosh arrives, we have our fingers crossed for FAA to issue the Mosaic Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). At AirVenture 2022, we were promised the draft proposal by August of this year. The following month FAA’s Sport Pilot / Light-Sport Aircraft regulation will celebrate its 19th birthday. That means LSA will turn 20 years old in 2024 and by the end of the year we should have Mosaic. It has been a fast and furious twenty years! In those two decades, LSA have arrived and flown in nearly every country on Earth. A few years ago, I evaluated total worldwide market size — see this article or this chart — for LSA or LSA-like aircraft and found more than 66,000 aircraft worldwide. Eight years later, that number may be 80,000 aircraft although I made no attempt to repeat that time-consuming global survey*.

Cross Country Delivery of AeroJones CTLS Light-Sport Aircraft Represents a “First” in China

By Dan Johnson || 10 Comments

American and European pilots can plan a trip across the continent with surprising ease and with great support from air traffic controllers, airport operators, and businesses that serve aviation. No one stops you to ask what you’re doing. You probably question why I even bother to write this because it’s so well understood. Yes, those of us in countries where private aviation is well-established take for granted the privilege of flying cross country. In fact, it’s one of the great joys we love to experience. It's a fantastic way to see the country. That’s simply doesn't happen in China. …Or, it didn't. Things are changing and one company has forged ahead despite the challenges. This story involves a Taiwanese-origin, China-based company called AeroJones and involves the delivery of one of their CTLS aircraft to a customer. In the USA, this would never be news. In China, it most definitely is!

AeroJones' Great Aerial Trek

After purchasing the rights, AeroJones builds the Flight Design CTLS for the Asia-Pacific market. Americans have seen AeroJones as it filled in when Flight Design in Germany went through a government-imposed restructuring in 2015.

Pilots Wu Zhuo and Hu Shaokang flew the CTLS on its 1,500 kilometer record-setting ferry flight.

For several years, all the company's deliveries inside China have been done by ground vehicle, reassembling the packed aircraft and test flying at the site of the customer. China rules are tight enough that cross country is really not possible except for business aircraft and military. Can you imagine Cirrus delivering their new aircraft to customers by truck? No, neither can I, yet that's what AeroJones has had to do for years. So, it's a big deal to get permission to deliver an aircraft by air. Here's the company's story. Errors in computer translation are likely but I've attempted to help an interesting story come to life.

Zhenjiang to Chongqing The Story Behind the "Record"

Part 1 — Determination of delivery plan The travel from Zhenjiang to Chongqing involves 1,500-kilometers (932 statute miles, a flight roughly matching Chicago to Denver in both distance and terrain). In the past, such long-distance deliveries were carried out by land transportation, and after arriving at the destination, it was necessary to reassemble and test fly each aircraft and afterward process relevant official documents. This took a long time and was inefficient.

The first part of the ferry flight encountered headwinds but fewer terrain challenges.

"Do you want us to try to prepare the machine for flight to Chongqing this time," the pilot team asked?" They have the skills and can plan the flight. It will make delivery so much easier (than by truck shipment). "The flight distance is much shorter (than driving) and the performance of the CTLS aircraft is capable of this flight. We can do it!” Weixiang Aviation never flew one of their aircraft to Chongqing. "Such a long distance and flight duration have never been seen in the history of Weixiang," noted the comany. Which route should they fly? Which airport should we use for a fuel stop? How can we get the right fuel? How do we coordinate parking overnight at an unfamiliar transit airport? These tasks, commonplace for American pilots, were each new challenges to be overcome. Airport providers of those services have no experience with small aircraft like CTLS so it was a learning experience on both sides.

Clouds encroached on the flight path at times but controllers worked with the pilots… even though those controllers had no experience with light aircraft like CTLS.

2. A time challenge also emerged. "We need to deliver this aircraft to the customer by October 1st," the team realized. How can we best meet the customer's needs? Can we customize a plan? We must pick routes and start immediately. Plus we must prepare Plan B: land delivery. Although we don't want to repeat this method, we must be prepared. Time was tight and the task was heavy. "The biggest difficulty in this adjustment is the long distance, which needs to be carried out in stages," said Li Can, head of aviation affairs at Weixiang Aviation. "The terrain in the second half is complicated," he added, referring to a high mountain range. In addition, the CTLS prefers No. 95 gasoline (premium auto fuel). Since this is different from the fuel used by general aircraft, the problem of refueling must also be taken into account. Wuhan Hainan General Airport offered better choices and was located at about the halfway point. of the flight. Americans will recognize the name Wuhan, made infamous in connection with Covid.

Headwinds dropped at the flight progressed but then higher, less hospitable terrain arrived.

3. The range of choices got smaller Unfortunately, the team had to plan for possible suspension of activities at Wuhan Hannan airport, so all the planning had to be restarted. The choices are more limited without Wuhan considering weather and terrain and the needs of aircraft performance, supporting airport facilities, air traffic control permission, and other factors. 4. "Fortunately, the plan passed successfully When applying for a flight plan coincided with the eve of a holiday, and fearing that uncontrollable factors would affect the flight plan, the team continued to proceed simultaneously with the application for flight plan and prepare alternative plans for land transportation in case new flight plans were not approved (permission must be obtained more than 48 hours before the flight in China, further challenging the planning). "Fortunately, our application for original and alternate flight plans were successfully approved, and the flight could begin." Part 2 — "The test of the aircraft is much higher than the test of the pilot" 1. The longest distance and the highest flight altitude Pilots Wu Zhuo and Hu Shaokang have considerable experience flying CTLS. "This is the longest flight I have flown in CTLS: 1500 kilometers, 12 hours, and altitude of 2,700 meters (about 9,000 feet; well above altitudes commonly assigned to non-business aircraft). These are regarded as a new record for China light aviation.

The last half of the flight had to pass over some mountainous terrain with few landing possibilities.

2. En route challenges "The firsts half the long flight encountered strong headwinds of up to 28 knots. This lowered ground speed and burned more fuel so the pilots considered a diversion to Xiantao Airport. Fortunately, higher altitude winds reduced so fuel was sufficient, and they were able to reach their original destination safely. After landing, they checked to find only backup fuel remaining. "We were quite lucky the winds reduced." 3, How smooth the first half; how thrilling the second half Jingmen to Chongqing, the first half, had very smooth conditions. However, after crossing Zhangjiajie, clouds increased. We were then flying at about 2,400 meters (7,800 feet). Clouds threatened our forward visibility and because our aircraft is operated under visual flight references (VFR), we had to proceed carefully. As the destination neared Chongqing, terrain became mountainous (nearby images) and that terrain offered fewer landing spots. "At our minimum safe altitude, mountain winds produced moderate to rough turbulence during the flight. "We had to ask our air traffic controller for a high altitude, up to 2,700 meters." 4. Questions encountered along the way "We passed through a lot of control areas and often changed air traffic control. The local controller often asked what type of aircraft we were flying. Is it a helicopter? Does it have any instrumentation and so on? Controllers have relatively little experience in flight support for Light-Sport Aircraft flying such long cross country flights."

The pilots were pleased with AeroJones CTLS performance and capabilities for cross country flying in a variety of conditions and over varying terrain.

