A Canadian design — the Pelican 700 — was reengineered into a SLSA by an American company — New Kolb Aircraft — and is being manufactured by a Brazilian company — Flyer Industria Aeronautica. Such international collaboration is becoming common. *** Kolb won approval for the Flyer SS in July (#87 on our SLSA List). Leading the SLSA project is Izek Therrien who said, “The master lines [of the Pelican] were kept. The fuselage was then rounded, enlarged and equipped with a new flight control system.” He reported 57 have been sold in South America and that a second Flyer SS will enter the USA in October.” *** Some SPLOG readers may be unfamiliar with the Kolb name, but this 30-year old brand has produced 3,000 of their popular models including the Mark III and the Kolbra. Every one until the Flyer SS has been a kit.
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Computers in the Cockpit; Digital Replaces Analog
Many website visitors ask about LSA avionics leadership. Indeed, ever since “steam gauges” gave way to glass screens, the players have changed. Analog instruments were made by many companies and became such commodities that you may not be able to name a brand. But as computers entered our cockpits, first via GPS and later with multi-function displays, brands became better known. *** For this mini-report, I’ll divide the new players into two groups: EFIS/EMS providers and GPS/radio providers. A third group will include autopilot builders and even newer gear like night vision systems. As I make some guesstimates about market shares, I acknowledge this is non-scientific. If you believe you have better information, please forward your comments. *** Among fully-built SLSA, it appears Dynon has the lion’s share of the digital instrument market (photo). They admit their biggest competitor remains analog gauges but in “glass cockpits,” the Washington state company appears to have the lead — estimated at 50-75%.
Strong Survive Tough Economy…Some Repositioning
We continue to see the effects of the last year of economic turmoil in Light-Sport Aircraft market shares. The chart accompanying this SPLOG tells the numbers as always presented, with total market share since the first deliveries in 2005 based on carefully-reviewed FAA registration data. The top twenty (of 70 total) producers still represent almost 90% of total SLSA registrations. For the record… registrations on FAA’s database are not the same as sales. Aircraft can be registered and not sold. Aircraft can be identified as sold yet no longer registered, for example, if removed from service due to a non-repairable crash. To get some idea of the work my associate Jan Fridrich does to collect this information, go look for yourself at FAA’s database. *** Remos continues its solid 2008 performance despite the troubled economy. In the 16-month period since January 1, 2008 the German brand is the leader with 73 units registered, followed by familiar names, in order: Flight Design 62; Tecnam 49; Czech Aircraft Works (see below) 44; Jabiru 32; American Legend 27; AMD 23; CubCrafters 22; Aeropro 14, plus Evektor and TL Ultralight at 12 each.
Sun ‘n Fun Finishes; Gorgeous Weather Sells Planes
REPORTING FROM SUN ‘N FUN — Early estimates from Sun ‘n Fun show total attendance down just slightly (between 5 and 10%) compared to April 2008. A year ago, sub-prime loans were the concern and few knew how difficult the following year would be. Measured by exhibitors, Sun ‘n Fun was also off last year’s all-time record of 522 but only by 4%. The best news included no serious accidents though a SportCruiser ran off the end of the Light Plane Area’s 1,400-foot runway. *** From my view in the LSA Mall positioned right at the main gate, crowds were especially thick on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday while serious buyers arrived early on Tuesday and Wednesday (following a common airshow routine evident the last few years). Airplane shoppers were plentiful though sales reports were uneven. Some, like Flight Design, FPNA, and Evektor, reported sales transacted in the first days of the show.
Lightning Fast; Arion Earns SLSA Before Sun ‘n Fun
After selling 40 aircraft under the Experimental Amateur Built (EAB) rule, Arion has now completed their SLSA approval just in the nick of time before the season-launching Sun ‘n Fun starts. Welcome to Lightning — SLSA #96 — from Arion Aircraft, which is our 69th company to enter production of Light-Sport Aircraft. *** Lightning got its start back when Jabiru-man Pete Krotje, his son Ben, plus Nick Otterback were dealers for the Spanish Esquale. That lead to the lovely low-wing Lightning though the design borrows from several light aircraft. It may sound like an organic development but the results are definitely worthy. I was highly impressed with a flight in an earlier EAB model, which did not have the speed limitations of LSA. “Extra wing area was added to bring wing loading and stall speeds into compliance with the applicable standards,” said Nick. *** Arion won approval on April 15, 2009.
Lighter-Than-Air… But Not An Airship
Research and practical applications are developing rapidly for electric-powered aircraft. Given my personal fascination, I’ll follow this regularly. So far, most electric power has been supplied by batteries — even in such as Flight Design’s hybrid aircraft engine unveiled at Aero 2009 However, that’s only one way to generate electric “fuel.” Hydrogen is another.
