At the close of business on January 31, 2008, 2-seat ultralight trainers and overweight single-seater "ultralights" - as readers of this publication understand these aircraft - will cease to exist. More correctly, they must have been converted to Experimental-Light Sport Aircraft (ELSA) if their owners want to continue flying them; otherwise these pilots' options are sharply limited. But as Part 103-compliant ultralights continue and if ultralight trainers go away, how will new ultralight pilots be trained for flight in these lightest of aircraft? Happily, the subject of this month's flight review answers that question. Arguably the first fixed-wing ultralight to make the jump - not to ELSA conversion status but to full, Special-LSA (SLSA) approval - is Higher Class Aviation's Sport Hornet. Gaining Higher Class We first saw the Hornet when Jim Millett brought this new design to Sun 'n Fun '94 (the event's 20th anniversary). It was a bold move into a market looking well established. Indeed, since the Hornet resembled a Challenger - one of the best selling ultralights - was it even needed? At a price then double that of a Challenger, some observers thought it had an uncertain future. The Hornet found some following and persevered until present company owner, Robert Gaither, bought the company from Millett in '04. Gaither struggled with his company and the Hornet as ultralight growth hit a plateau and as FAA's new Light-Sport Aircraft regulation finally peeked over the horizon. But the arrival of this aviation regulation foretold a new direction for Higher Class Aviation, the name Gaither chose for his new company. As it became obvious to Gaither that LSA would be the new way aircraft like the Hornet would be built, he redirected precious resources to meeting the new industry consensus standards. This project is challenging, with lots of testing and paperwork required. But Gaither and his small team plugged away and finally, in July '07, won Special Light-Sport Aircraft approval for their 100-hp Rotax 912S-powered Hornet. They renamed the model Sport Hornet to commemorate this achievement. The task of converting a homebuilt "ultralight" to a fully factory-built SLSA wasn't easy or swift. As Gaither and his team made the Hornet ready for the lights sport aircraft market, the airplane was put through a long series of changes. Much of what Millett created remains on the Sport Hornet of today, but much has also changed to become an SLSA and because it was the right thing to do. One major change was adding the Rotax 912 to the airplane, a bigger- than-usual challenge owing to the aft engine placement and the fact that Millett had designed the Hornet around less powerful (and lighter) engines. Pilots were asking for the more powerful Rotax 912. It became apparent that more extensive changes would be necessary to support such a powerful engine. Remember, the first Hornet flew well with a 52-hp Rotax 503 engine. While the Hornet team worked to achieve their SLSA status, they knew they'd have a tail-heavy airplane when they bolted on the big 912S engine. One solution was to move the battery to the furthest forward position possible. Even that isn't always enough. While it sounds counterintuitive - adding dead weight to a "light" sport airplane - ballast is sometimes needed to counter-balance that big 912 engine. Gaither said, "The majority of our customers [weigh] 200 to 210 pounds. Ballast is needed only when being flown solo by a lightweight pilot. Our Aircraft Operating Instructions (AOI) covers this process in detail." Higher Class engineers widened the cockpit 4 inches to accommodate these larger customers, a considerable effort requiring many engineering hours. But this allowed them to move the rear rudder pedals up about 6 inches to allow rear-seat occupants to wear boots and still work the pedals. Older Hornets seemed a bit tight for the aft person's feet with some concern of control interference. One major structural change included adding a second wing strut to control wing torsion (twisting) movements resulting from the additional power. Another driver in this structural engineering move was to eventually permit 1,320 pounds of gross load where Millett's Hornet could carry only 1,000 pounds. When the strut changes were made, dihedral was also added to make for a much more stable flying aircraft, according to longtime Hornet enthusiast Roger Chase. The original had almost no dihedral. Despite the greater stability, Chase says they lost no performance and improved handling qualities. "I don't know why Millett and I didn't do this sooner," Chase adds. Production SLSA Sport Hornets will have a 30-foot wingspan, differing from the 28-foot span production prototype Sport Hornet that I flew. This change will allow Higher Class to move up to 1,320 pounds of gross weight from 1,260 pounds as certified in '07. The increased span allows the Sport Hornet to meet the 52-mph Vso (clean stall) required of an SLSA at the heavier weight. The greater span and commensurately lighter loading will allow the Sport Hornet to maintain its current takeoff performance and climb rates, even at the heavier weight. Though frontal area will be greater, a higher aspect ratio has designers convinced more speed will result. The 2007 Hornet model with 1,260 pounds gross weight has 630 pounds of useful load, yielding 522 pounds of payload after 18 gallons of fuel are pumped onboard. This is plenty even for two big occupants. More weight capacity seems hardly necessary until you consider adding amphibious floats. The increase will also allow for a pod underneath the plane, providing some baggage area. "We can't add anything to the tail of this airplane," says