5. Test of the aircraft versus test of the pilot "A first flight like this is a test of both people and planes." Just like the degree of turbulence encountered in this flight, the test of the aircraft is actually greater than the test of the pilot. Most of the difficulties can be overcome by an experienced pilot, but the performance of the aircraft is relatively fixed. Only a reliable aircraft can withstand such a test. Given the flight length, interior space and comfort are important as is avionics equipment. "This flight brought a new understanding of our aircraft and we confirmed Light-Sport Aircraft performance is excellent.” Part 3 — "Interesting Episodes" 1. "Can I go to Chongqing with the plane?" After arriving at the transit airport, Wuhan Zhanghe Airport, an airport staff member learned that the destination of the ferry flight was Chongqing, and he asked to join the flight, probably thinking we had extra seats. 2. "We flew the plane ourselves, there is no flight number" After arriving at the hotel in Chongqing, the hotel routinely asked the pilot about the transportation method to Chongqing. "We came by plane. We don't have a (airline) flight number. We flew our own plane and can give you our tail number." The hotel staff, not really understanding what type aircraft we had flown, reluctantly registered the number of the CTLS. Behind the creation of such a China record is the efforts of a group of people. The ferry team thanks the major military and civil aviation control units that provided support for this flight transfer, those who helped us explain such a ferry flight, and the whole team who deserves recognition in making this first-of-a-kind flight take place. The story of CTLS is still being written, and more records are waiting to be created. This short video, although using a language few viewers may understand, offers glimpses of flying over China. From a Light-Sport Aircraft, these are very rare scenes. Aircraft other than military and airline simply don't get permission for cross country flights… but things are changing. Enjoy the views, compliments of AeroJones. https://youtu.be/EzAFrDB_dHQ

American and European pilots can plan a trip across the continent with surprising ease and with great support from air traffic controllers, airport operators, and businesses that serve aviation. No one stops you to ask what you’re doing. You probably question why I even bother to write this because it’s so well understood. Yes, those of us in countries where private aviation is well-established take for granted the privilege of flying cross country. In fact, it’s one of the great joys we love to experience. It’s a fantastic way to see the country. That’s simply doesn’t happen in China. …Or, it didn’t. Things are changing and one company has forged ahead despite the challenges. This story involves a Taiwanese-origin, China-based company called AeroJones and involves the delivery of one of their CTLS aircraft to a customer. In the USA, this would never be news. In China, it most definitely is! AeroJones’ Great Aerial Trek After purchasing the rights, AeroJones builds the Flight Design CTLS for the Asia-Pacific market.

Ready to Buy in 2022? What About Factory Support …or Mechanics?

By Dan Johnson || 2 Comments

The last airshow of 2021 is over. The Christmas holidays are beginning to dominate everyone's calendar. Yet recreational pilots — being enthusiastic aviators — are thinking about flying in 2022. The Covid pandemic of 2020/2021 appears not to have slowed enjoyment of flying for fun… for most of us anyway. I sincerely regret anyone who suffered during this period but sport aviation has held up surprisingly well. In this article, I will tackle a couple reader questions, the sort I hear all the time. To answer several people with one response, I asked reader John Joyce if I could use his question and name. He consented, so here we go…

Buyers Without Remorse

John started, "Skyleader 600 looks like a great aircraft. I had actually just noticed this model a couple days ago because there is a used one listed for sale on the Web. As a potential first time buyer, I would be interested to have you address the question of service for these smaller manufacturers. "By way of example," John continued, "there are nearly 300 SportCruisers registered in the US, as well as nearly 350 Flight Design models, but only 3 Skyleaders. I’m not picking on Skyleader; there are many manufacturers with just two, five or 20 registrations in the database." Matter of fact, our N-number database is another useful reference we offer. You can use the ByDanJohnson.com Tableau Public link to find every single LSA in the U.S. registry (you'll have to drill down a bit, but here's an infographic on how to do that). John continued, "I imagine it’s easier to find a mechanic who is familiar with something that has hundreds of units in operation, rather than just a few. If I want to buy a less common aircraft, do I have to think about availability of qualified service ahead of time? Do I need to locate a mechanic first, even before settling on a particular model? I’ve never owned an airplane before, so this is a big unknown for me."

A line of SportCruisers, sold today by Cruiser Aircraft. The model was briefly known as PiperSport.

John didn't ask about insurance but that's another large question, especially these days for pilots over 70 years old. I recently interviewed on video one of the leading insurance agents, A.I.R.'s Gregg Ellsworth to get the latest info on that important topic. Regarding mechanics — If a LSA uses all-metal construction, you can find capable mechanics almost anywhere. If your dream plane is largely composite, finding a mechanic can be much harder. The larger companies like Flight Design, building their CT series from almost all carbon fiber offer varying levels of training. If a dealer or mechanical shop obtains factory training — as does Airtime Aviation, the largest seller for Flight Design anywhere in the world — their people can fix anything and may be able and willing to work on other brands. In the LSA world, the manufacturer dictates who gets to work on their airplanes so it's best to go direct to the source to learn the availability of qualified mechanics. You can find nearly any LSA company using our SLSA List (loaded with links).

Light-Sport Aircraft are not simply a U.S. phenomenon. This view shows the interiors of a line of CTLS aircraft built by AeroJones serving the Asia-Pacific market.

If your dream LSA uses a Rotax engine, you will have little trouble getting service because the big Austrian powerplant manufacturer has trained hundreds of mechanics. Continental-powered LSA can also be maintained by many Airframe & Powerplant (A&P) mechanics, virtually anywhere in the world. Jabiru engines are maintained by Arion Aircraft (also producer of the Lightning-series of kit-built or fully-built SLSA aircraft). As Jabiru engines were designed to be simple to facilitate repair, any A&P can also work on them. Other engines may be more challenging but all have some service centers, though perhaps not close to you. Some LSA organizations have focused on providing service to many brands. One such is U.S. Sport Planes located in the north Dallas, Texas metropolitan area. Run by Scott Severen — the North American Jabiru importer — U.S. Sport Planes has a long history of working with numerous brands. Others offer similarly broad service, such as Aero Adventure, which can work on multiple seaplane brands. My best advice is to contact the manufacturer or the importer of the aircraft that interests you and ask who can assist you closer to home. Please remember, though, that LSA suppliers or mechanics aren't McDonalds restaurants you can find everywhere. They are all specialized service providers. You may need to travel to them but as they are experts, it may be worthwhile to engage them versus a general A&P who may not know your particular airplane. Even after 17 years, LSA are still the "new kids on the block" so some mechanics may not wish to service them.

What IS Affordable?

Another reader, Dan E., made other comments I frequently hear. He wrote, "The definition of what people consider 'affordable' varies widely." Not only does it vary by every individual; it can change depending on many other circumstances.

A vintage Cessna 150 in flight. Thousands are available at modest prices. They could qualify to be flown using a Sport Pilot certificate in 2024.

"For me," Dan wrote, "a used $35K Cessna 150 or a $45K Piper Cherokee 140 are affordable, but a new $150-200K two-seat SLSA is not, and I have neither the time nor the interest to build my own ELSA." In truth, an ELSA (Experimental LSA) typically will not save much but can bring some other advantages. To save a more significant amount of money, you'll need to build an Experimental Amateur Built ("51% rule") aircraft. This will take a bigger investment of your time, but with the coming MOSAIC regulation professional builder-assist centers are expected to expand notably.

Lots of Piper Cherokee models are also available. Get a qualified mechanic to look one over carefully before buying; some have "colorful" histories.

Dan finished, "I thought that making entry-level planes more affordable through mass production to get more pilots flying was the original purpose of the LSA movement? What we ended up is a bunch of boutique manufacturers, each offering SLSA that appeal to someone who might otherwise buy a sportscar in the same price range." The truth is lots of people had expectations about the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft regulation introduced in September 2004. "Mass production" was never one of the goals. Likewise, some membership organizations expected a huge new wave of pilots that would join their organizations. That was not a realistic assumption, either. What we did get was a simpler pilot certificate with no medical exam required and a profusion of aircraft of many types. When the choices are many, the suppliers may be smaller. In fact, I have often used Dan E's term "boutique manufacturer" and I still think that is appropriate. Since Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft was introduced, we got 156 new models and we now have many good used LSA, often with just a few hundred hours on them. If you look long enough, I'm confident you can find something worthwhile, and you can find somebody to keep it maintained for you. A central goal of ByDanJohnson.com is to help you find them.

Can Anyone Help?

The good news? — After 17 years of Light-Sport Aircraft, a nationwide — even a worldwide — network of aircraft sellers, maintenance centers, flight schools, and builder-assist centers are available. You can can look throughout this website by using our Advanced Search to find them. Keep in mind you may need to travel to find the right airplane or the right mechanic.

This is U.S. Sport Planes based in Denton, Texas (DTO). Aviation. Curiously, that's a Kappa KP5 in the front left, the predecessor to the Skyleader that started this article. They are prepping it for a new customer, perhaps you?