Forget fears of a Hindenburg airship exploding; even that fireball was likely precipitated by something other than hydrogen in the envelope (its paint is suspect). Today, the source is a relatively small tank of hydrogen (photo), supplied by companies like Messer which is sponsoring the work of Gerard Thevenot in creating his hydrogen fuel cell-powered trike.
Ultra-lightweight aircraft like trikes are a perfect platform for experimentation and Thevenot knows all about them. Gerard founded La Mouette, once the world’s largest producer of hang gliders. He’s highly inventive and well suited to such a project.
FK Lightplanes New Model; Offsetting Cirrus Stall
Most American pilots don’t recognize the brand FK Lightplanes, though many do know of one of their models. Cirrus Design based their celebrated entry into Light-Sport Aircraft upon the Fk14 Polaris. This lovely low wing looks enough like a Cirrus that the Duluth, Minnesota manufacturer selected it as their platform to offer what they called the SRS. *** The producer of the best-selling SR22 felt they needed to “Cirrus-ize” the Fk14, but now with the GA industry in sharp decline the company put the SRS project on hold to focus on their Vision jet (which sells for 10X more). *** Yet FK Lightplanes also builds a handsome high-wing model, which has gone through significant refinements in more than a decade on the market. “We’ll still make our Fk9 Mark 4 [the earlier model],” said company director Peter Funk, but his company is now launching the Fk9 ELA (as in European Light Aircraft), a version that more closely matches LSA specifications.
Heart of Texas LSA Expo Judged a Success
Exhibitor Chris Regis of Paradise USA (representing the P-1) reported “good visitor traffic” and “excellent organization” from the people behind the Heart of Texas LSA Expo. The new event, held over March 8 & 9 is one of two planned shows following the strong 2009 performance at the pioneer of LSA Expos, the Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo. *** Several reports reminded me of the 13-city Sport Pilot Tour held during 2005 and 2006. Each of those events drew 10-20 exhibiting LSA and attracted 300-700 people at locations across the USA. The numbers sound small to those enamored of the huge crowds at Oshkosh. But, in fact, the Sport Pilot Tour, with its focused marketing on LSA only, helped customers find the manufacturer they were seeking. Everyone who came was interested in LSA and a vendor could speak to nearly all of them.
Light-Sport Aircraft… Leading the Way Up?
Sebring was a welcome event for all who participated. Companies that stayed home may be wondering if that was the right move. With record crowds, airplane orders taken, and merchandise selling out, the Florida LSA show gave a welcome lift to a global aviation industry that’s been laying off workers by the thousands. But, besides the general good news I’ve been asked dozens of times, “What was new?” at the event. Here’s my list; details will follow in other SPLOG posts. Surely I’ll leave out some worthy aircraft (you’ll tell me, I hope, and I’ll include them). *** In no particular order…the well-proven RANS S-6 Coyote debuted as an SLSA; Urban Air’s newly certified Samba complements their lovely Lambada; FPNA’s amphibious Cape Town appeared on brand-new floats; Paradise delivered their first hand-control P-1; Remos debuted their GX 2009 with new gear and a redesigned interior; a year after its debut at Sebring ’08 CTLS displayed the first-ever Garmin 696 installation, while the avionics company announced their GDU 370 and 375 MFDs; Evektor showed their SportStar SL with a recontoured exterior; Tony and Adriel Anderson showed their Fk9 on new Baumann amphib floats; they’re teaming up for sales with Hansen Air Group, which also showed a production version of their new FA-04 Peregrine; Zenith Aircraft constantly demo flew the STOL CH-750, an upgrade from their popular 701; Cessna identified notable changes in the final Skycatcher design (a larger tail) and confirmed first deliveries in ’09; and, the K-10 from Ukraine-based Skyeton made its worldwide debut…and made a sale.
Modestly-Priced, Easy-Flying Challenger Series
For 21 Years, Quad City’s Challenger has proved a good choice.
It’s enough to create a serious case of envy among producers vying for the market the Challenger seems to own year after year. Even in 2003, a slow year for all aircraft manufacturers, Quad City Ultralight Aircraft pumped out another 120 kits. Most light-sport aviation companies would consider that an excellent performance. For Quad City, it was a down year!
The venerable company from the Quad Cities area of Iowa, near the Illinois border, has put more than 3000 aircraft in the air. Van’s Aircraft has done even better, and Quicksilver has more than 10,000 ultralights flying, but the Challenger is clearly one of the industry’s leaders. And the company has enjoyed the same leadership since it was founded more than two decades ago.
Despite this success, Quad City maneuvers rather quietly. Last year the company celebrated 20 years of operation, yet many ultralighters and most aviators were unaware of the accomplishment.
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