Gaither. Available cubic volume aft of the rear seat cannot be used because of weight-and-balance reasons. For this evaluation flight, Chase and I flew at about 1,210 pounds, 50 pounds less than gross given the current certification for the Hornet. Preserving the Hornet While the changes made by Gaither and his engineer Mathew Gregory are substantial, much of the "new" Hornet remains as it was a decade ago when Millett first assembled his dream plane. The Hornet has always featured a robust aluminum airframe covered with Stits Poly-Fiber. Factory folks note that the fabric tensioning associated with this type of covering does not distort their wing due to its well-braced structure. Though not always using dual wing struts, dualspar wings have long been part of the airframe as has been the unique Hornet air spring (pneumatic) suspension on all three wheels. Millett's air bag system - not unlike that used on large trucks (though obviously on a lighter scale) - is comprised of three separate bags. Highly effective at damping landing loads, even during demonstrations where the plane is stalled from 8 or 9 feet up, no damage occurs. A student may not even be aware of how hard he or she landed. Working with the suspension system are custom hydraulic brakes, aluminum wheels, and large tires. Sport Hornet seats, molded of lightweight composite, are adjustable with 6 inches of travel. Aircraft-quality 4-point shoulder harness and seat belts are standard at both seats. And, working with the BRS parachute company, Higher Class has neatly integrated a vertically launching BRS model into the center wing section. But while the original Hornet barely met the ultralight trainer definition even with few accessories, Higher Class can equip a customer's Sport Hornet with several options, among them glass instruments front and rear. They also offer a joystick with six buttons to keep your flying hand where it ought to be. The joystick is topped with a 4-direction switch, which handles pitch and rudder trim; yes, it has both. Two buttons on both sides and just forward of the coolie hat operate the flaps, not rudder trim as I mistakenly thought. The left button deploys the flaps and the right switch retracts them. In my experience, the rudder trim has less effect - as it should - than the pitch trim. When factory pilots take off in this particular airplane, they use three-quarter right rudder trim, which eliminates most need for right pedal application. Hornet shares this quality with other pusher-engine aircraft. However, use of the rudder trim may not be needed in the future due to the reshaping of the vertical stabilizer. As I discovered entering slow flight, full extension of flaps consumes 8 seconds, the linear actuator's response time. In that time you can deploy 30° or retract them. The Hornet's electrically actuated flaps appeared to reduce stall speed by 8 mph. In the SLSA Sport Hornet you can have a choice of hand brake lever or toe brakes (a feature that endears the Sport Hornet to general aviation pilots). The owner of our test airplane is a big fellow, 6 feet, 5 inches and weighing 260 pounds. To ease his cockpit entry the hand brake lever was made shorter. Normally it would be longer with even better mechanical advantage, but I found it reasonably strong regardless. The throttle was moved well aft to provide more lateral space for its large owner, but this proved awkward. Most pilots will prefer a more forward placement of the throttle. When Higher Class installs computer screen instruments, Hornets will still get a few backup analog gauges. New Hornets will also see an upward tilted panel to improve readability, which will also provide a bit more knee room. Challenger pilots and those operating many other pusher ultralights know that when they exit their planes, the aircraft wants to sit on the tail due to the engine weight. In a Hornet, you can deploy a spring-loaded tail stand before you exit. In use, it hooks into a keyhole cut into the left rudder pedal. With the tail stand still deployed and connected to the rudder pedal you can't readily taxi as a safety feature. Millett's version of the Hornet had several unusual features. One was a brake lever built into the joystick. Certainly simple, this also took some acclimatization on takeoff. If you pulled back too far or too fast, you applied the brakes, bringing the nosewheel back down onto the ground and slowing you just when you were trying to accelerate. A more conventional brake lever with a parking brake lock on it is now standard, and, of course, you can elect to have toe brakes. Flight of the Hornet Longtime Hornet associate Roger Chase advised me that 75 mph is an optimal climb rate on takeoff. While most Hornets have them, Gaither says the lack of a trim indicator on the test aircraft led me to take off with the stick requiring a fair amount of backpressure as I attempted to rotate. Since the trim changes with downward movement of the horizontal stabilizer, I couldn't judge its position before takeoff. Fortunately, trim is very effective but you do need to use it. Chase further advised that best angle of climb is done at 69 mph, best rate at 75 mph, and en route climb is done at 86 mph. As is my practice, I performed a series of Dutch roll coordination maneuvers. Doing so, I found the controls a bit on the stiff side. Coordination between axes was generally acceptable, though I found I needed a bit more aileron than rudder input to make coordinated Dutch rolls. Once familiar with the Sport Hornet's controls, I measured roll rate in 45-to-45 reversals at 3 to 3.5 seconds. Steep turns executed at 5,200 rpm required considerable use of the pitch trim but once properly deployed, the