I cannot personally address every inquiry but you can find most enterprises using the resources on this website. For many years, one of our most-used features is the SLSA List, which is filled with links. Using it will work better than most search engines. Finally, in the age of social media, many aircraft types have a Facebook group that caters to that brand. Pilots who own the aircraft of your dreams can be very helpful in finding good purchases or good mechanics. Of course just because you "read it on the Internet" doesn't mean a fact is true. Please seek out second (or more) opinions before buying and before engaging a mechanic. The better companies will get great reviews from their customers. Good luck and tail winds, everyone! Fly safely and often. Here are some vintage videos showing what may now be used Light-Sport Aircraft. Visit Dave Loveman's Light Sport and Ultralight Flyer YouTube channel for hundreds more. https://youtu.be/oAV2uTIQvbY https://youtu.be/F0-XqlBeYpY And, here's a whole playlist of very affordable Light-Sport Aircraft aircraft… (28 short videos). https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaVWZY8ydbtA_cId1itTWbgvdqpAZPy2P

The last airshow of 2021 is over. The Christmas holidays are beginning to dominate everyone’s calendar. Yet recreational pilots — being enthusiastic aviators — are thinking about flying in 2022. The Covid pandemic of 2020/2021 appears not to have slowed enjoyment of flying for fun… for most of us anyway. I sincerely regret anyone who suffered during this period but sport aviation has held up surprisingly well. In this article, I will tackle a couple reader questions, the sort I hear all the time. To answer several people with one response, I asked reader John Joyce if I could use his question and name. He consented, so here we go… Buyers Without Remorse John started, “Skyleader 600 looks like a great aircraft. I had actually just noticed this model a couple days ago because there is a used one listed for sale on the Web. As a potential first time buyer, I would be interested to have you address the question of service for these smaller manufacturers.

AeroJones Unveils Their Six-Axis Full-Motion Flight Simulator for CTLS

By Dan Johnson || 3 Comments

At a major show in China called Zhuhai visitors saw something: a new 6-axis LSA flight simulator. The developer is AeroJones Aviation, the CTLS manufacturer for the Asia-Pacific region. The company exhibited their simulator to a warm reception. General aviation is beginning to develop in China lead by airport construction at hundreds of the country's huge cities. As I've written before, I have no doubt the airports will be built, but actual flying at most of them — by Light-Sport Aircraft or other recreational aircraft — seems somewhere off in the future. China has a massive job ahead. Chinese business people have proven very capable of building many things, but developing a culture of the citizenry flying in light aircraft still has quite a distance to go. However, AeroJones new simulator may help the country take a huge stride forward.

First, Simulate — Then, Go Aloft

Chinese citizens play games, including flight simulators, as much as (or perhaps even more than) Americans do. Sitting at their computer or using a mobile smartphone or tablet is commonplace. They know this activity and it may provide a bridge to people going aloft in an actual airplane like CTLS. Imagine if you had never, ever seen a small plane of any kind. Would you rush to fly it? It's hard for Americans to envision this situation as we have small airplanes everywhere and airports in nearly every town in the nation. AeroJones may truly be on to something developing their full-motion simulator. “At the Zhuhai Airshow 2018, our AeroJones 6-axis of motion CTLS simulator was shown for the first time to the public,” said Michael Chou, who handles marketing for the company. He reported that reception to the new simulator was very enthusiastic.

Although having the shortest span of any Light-Sport Aircraft, AeroJones' new full-motion simulator is full-sized and equipped similarly to any deluxe CTLS aircraft.

“Our flying CTLS also received lots attention in the show,” said Chou. “The market is growing for Chinese general aviation. We visited with many prospective customers from flight clubs and flight schools that expressed interest in the AeroJones CTLS.” “The cabin scale of the full-motion simulator is 1:1 of the flying CTLS,” added Mr. Chou, meaning that the simulator is an exact size copy of the actual LSA. “Our simulator is equipped with two SkyView digital instrument panels designed by Dynon Avionics in the USA. The simulator has dual control sticks and rudders so an instructor can help a student learn the procedures and perform maneuvers. For the general public, it is a great device for entertainment.” “AeroJones Aviation owner Jones Chen was pleased with the response to our aircraft and especially for our unique full-motion simulator,” said Mr. Hsieh Chi-Tai, General Aviation Development Vice President for AeroJones Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. AeroJones is deep into planning for their new aircraft factory in Zhenjiang, China — where, presumably, they will also build the simulator. With the new facility, all manufacturing steps will be easier, less costly, and much more efficient, which will contribute to better values for customers buying the CTLS. Flight schools or other buyers of the modern and sophisticated CTLS will be able to fly to Dalu General Airport to see the factory and take demonstrations flights to confirm their purchase. At the time the new factory was announced, Mr. Jones Chen said, “We are very pleased about the relationship with leaders of Zhenjiang. We look forward to a long and prosperous relationship."

Who Is AeroJones?

An artist's concept for the new AeroJones factory in Zhenjiang. It has direct access to the Dalu airport.

Please let me clarify for readers who may recall seeing the AeroJones brand at American airshows. For a time, it did appear the Taiwan-based company would sell into the USA. However, that plan changed and today, the primary markets for AeroJones Aviation include China, Taiwan, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Because Flight Design general aviation, the original developer of the CT-series, does not currently market a full-motion flight simulator, this particular product may find its way into western nations. Beyond their aircraft factory in Xiamen, China and the new one to come in Zhenjiang — not far from the well-known megacity of Shanghai — AeroJones also operates a flying field, flight school, and maintenance center at an airfield in Taiwan.

At a major show in China called Zhuhai visitors saw something: a new 6-axis LSA flight simulator. The developer is AeroJones Aviation, the CTLS manufacturer for the Asia-Pacific region. The company exhibited their simulator to a warm reception. General aviation is beginning to develop in China lead by airport construction at hundreds of the country’s huge cities. As I’ve written before, I have no doubt the airports will be built, but actual flying at most of them — by Light-Sport Aircraft or other recreational aircraft — seems somewhere off in the future. China has a massive job ahead. Chinese business people have proven very capable of building many things, but developing a culture of the citizenry flying in light aircraft still has quite a distance to go. However, AeroJones new simulator may help the country take a huge stride forward. First, Simulate — Then, Go Aloft Chinese citizens play games, including flight simulators, as much as (or perhaps even more than) Americans do.

From First-World Airshow to Emerging (Aviation) Market Fly-In… the Future?

By Dan Johnson || 2 Comments

Huge crowds at AirVenture 2018 watch and photograph airshow performers. Many other terrific photos by EAA staff can be found here.

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 is now history. You will be reading and seeing lots more about the big summer celebration of flight — it appeared very strong to most observers — and you will see lots more from OSH '18 here and on Videoman Dave’s popular YouTube channel. As most readers know, Oshkosh is a massive event, by many measures the largest gathering of true aviation believers in the known universe. However, being big isn't everything. Indeed, some recreational flying enthusiasts will soon begin a trek to Mt. Vernon Illinois for the Midwest LSA Expo, a far smaller event that has proven adept at linking willing buyers with ready sellers. (It's also our very best event to capture Video Pilot Reports, so watch for news about that in about a month.)