Sport Hornet carved excellent circles even at 60° of bank. With other maneuvers, this confirms the Hornet's stable flying manners. Deploying full flaps, slow flight was easily achieved at about 52 mph. Control response was slower, of course, but still sufficiently authoritative. At maximum slow flight, I ran out of nose-up trim, but pitch pressures with full trim were light enough to easily control the Hornet. Remember, this particular airplane was set up for a pilot who weighs 100 pounds more than I. At 4,800 rpm, which Chase called "about 60% power," the Sport Hornet produced about 86 mph of cruise speed. On a high-speed run at maximum continuous power (5,500 rpm), I noted 116 mph going west and 97 mph when going east on the GPS, for an average ground speed of 106 mph. While not the GPS triangle one might use for calibrating true airspeed, it does give a good indication of performance. Higher Class is still evaluating props for the 100-hp Rotax 912S. They've had more experience with the 80-horse Rotax 912, which might be a more optimal choice, but customers want the higher power. Limited by the lower boom, the Hornet can use no more than a 58-inch prop. With an 18-gallon fuel supply as standard, the Sport Hornet can fly for up to 6 hours and travel 500 nautical miles without refueling. Updated Ultralight To win SLSA airworthiness for the Sport Hornet, Higher Class took the design farther than had Millett. For this achievement, Gaither credits young aerospace engineer Mathew Gregory aided by former SkyStar president Ed Downs along with experienced Hornet pilot, Roger Chase. The changes they made are both substantial and minor. For example, older Hornets had no airfoil shape to the vertical tail surface. Now the vertical stabilizer is shaped with a deeper curve on the left side to compensate for P-factor. Higher Class also added electric rudder trim, which is controlled via a joystick button set. In a power-on departure stall with the joystick full aft in the stall, I observed 46 mph on the Grand Rapids Technologies Engine Information System engine monitoring system. In several trials no stall break resulted. Accelerated stalls did not break either, though when done to the right the Hornet rolled to level. In all powered stalls, while climb decreased, it did not disappear completely. The Sport Hornet's pitch felt heavy enough in control that I relied on the very effective trim. Roll pressures required less effort. The 3-inch shortened stick to provide more room for the large owner of this aircraft colored some of my experiences with this particular Hornet. The standard longer stick with more mechanical advantage would be an improvement. When I made power changes, adding power produced a slow climb as expected. Reducing power from 5,200 to 3,000 rpm first caused a nose- up when the high thrust line was eliminated, but then the nose lowered gently in a correct response. Checking lateral stability to the left where P-factor aids coordination, the Sport Hornet held steady at 20° and 30° of bank; it did not tighten up in the turn. When I repeated the lateral stability check to the right, the turn tightened up gently. Pitch trim is actuated at the trailing edge of the horizontal stabilizer. The baseline position is set at the factory. Since it had been repositioned for a very heavy owner, it could be adjusted for a lighter pilot such as myself, which would regain full correct trim response. Catching Your Hornet Many industry leaders have been hearing from many pilots that fully built SLSA are priced out of their budgets. Despite the availability of consumer financing - with 20% down, reasonable interest rates, and long amortization periods - or even given the availability of partner ownership programs and agreements, some potential buyers are not buying because the full cost just seems out of reach. Into this dilemma flies Higher Class Aviation. At $49,995, the Sport Hornet is the lowest cost, fully built, fixed-wing SLSA available. Even if you want various options, a fully loaded Sport Hornet seems unlikely to exceed $60,000. Given the availability of financing over 20 years, this appears to put a well-equipped Sport Hornet within reach of the majority of pilots (approximately $12,000 down and $375 per month for 20 years, on approved credit). For the Sport Hornet's $49,995 price, buyers now get the 100-hp Rotax 912D (formerly you got the 80-hp version for this price), and the SLSA is equipped for day VFR flight. Standard instruments include an airspeed indicator, sensitive altimeter, vertical speed indicator, Grand Rapids EIS system; plus a 5-position ignition switch (off, left mag, right mag, both, start), master switch, flap switch, and trim switch. To bid the price up beyond $50,000 you can choose an optional BRS ballistic parachute system, Kuntzleman Electronics light kit, Grand Rapids Technologies Sport Pak EFIS, Becker radio/transponder, and PSI Engineering intercom. But for ultralight pilots or, more to the point, for ultralight Sport Pilot instructors, Higher Class has recently announced a Rotax 582-powered Hornet for only $40,000. If they can maintain this price, some of those woes about no ultralight trainers may disappear. Equipped for fun or equipped for serious cross-country flying, the Sport Hornet makes an economical purchase compared to any other Special- Light Sport Aircraft. And the 582 model is a positive bargain. Many ultralighters have been lamenting the lack of airplanes in which to train pilots who want to fly genuine Part 103-compliant ultralight vehicles. The Sport Hornet can now fill that need. And at only $40,000 in SLSA ready-to-fly form, it's also a bargain. Maybe you deserve a Higher Class of aviation?