Half A World Away, Aviation Is Getting Started

Let me tell you about a specific brand fly-in, for the CTLS produced in China. While small compared to big American events, this was a healthy start. If aviation is to grow in Asia-Pacific, I think events like that hosted by manufacturer AeroJones are key. More of them is needed but here is a worthy start. In May 2018, AeroJones Aviation hosted a first-time event at their training facility in the south of Taiwan, called Pingtong Saijiain Airport. AeroJones Aviation is the manufacturer of the sophisticated light aircraft called CTLS. The aircraft factory is located in Xiamen, China. “As promised, AeroJones Aviation conducted CT Club, the first flying club reunion in Taiwan on May 19th, 2018,” said company spokesperson Jenny Chang. China and other countries have very well developed airline and military aviation but flying for fun is a relatively new activity. As the photos illustrate, the first-time function was well attended. “Around 40 participants came for the whole day event,” reported Chang. “The group included CTLS pilots, CTLS owners, and those who have intentions to become pilots.” AeroJones Aviation operates a flying field, flight school, and maintenance center in the south of Taiwan. The operation is described by foreign visitors as a prototype for what may become many such facilities across China as that nation prepares to build hundreds of brand-new airports. The new airports will allow Chinese citizens to see and experience light aviation. Few Chinese people have ever seen aircraft such as AeroJones’ CTLS and almost none have flown in one. Events like the one AeroJones hosted may be critically important to introduce literally billions of people in the Asian-Pacific region to the idea of flying for fun. “We were pleased with this first event and the number of people who came to help launch this new idea,” observed Mr. Hsieh Chi-Tai, General Aviation Development Vice President for AeroJones. “Even CT owners that could not fly their aircraft to Pingtong still showed their enthusiasm of flying.” He believes this type of activity will grow as AeroJones Aviation is able to replicate their flight school and pilots club across China in the years ahead. AeroJones acquired the rights to manufacture the German CTLS aircraft design. The company has since secured approval from the government to build and sell these LSA. China is predicted to become a major market for Light-Sport Aircraft. In addition to China and Taiwan, AeroJones Aviation is able to ship fully manufactured CTLS aircraft to other Asia-Pacific countries including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Thailand. Many aviation experts believe China could see rapid growth for aircraft of this type given plans from the central government in China to build hundreds of new airports during the next few years. The Air Sports Federation of China is also planning hundreds of "flying camps" where citizens can learn more about and experience aviation. ASFC personnel attended Oshkosh 2018 and met with groups to learn more about how to pursue their plans. The Xiamen, China base of AeroJones Aviation includes a manufacturing facility with full fabrication capability. More than 50 highly-trained workers build nearly every part of the airplane in Xiamen. As China may nurture entry level aviation, AeroJones appears destined to be apart of it.

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2018 is now history. You will be reading and seeing lots more about the big summer celebration of flight — it appeared very strong to most observers — and you will see lots more from OSH ’18 here and on Videoman Dave’s popular YouTube channel. As most readers know, Oshkosh is a massive event, by many measures the largest gathering of true aviation believers in the known universe. However, being big isn’t everything. Indeed, some recreational flying enthusiasts will soon begin a trek to Mt. Vernon Illinois for the Midwest LSA Expo, a far smaller event that has proven adept at linking willing buyers with ready sellers. (It’s also our very best event to capture Video Pilot Reports, so watch for news about that in about a month.) Half A World Away, Aviation Is Getting Started Let me tell you about a specific brand fly-in, for the CTLS produced in China.

CTLS Flying High in Asia-Pacific as AeroJones Gains Full Approval

By Dan Johnson || 1 Comment

For most years of Light-Sport Aircraft one aircraft model convincingly lead the parade. That aircraft is broadly identified as the CT-series: CT2K, CTSW, CTLS, and CTLSi. Until CubCrafters caught up and passed Flight Design while the company took a breather to reorganize, the CT-series was the best selling Light-Sport Aircraft in America. The aircraft also sold well in many other countries, concentrated in European nations; close to 2,000 are flying. One part of the world needed a different approach: Asia-Pacific, including countries such as China, Australia, New Zealand and others. For this region, CT representation needed a fresh face attuned to the local culture.

The management team at AeroJones Aviation poses for a photo after approval was earned from China's CAAC authorities. VP Jack Lin is third from the left.

In a deal started a few years ago, a Taiwan-owned / China-based company named AeroJones Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., negotiated a manufacturing license agreement with Flight Design, the German company that created the CT-series. Money changed hands, training started, and eventually AeroJones fired up their production engine. I visited this company in December 2017 and found a first-class production organization. However, AeroJones was still a remote facility for Flight Design. They needed the German company to approve aircraft before they could sell directly. Now, that's changed.

Full Approval Granted

In February 2018, the Civil Aeronautic Administration of China (CAAC) completed a successful audit of the manufacturing facility of AeroJones' Xiamen, China factory. Following the acceptance and with the blessing of Flight Design, the company can independently manufacture CTLS aircraft and sell them throughout China and other countries in the region.

Hsieh Chi-Tai is seen in the instructor seat of this AeroJones-built CTLS alongside Jenny Chang who handles marketing for the company.

“We are very honored and pleased to complete the CAAC audit successfully,” observed Hsieh Chi-Tai — known to many people simply as "Tai." He is the vice president of AeroJones and the approval will lead to being granted a Production Certificate. Previous approvals by Chinese aviation authorities had secured a Chinese Type Design Approval (TDA). Now the package of government certification is complete. CAAC authorities visited AeroJones Aviation in Xiamen in November 2017 and twice in January 2018 before finishing the audit in February. “By proving our company to China’s highest civil aviation authority, we open a new door of opportunity for AeroJones Aviation and for the country of China,” noted Tai. In addition to China, AeroJones Aviation is able to ship fully manufactured aircraft to other Asia-Pacific countries that accept ASTM standards for approvals, including Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Japan, Korea, Thailand, plus additional countries in the region. The German developer — since renamed Flight Design general aviation — will supply all other nations as AeroJones Aviation serves the Asia-Pacific market. In the United States, the German producer has been represented by Flight Design USA since the beginning.

Growth Market

Many aviation experts believe China will be a nation of rapid growth with plans from the central government in China to build thousands of airports during the next few years.

The production team poses in front of one of their CTLS models produced in Xiamen, China.

“We are proud and pleased that our management, engineering, and manufacturing team performed well during the February audit of our production facility,” said Jack Lin, Production Vice President of the operation. “We have been working very hard for three years to insure we can produce the highest quality aircraft.” The Xiamen, China base of AeroJones Aviation Technology Co., Ltd. includes a new manufacturing facility equipped with all the appropriate fixtures, tooling, and highly-trained workers (photo). The majority of components for the CTLS aircraft can be built on the Xiamen premises.

During the recent audit, AeroJones personnel defended their quality and manufacturing practices to CAAC authorities.

In addition to the manufacturing operation in Xiamen, China, AeroJones also operates an engineering bureau in Wildau, Germany and an active flight school in Pingtong, Taiwan. The company hopes to replicate its flight school concept in many cities of China as the airport construction projects leads to activity in those locations. I toured the flight school facilities in Taiwan and took a flight in an AeroJones-built CTLS. The school and aircraft reflect a high level of quality and attention to detail. “We believe we have all the elements in place so we can assist China’s growth in civil, sport, and recreational aviation,” said Tai. “We have demonstrated the capability to produce high quality Light-Sport Aircraft and to sell them in our region.” Congratulations AeroJones. The company is one of a very few LSA builders to win full approval from Chinese CAA authorities.

For most years of Light-Sport Aircraft one aircraft model convincingly lead the parade. That aircraft is broadly identified as the CT-series: CT2K, CTSW, CTLS, and CTLSi. Until CubCrafters caught up and passed Flight Design while the company took a breather to reorganize, the CT-series was the best selling Light-Sport Aircraft in America. The aircraft also sold well in many other countries, concentrated in European nations; close to 2,000 are flying. One part of the world needed a different approach: Asia-Pacific, including countries such as China, Australia, New Zealand and others. For this region, CT representation needed a fresh face attuned to the local culture. In a deal started a few years ago, a Taiwan-owned / China-based company named AeroJones Aviation Technology Co., Ltd., negotiated a manufacturing license agreement with Flight Design, the German company that created the CT-series. Money changed hands, training started, and eventually AeroJones fired up their production engine.

Weekend Wrap-Up — Video Travel Report & Social Media

By Dan Johnson || 2 Comments

After a busy week at Sebring — a show that exceeded my expectations …and probably also for several vendors who logged sales to kick off the year in a great way — I have a couple alternative messages for readers. Those aircraft buyers at Sebring have a few weeks to wait before they get their shiny new LSA or kits but, as noted in three earlier posts, plenty of smiles were seen despite a bit more wind than many would have liked.

Social Media Update

If you follow Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or Instagram as many pilots do, you may have noticed we've been rather quiet on those platforms. This website and Videoman Dave's YouTube channel form our primary outlets and nothing changes that, especially now that ByDanJohnson.com has been made fully "responsive," a tech industry term that means the BDJ2 web format now adapts readily to smartphones, tablets, TVs, or computers. Stats show that around two-thirds of you view our content on a small screen so we're pleased to look pretty good whatever device you use. Use comments to offer any input you may have on that. Recently, we added a line of social media icons below each article. Those of you active on any of those social media platforms can now easily share an article of interest with your flying friends. We hope you'll do that. We get plenty of good comments (and a few gripes) about what we do here and on YouTube and I want to say we are grateful for that feedback. Hearing good words motivates us to do more and criticisms help us further improve our product. Both are appreciated. If you like what we do, please, share the words or video with your friends and help up reach further. You likely know the drill: simply click the social media of your choice, which opens a portal allowing you to use your membership on that platform to send your friends or followers our article or video.

Travel to China

The following video was made first just to show personal family and friends what I did on a pre-Christmas trip to China and Taiwan. It was modified when our travel sponsor, AeroJones Aviation, showed an interest in sharing this in their Asia-Pacific market and sphere of influence. The final result proved fairly watchable, generating around 2,500 views so far. Since others seemed to like it, I thought I'd share it here. It's seven minutes long and compresses a week's travel into a short window. I hope you might enjoy it. The purpose was to try to assist sport and recreational aviation in China and I think we did some good. You may not care but the manufacturer of your favorite airplane probably does. As I've said before, a bigger market for the maker of your aircraft brand means they can be more stable financially and could generate more income to allow them to improve current models and design new aircraft. That's good for everyone! https://youtu.be/pZOqhEU-Seo

After a busy week at Sebring — a show that exceeded my expectations …and probably also for several vendors who logged sales to kick off the year in a great way — I have a couple alternative messages for readers. Those aircraft buyers at Sebring have a few weeks to wait before they get their shiny new LSA or kits but, as noted in three earlier posts, plenty of smiles were seen despite a bit more wind than many would have liked. Social Media Update If you follow Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, or Instagram as many pilots do, you may have noticed we’ve been rather quiet on those platforms. This website and Videoman Dave’s YouTube channel form our primary outlets and nothing changes that, especially now that ByDanJohnson.com has been made fully “responsive,” a tech industry term that means the BDJ2 web format now adapts readily to smartphones, tablets, TVs, or computers.

Why Should You Care About Sport Flying in China?

By Dan Johnson || 9 Comments

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. I love it. You love it. People in other countries want to love it.

AeroJones, builder of the CTLS for the Asia-Pacific region, aims to become a leading supplier of Light-Sport Aircraft to China.

Chinese aviation enthusiasts simply marvel at that level of freedom. With their government tightly controlling all manner of activities, flying around their beautiful country to see it as we can America, is a dream of the future and possibly one that may never match our freedom to fly. Nonetheless, China may be THE growth market for recreational flying. I recently made a trip to China and Taiwan to offer officials and magazine writers my vision for how sport flying in China could develop. After carefully considering the repercussions and after asking local friends for advice, I offered several influential people and groups a friendly challenge: Create 1 million pilots in ten years. To my surprise and delight, some immediately accepted the challenge. You see, the central government — which has immense power and control — has placed a very strong focus on creating airports …thousands of them, perhaps 20,000! Whatever the number, I find this a fascinating national objective. I have zero doubt China can build the airports. It is perfectly obvious this industrious country can build anything — literally anything — they want. I've never seen so many construction cranes and this is true nearly everywhere you look. In the central city of Anyang, billing itself as the sport flying capital of China, I toured a massive construction development. It will include the usual collection of very large buildings complete with a handsome new airport and runway but also an airport flying community, roughly imitating the one in which I live: Spruce Creek Fly-In. It will also include — get this! — an aviation theme park. I marvel at their ambition. All this will create structures but it does not speak to the use of those airports. China desparately needs guidance on building an aviation infrastructure. I leaned on my experience to suggest the creation of flying clubs, flight schools, and a fleet of sport aircraft. This does not pose any threat to a nation used to 100% control of its airpace and it offers the Chinese citizen a new form of recreation and education plus a wholesome family activity that may prepare some for a respected occupation as professional pilots.

An aviation theme park plan created by ASA, Air Sport Association, created by Chinese American, Shudong Li.

You may still not care. I understand that. But to builders of aircraft and other aviation enterprises, a million new pilots would be like winning the lottery. Today, in all countries of the world and for all forms of flying, we have something north of one million pilots …in the entire world …combined. Could China create that many new pilots all by itself? It has the population, the national drive, the money, and the land to achieve this. Will it? Only time will tell. I tried to do my part as it could benefit the industry I love and which has sustained me for years. Best of luck, China. I hope you find your path to the sky. Meanwhile, Merry Christmas to readers of ByDanJohnson.com. I wish each and every one of you warm and wonderful holidays.

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.

AeroJones Shows CTLS at New DeLand Showcase Event

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

One company making a splash at the brand-new DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase event that opened today was AeroJones, occupying the first two spaces inside the entrance. I've written about this company before but since spring a striking change has occurred.

Flight Design — originator of the market-leading CT-series of LSA — has completed a court-appointed reorganization. Many of the former company team members will take certain assets and move forward. I will have more on that in a future article.

After the transaction is fully completed AeroJones Aviation will own the CT line including the current CTLS and CTLSi. They will also pursue completion of Flight Design's four seater, C4, that flew in 2015.

Introducing the new owner of America's popular CTLS...

AeroJones Aviation is headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan, often referred to as the "Silicon Valley of Taiwan." After first acquiring a license to build Flight Design aircraft more than two years ago, the company went through a thorough training and evaluation from Flight Design officials.

Aircraft production began for the Taiwanese company after they installed new production tooling and equipment including a five-axis CNC machine, water and Laser cutters, TIG welding, composite layup and post-cure ovens, plus a modern paint booth. Flight Design provided production worker training and quality management training. AeroJones finished their first airplanes in 2014 and has since been refining the production and quality systems. Proving their skills to government officials, AeroJones' production facility passed numerous audits and earned a Production Certificate from China's CAAC at the end of 2015.

Backing AeroJones is a parent company called GSEO (Genius Electro Optical), a manufacturer and supplier for industrial LED products and laminated lenses for many popular smartphones. GSEO has roughly 20,000 employees. Brand new production facilities were secured on mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait.

Initial CTLS and CTLSi supplied by AeroJones to American distributors and dealers won good marks. "The quality was very good," said Tom Gutmann, the country's largest Flight Design distributor, having delivered more than 100 aircraft. "AeroJones personnel spent several days with us and in great detail documented every minor issue we found in the first aircraft. We were impressed how carefully they listened."

At DeLand Showcase 2016, AeroJones Americas held a press conference where they announced their new U.S. operation.

"AeroJones Aviation will be established in Florida as a centralized assembly and distribution facility for the AeroJones Aviation-produced CT series aircraft" said Chris Benaiges, CEO of AeroJones Americas. Chris has been associated with Flight Design and their CT series for several years; he and partners stepped in to restore the distribution of these aircraft after the court reorganization.

"AeroJones Aviation is pleased to bring renewed life to the very popular CTLS in America," said Hsieh Chi-Tai, Executive Vice President at AeroJones. "We are pleased to work with our U.S. representatives at AeroJones Americas as we resume shipments of CTLS to America."

Headquartered in Central Taiwan Science Park, AeroJones Aviation will ship mostly completed aircraft from mainland China. AeroJones Americas will receive the aircraft, assemble them from shipping containers, and will deliver to American customers. Over time they expect to add a growing number of American-sourced components at the U.S. operation. Many high-value items on a CTLS are already sourced elsewhere (Rotax engine, BRS parachute, Dynon or Garmin avionics and more).

"AeroJones Americas will have the resources to bring safety, quality control, and the end user experience to a new level for the CT series," stated AeroJones Americas COO John Hurst.

AeroJones will focus initially on CTLS and CTLSi. Further information on C4 will be available in the months ahead.

One company making a splash at the brand-new DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase event that opened today was AeroJones, occupying the first two spaces inside the entrance. I’ve written about this company before but since spring a striking change has occurred. Flight Design — originator of the market-leading CT-series of LSA — has completed a court-appointed reorganization. Many of the former company team members will take certain assets and move forward. I will have more on that in a future article. After the transaction is fully completed AeroJones Aviation will own the CT line including the current CTLS and CTLSi. They will also pursue completion of Flight Design’s four seater, C4, that flew in 2015. Introducing the new owner of America’s popular CTLS… AeroJones Aviation is headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan, often referred to as the “Silicon Valley of Taiwan.” After first acquiring a license to build Flight Design aircraft more than two years ago, the company went through a thorough training and evaluation from Flight Design officials.

Sun ‘n Fun 2016 Debrief & Summary

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Doing What We Do... Interviewing Hsieh Chi-Tai of AeroJones Aviation about his Taiwan company's manufacturing of the Flight Design CTLS for import by Flight Design USA.

Paul Mather (L) shakes hands with Zenair CEO Matt Heintz after they inked a deal to join forces in creating a new SLSA version of the popular CH 750.

Fixed wing Part 103 ultralights continue to attract buyers and the choices are broadening. In this file photo we see the lightest Quicksilver Sprint.

Sleek, smooth, and looking jet-fast is this new P&M Aviation entry called Pulsr.

Rob Rollison of Aerotrek gives an interview for the new ELA gyroplanes he is representing including this very handsome Eclipse 10.

Miguel Soto has it down pat, completely tearing down and reassembling the Titan 180 horsepower engine in their display — twice! — during Sun 'n Fun. Videoman Dave's camera is mounted high to capture time-lapse imagery of the whole event.

Sixteen of the best suppliers to the light airplane industry. Top left, engines (L-R): Moderator Sebastien Heintz, Zenith Aircraft; John Heitland, Continental Motors; Robert Helms, UL Power; Marc Becker, Rotax Aircraft Engines; Pete Krotje, Jabiru ||| Top right, writers: Ben Sclair, General Aviation News; Pia Bergqvist, Flying; Robert Goyer, Plane & Pilot; Paul Bertorelli, AVweb ||| Bottom left, avionics: Matt Litnaitzky, MGL Avionics; Ian Jordan, Dynon Avionics; Andrew Barker, TruTrak; Ananda Leon, Levil Technology ||| Bottom right, apps: Angela Anderson, ForeFlight; Steve Podradchik, Seattle Avionics (FlyQ); Paul Edhlund, WingX Pro (Hilton Software); Jim Laster, Garmin Pilot. writers photo by Kathy Lubitz

The super-short summary of Sun 'n Fun 2016: weather was beautiful; even the one night of rain gave way to a sunny day and all other days were as good as it gets. No accidents occurred to my awareness. Crowds were good if not record-setting. Airplanes were sold; I conservatively estimate about 30 sales of light aircraft, based on my inquiries. What's not to love? As with any such attempt to cover an event the size and breadth of Sun'n Fun, this article cannot include all deserving aircraft, with regrets to any not mentioned below. We also shot lots video that will follow as the editing can be done (photo). This article is longer than I prefer but I have plenty to tell you and I was simply too engaged during the event to keep posting. So... let's get going! AIRPLANES (three-axis control) — Sun 'n Fun drew all the wonderful light airplanes we love but a few were touting fresh news not previously reported. One of the most significant developments was a Zenair of Canada collaboration with Alabama's M-Squared Aircraft. They inked a deal for M-Squared to fully assemble the popular "Sky Jeep" CH 750 and deliver it as a fully-built Special LSA. Some years ago AMD and then Eastman built the popular STOL aircraft (as the 701, at that time) in a partnership with Zenair but it's been a rather long time since you could buy a ready-to-fly 750. That will change by summer; M-Squared boss Paul Mather reported the first subassemblies are being manufactured now. He expects to build perhaps 10 in 2016, ramping up as demand suggests. This is a smart move by Paul who will continue to make his also-SLSA Breese 2 among other models. I reported earlier that Progressive Aerodyne won Chinese CAAC approval for their Searey amphibian, without a doubt the most successful light seaplane. Given a (presently) small market for that populous country and with 11 aircraft already shipped, Searey may have bragging rights as the best-selling LSA in China. Congratulations to Adam Yang, Kerry Ritcher, and the Searey gang. Given Icon A5 pricing soaring past the $200,000 barrier, Searey is a relative bargain for an aircraft with more 500 already flying (most built as kits). Jabiru North America (their new company name) boss Pete Krotje was pleased to announce the first Jabiru J170-D will appear at Oshkosh, sporting a value-oriented price tag below $100,000 for a surprisingly well equipped aircraft. It should work well in flight schools, he believes; I think individual pilots could flock to the model. Pete's company will also debut new models of engines: their 81 horsepower 2210 four cylinder and 120 horsepower 3310 six cylinder. We saw the first U.S. appearance of the handsome all-metal low wing Viper SD4 from Tomark Aero. Work is underway to gain SLSA acceptance though this may be some time off yet. They will reportedly also debut their high wing Skyper at Aero. I'll be looking for it next week. Flight Design USA had a "come-back" show, we heard, thanks to their new arrangement to buy completed SLSA versions of their popular CTLS from AeroJones Aviation of Taiwan. They said the first aircraft will soon be delivered to distributors. The company is offering their 202 model, all ready with ADS-B gear. However, in work with consultant John Hurst, they also announced an ADS-B Out solution for the 400 existing owners of CT-series LSA. PART 103 (ultralights) — Although too many people mistakenly believe otherwise, the world of Part 103 fixed wing aircraft is alive and well. At Sun 'n Fun, we did a video interview with Dennis Carley about his kit version of the hot-selling Aerolite 103. He's doing that to offer shorter delivery times while he facility is working to capacity (about 50 aircraft per year). Kits will also allow non-103 customization some customers want. We also did a video interview with Kolb Aircraft's Bryan Melborn about his tricycle gear version of the Part 103 FireFly, dubbed the TriFly... and they don't mean you have to try and fly it. They can build you one for around $25,000 or save you a bit with a kit you can customize. Kolb's display TriFly had a Rotax 447 mounted; that engine is out of production but many are available in good condition and, yes!, Bryan said TriFly can make Part 103 with that engine. Other news involving three-axis Part 103 aircraft invoke two well known brand names: Quicksilver and CGS Haw. Both are very longtime players in the light aircraft space and both have just gone through major organization changes. Quicksilver sold all inventory and numerous fabrication tools — "several semi-trailers worth" — to Bever Borne's Air-Tech Inc., operation in Reserve, Louisiana near New Orleans. Bever has been a Quicksilver man far longer than anyone at Quicksilver so he's arguably the best choice to hold all the cards. However, the California company has reportedly also signed an agreement with Aero Adventure to manufacture kit versions of the line at their DeLand, Forida operation. We'll watch to see how this plays out since the company restructured last summer. Terry Short bought all the inventory, tooling, and rights to the CGS Hawk line. He had a booth space to talk to prospective clients but declined to do a video interview until he is better set up; the deal only transacted a couple months ago. WEIGHT-SHIFT (trikes) — We saw several interesting new trikes at Sun 'n Fun 2016. Among them was the P&M Aviation Pulsr that managed to score a Light Sport Innovation Award from the judges. Congratulations to representative Tony Castillo and the British design team lead by Bill Brooks. Pulsr manages to look fast sitting on the ground with its sweeping windscreen smoothly integrated to the aft carriage and engine cowl. Evolution Trike, with the most colorful trike hardware on the planet, had a new Polini engine installation on their single seat, Part 103-capable Rev. This fascinating lightweight engine has gear drive and a clutch to make for a smooth-running single banger packing 35 horsepower. Between Rev and Revo, this Zephyr Hills, Florida company is always one I watch closely. Tiny and superlight — and quickly foldable to fit in your sedan or light truck — are the operative terms for the Aeros Nano Trike (ANT), made especially for hang glider pilots who no longer want to run their take-offs or landings. This highly successful producer of competition-winning hang glider wings is helping their customers fly longer more comfortably. The Ukraine company is represented in the USA by SilverLight Aviation. GYROPLANES — Rotax Aircraft Engines, the dominant player, by far, supplying powerplants to the light aircraft field around the world, has in recent years said they sell more 912 engines to gyroplane producers than any other aircraft segment. Between Germany's AutoGyro (which has delivered around 2,000 units) to Italy's Magni (900 units) to Spain's ELA (700 units) and all other builders (about 500 units), this class is exploding... although in the USA, one can only say it is growing because owners have to build their aircraft from kit as FAA never completed the goal of allowing a Special LSA version. The agency's sluggishness to remedy this situation, despite years-long efforts by industry, brought segment leader AutoGyro to pursue Primary Category approval, a significantly-costlier and more complicated process than following ASTM guidelines (standards for gyros have been done for years). As reward, the company will be able to sell fully-built gyroplanes to Americans, though that approval may not carry over to other countries. SilverLight made a public debut with their brand-new American Ranger AR-1. Developer Abid Farooqui, with whom we shot a video interview, said he went from concept drawings to completed aircraft in barely over nine months. Having given birth, SilverLight has created the first American gyroplane in the modern European style... all "Made in the USA!" (except for rotor blades, from France). SilverLight is an unusual light plane supplier representing a fixed wing aircraft, weight shift trikes (both by Hungarian builder Apollo), and their new gyroplane. Abid is also a well qualified engineer and ASTM expert who has helped several other companies. Impressive! Speaking of impressive, people practically drooled over the very sleek ELA Eclipse 10 gyroplane being offered by Rob Rollison's Indiana-based Aerotrek. We've seen their open cockpit gyroplanes before but Eclipse 10 made its American debut at Sun 'n Fun 2016. Only a handful are flying though the Spanish builder has a solid track record with earlier models. POWERPLANTS — What goes up... must have an engine to do so. We looked at several, interviewing several officials. Market leader Rotax, represented by Aircraft Engines Manager Marc Becker reported the new 915 iS engine debuted at AirVenture 2015 has more than 50 flying hours and some thousands of hours logged on the dynamometer in their factory test cells. The engine is highly awaited by many in the LSA field and Marc noted several dozen airframes are working with the design now. The 915 iS features the fuel injection of its 912 iS sibling but adds a 5:1 turbo that will deliver a high percentage of power up to 20,000 feet or more. So potent is it that an intercooler is needed and the new equipment needs planning by airframe builders. The company is consistent in saying the new engine will be available, all certified and ASTM approved by the latter half of 2017. Continental's super-powerful, 180-horsepower Titan line is finding increasing support. CubCrafters started the parade but is now followed by Zlin's Savage Outback, American Legend, Kitfox Aircraft, Just Aircraft, Rans, and Vickers for the Wave seaplane LSA. Continental bought developer ECi last year and all signs are full speed ahead for this powerplant with a surprisingly good power-to-weight ratio. The company did a public tear-down and rebuild of a Titan engine in their display... twice. We mounted a camera set for time-lapse imagery to record the whole process. We think you may enjoy this when ready. Belgium's UL Power is another company with growing acceptance, with more airframe companies giving one of their models a try. U.S. representative Robert Helms — who enjoys referring to himself as a "recovering lawyer" since he ditched the suit to pursue something more gratifying — took time away from his display to moderate three of LAMA's panels (see below) and participate in one of them. Robert reported that the Belgium-based creator of these high-tech engines (even featuring FADEC) is working to meet ASTM standards that could one day result in engines being factory installed on SLSA. In the One-More-Thing department made famous by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs, work by Aircraft Spruce deserves a mention. The company is geared up to address homebuilders who want to speed the building of panels. The publisher of a giant 1,000-page+ catalog has a division of their company that custom builds wiring harnesses making the addition of a wide variety of avionics faster, easier, and more accurate than many kit builders might manage on their own. We did a video on this subject; watch for it in the weeks ahead. DEBATES — I'll end this rather lengthy recap with something that kicked off the event and ran the first four days. I refer to the "Great Debates in Paradise City." In its big tent in the light plane area of Sun 'n Fun 2016 — made possible with generous support from Aviators Hot Line — LAMA hosted four debates. The first on Tuesday featuring engines for light aircraft, including Continental Motors and their Titan line, UL Power, Rotax Aircraft Engines, and Jabiru; next on Wednesday, a debate between four top aviation journalists including writers for General Aviation News, Flying magazine, Plane & Pilot magazine, and AVweb; on Thursday, LAMA collected four leading avionics producers including MGL, Dynon, TruTrak, and Levil; and concluding on Friday were all the best-selling iPad and Android apps featuring ForeFlight, Seattle Avionics' FlyQ, WingX Pro, and Garmin's Pilot. A sincere thanks to all 16 panelists for taking time out of their busy days to participate and to the Flying Musicians Association for arranging professional-grade public address equipment to make it work. All four debates were captured by Videoman Dave for his YouTube channel. In the way of the Internet, all these are freely available, but I encourage you to support his efforts by subscribing annually or get a great deal on hisLifetime offer. Tomorrow, I blast off for southern Germany and the Aero Friedrichshafen show, where I hope to make more frequent posts about cool aircraft and gear I find in Europe.

The super-short summary of Sun ‘n Fun 2016: weather was beautiful; even the one night of rain gave way to a sunny day and all other days were as good as it gets. No accidents occurred to my awareness. Crowds were good if not record-setting. Airplanes were sold; I conservatively estimate about 30 sales of light aircraft, based on my inquiries. What’s not to love? As with any such attempt to cover an event the size and breadth of Sun’n Fun, this article cannot include all deserving aircraft, with regrets to any not mentioned below. We also shot lots video that will follow as the editing can be done (photo). This article is longer than I prefer but I have plenty to tell you and I was simply too engaged during the event to keep posting. So… let’s get going! AIRPLANES (three-axis control) — Sun ‘n Fun drew all the wonderful light airplanes we love but a few were touting fresh news not previously reported.

Flight Design USA Forges Ahead with CTLSi

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Jack Pelton, actor Harrison Ford, and Tom Poberezny prepare for remarks at an NBAA event with the EAA sweepstakes MC as a backdrop.

Flight Design's four seat C4 made its first flight in 2015.

A new season of flying will feature AeroJones-produced CTLSi aircraft with fully compliant ADS-B hardware.

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. Several projects were started years ago and were underway as the global economy took a sharp turn for the worse in 2009. With funds stretched, serial production of existing products slowed. Something had to give. Faced with a "liquidity crunch," Flight Design GmbH filed for insolvency on February 11th. A local German court provided Knut Rebholz, an attorney with experience in restructuring, to be interim receiver of the German corporation. After his assessment, court appointee Robholz reported, "The order situation of the company is good and the products have a very good international reputation in the market." He continued, "[The] most urgent task to enable intensive negotiations to fund operations." The problems faced by Flight Design in Germany slowed aircraft deliveries motivating Connecticut-based Flight Design USA to recently announce a new source of supply for their CLTSi models from a properly licensed and very capable builder. Introducing AeroJones Aviation ... AeroJones Aviation is headquartered in Taichung, Taiwan, often referred to as the "Silicon Valley" of Taiwan. AeroJones negotiated and signed an exclusive agreement to license Flight Design products. The program to begin production called for the Taiwanese company to assemble new production tooling and equipment including a five-axis CNC machine, water and Laser cutters, TIG welding, composite layup and post-cure ovens, plus a modern paint booth. AeroJones also obtained production worker training, received training to provide quality management, and gradually built up to finished airplanes, which first occurred in 2014. AeroJones' production facility has passed numerous audits including earning a Production Certificate from China's CAAC at the end of 2015. This is not a new, small start-up company but instead one with impressive credentials. AeroJones' parent company, GSEO (Genius Electro Optical), is a manufacturer and supplier for industrial LED products and laminated lenses for many popular smartphones; it has around 20,000 employees. AeroJones has been building CTLSi aircraft and shipments to the USA are already scheduled. This will allow Flight Design USA to move forward with its business while the German company works to restructure. Flight Design USA noted, "Roughly 35% of a CTLS presently comes from the USA — wheels, tires, brakes, radios, antennas, GPS, autopilot, EFIS and EMS systems, intercom, Whelen lights, BRS parachute, ELT, headsets, and miscellaneous parts like the gascolator." Tom Peghiny continued, "The Austrian-made Rotax engine, propeller, composite materials, windshield and windows, paint, seats, and numerous other parts come from Europe. The planes made by AeroJones Aviation should correctly be called 'world aircraft' (just like Boeing and Airbus) as only about 25% will be of non-western origin." All these steps — Flight Design in Germany reorganizing, Flight Design USA arranging a new, second source for completed airframes, solidifying components from all over the globe, and preparing for a refreshed American operation — lead to their newest product announcement: the CTLSi "2020" Edition. "For 2016 we wanted to do a light upgrade to the avionics on the CTLSi centered around dual Dynon SkyView and the Garmin 796," said Peghiny. "We asked what would we want in addition if we were the customer?" "Working closely with John Hurst, the technical and sales director of Americana Aviation [a Flight Design USA distributor], we came up with a package we think is very appealing." "Since 2012, we have been delivering the Dynon SkyView SV-261 Extended Squitter (ES) transponder — which sends additional info for ADS-B out use. In conjunction with the new Dynon SV-2020 GPS source, this provides an FAA Next Gen-compliant ADS-B out solution," added Tom.• Many LSA have ADS-B in today but FAA requires the extra "out" data by 2020, which suggested the new CTLSi edition name Flight Design USA chose. "For ADS-B in we are offering three options," said Tom. "Customers can choose the Dynon SV-470 ADS-B in, which has the NEXRAD weather in the cockpit, UAT traffic displayed on the screens in vertical and horizontal position and TAFs and TFRs. Alternatively, the Garmin GDL-39-3D offers both 978 UAT traffic and 1020 ES traffic, Bluetooth connectivity to other devices, and a backup ADAHRs-like panel displayed on the Garmin 796. The third option is to have a mini iPad in an AirGizmo panel mount with a USB power supply and choose the ADS-B in software such as Garmin Pilot or ForeFlight. The 2020 Edition will come with the Dynon WiFi adapters installed which also allows loading flight plans into the Dynon mapping software." "All this refers to just the ADS-B," noted Tom. "Of course the CTLSi 2020 also comes with the Rotax 912is fuel injected engine, the Dynon SkyView autopilot, standard airframe parachute, and all the other creature comforts that Flight Design owners have always enjoyed." While the Germany company moves to restructure, it is good to see the American LSA fleet leader showing refreshed activity and many interested pilots will look forward to examining a new AeroJones-produced CTLSi at summer airshows. • Peghiny added, "The good news is that many existing LSA using appropriate Dynon hardware can meet the ADS-B 2020 requirements quickly and with less expense.

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.

Spy Cam’ Catches Flight Design C4 in Taxi Test

By Dan Johnson || Leave a Comment

Flight Design's nearly-ready-for-flight four seat C4 seen in taxi testing.

AeroJones President Jones Chen (L) shown with Flight Design GmbH CEO, Matthias Betsch (C) and Flight Design USA President, Tom Peghiny (R).

We are heading into a weekend with a couple wonderful airshows immediately ahead. The dry spell since Sebring is over and Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany starts next week — preceded by meetings of the ASTM committee that writes the LSA standards. A couple days after Aero ends, Sun 'n Fun starts. Whew! This is a tight schedule but what could be more enjoyable than going to airshows and finding lots of new airplanes about which to write and shoot new videos. I hope you'll click back regularly to see the latest. Meanwhile I have some fun bits of news to report here. Perhaps the best is that we obtained "spy photos" of Flight Design taxi testing their C4 in anticipating of their first flight (more below). Plus, Van's Aircraft, the world's largest producer of kit aircraft, set a new record. Let's get started. Flight Design has been at work on their four seater C4 for several years and it is finally nearing conclusion. We expect to have news of the first flight very soon. The aircraft is a spacious four seater with three doors, the aft of which was planned to be a rear-hinging door. Sometimes called a "coach door" the configuration should make for much easier entry to the rear seat, however, for safety the aft door cannot be opened without opening the front door. Performance is expected to substantially exceed a Cessna 172 while using less fuel and selling for $150,000 less than a new Skyhawk. C4 is powered by Continental Motor's newly certified IO-360-AF, and alternative fuel engine. Flight Design was recently in the news for their new factory in China that is currently preparing to build CTLS Light-Sport Aircraft. They are currently working with the CAAC (China's FAA) to obtain what is called Type Design Approval (TDA). "Now that AeroJones has completed building four prototypes culminating in a fully conforming article, they can begin the effort for serial production," explained Christian Wenger, a director of Flight Design in Germany. He added, "AeroJones's manufacturing work builds on an organization foundation by Daniel Guenther and Andrey Yavniy of Flight Design. "Andrey was the man who doubled Ukraine production [of CT LSA] during 2005 to 2007 with more than 250 aircraft delivered in 2007." "AeroJones parent company GSEO, based in Taiwan, has worked in China for 20 years building high-tech optical products," said Flight Design CEO Matthias Betsch. "GSEO customers are known as very demanding buyers who go to great lengths to assure vendors match design quality. GSEO President Jones Chen brought his experience and his passion for aviation into AeroJones." "In cooperation with the province of Jiangsu, AeroJones is breaking ground on a 250,000 square foot, brand-new production facility based in Changzhou," added Betsch. AeroJones will produce airframes for the Light-Sport CTLS as well as Flight Design's four seat C4. Now, for something completely different ... Just today Van's Aircraft reported a first-flight report from Mr. Thomas Damm, of Billund, Denmark. "Thomas' RV-8 became the 9,000th RV kit to be completed and flown by a customer," exclaimed Van's. "Mr. Damm bought the barely-started kit from a close friend and completed it over a span of nine years." Thomas flies airlines for Scandinavian SAS and made his first flight on April 8, 2015. "On the first flight I saw 170 knots at 5,000 feet at [less than full power]. You guys produce great airplane kits," Tom wrote to Van's Aircraft. The folks in Van's Aircraft's engineering department, obviously very pleased by reaching this benchmark, assembled a few of what they called "thought pictures." They noted that assuming an average wingspan of 27 feet with no gaps, 9,000 RV aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip would form a line of aircraft 46 miles long ... and, a rectangular grid of airplanes would be roughly 2,788 feet by 2,362 feet that, with a couple inches of space between wingtips, would cover about 151 acres ... and, assuming an average of 180 horsepower per RV, the total fleet of 9,000 aircraft would generate 1,620,000 horsepower. That should power you through the weekend. BREAKING NEWS! — On April 9th, Flight Design successfully flew their C4 in a 40-minute initial flight that reportedly went very well, with the C4 at reduced throttle outrunning a Cessna 172 chase plane at full throttle. I'll have more as soon as the company releases it. Congratulations to the whole Flight Design team!

We are heading into a weekend with a couple wonderful airshows immediately ahead. The dry spell since Sebring is over and Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany starts next week — preceded by meetings of the ASTM committee that writes the LSA standards. A couple days after Aero ends, Sun ‘n Fun starts. Whew! This is a tight schedule but what could be more enjoyable than going to airshows and finding lots of new airplanes about which to write and shoot new videos. I hope you’ll click back regularly to see the latest. Meanwhile I have some fun bits of news to report here. Perhaps the best is that we obtained “spy photos” of Flight Design taxi testing their C4 in anticipating of their first flight (more below). Plus, Van’s Aircraft, the world’s largest producer of kit aircraft, set a new record. Let’s get started. Flight Design has been at work on their four seater C4 for several years and it is finally nearing conclusion.

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