“After a long winter and spring dodging the Utah weather,” SkyCraft Airplanes announced that their SD-1 Minisport, “has completed flight testing successfully, meeting all the performance requirements needed for SLSA Certification.” The Orem, Utah company reported, “The plane was found to have good longitudinal and latitudinal stability and exhibited no issues with flutter, vibrations, or dangerous stall/spin tendencies.” SkyCraft representatives said they were able to verify the performance specifications for the SD-1 achieved by its Czech designers (see video below for a performance hint using a European aircraft). SkyCraft said that following the flight test regimen, they posted updated specifications on the Minisport page.
Minisport has been flying in Europe since 2007 when the airplane and company were created by designer Igor Spacek. The U.S. team first contemplated a kit aircraft — SD-1 Minisport is constructed significantly of wood making it a great project for some craftsmen — but later elected to go the fully-built Special LSA route.
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Icon Confirms Vacaville, California for Production
I have been following Icon Aircraft closely since I first met top gun Kirk Hawkins on the EAA Sport Pilot Tour back in 2005. Then he was one man with a business card and a dream. In the nine years following, Icon has become, well … an icon of light aviation. Almost everybody knows this (yes, I’ll write it) iconic company and their eye-catching A5 LSA seaplane. The southern California company reports more than 1,000 people have put down deposits. The first in line have been waiting quite some time to hear when their airplane will be built and now the company confirmed what we’ve reported earlier: they selected Vacaville, California to be their main production location — although component production will occur under the watchful eyes of successful GA builder, Cirrus Design, way up in North Dakota.
“After several years and an extensive nationwide search, I’m excited to announce that Vacaville and Solano County will be the new home of Icon Aircraft, Inc.,” reported CEO Hawkins.
Flight Design Expands to Accommodate Growth
Since the beginning of Light-Sport Aircraft almost ten years ago — this summer at EAA AirVenture, the SP/LSA sector will celebrate its tenth anniversary with special functions — Flight Design has continuously led the fleet size statistics as seen in our market share charts. In recent years, along with most other LSA manufacturers, a tough global economy slowed the enterprise. However, as 2013 began to show renewed sales activity and with positive forecasts for 2014 and 2015, Flight Design and many other of the LSA “majors” have been again growing their staff, inventory, and physical facilities. Recently the German company sent photos of its new quarters in Kamenz (pronounced like “commons”) in eastern Germany almost directly north of Prague in the Czech Republic.
Most senior staff moved from the company’s Stuttgart, Germany base to the new facility and the Light-Sport models including the CT series and more are now housed in a spacious hangar on an airport.
Sunseeker Duo … Ultimate Solar Electric Aircraft?
Years ago when we were just getting started in our flying careers, one fellow I paid attention to was Eric Raymond. Eric was a very talented hang glider pilot who strove to fly in the highest performing aircraft … at that time the Manta Fledgling, a “fixed wing” hang glider with a category leading glide angle in those days. (Today’s “flex wing” hang gliders significantly surpass the Fledge’.) Eric was also a daring aerobatic hang glider pilot long before most folks knew you could fly a hang glider in that manner. In other words he’s been a leading edge pilot for a long time. In recent years he’s been flying an all electric, solar-boosted glider across Europe. Yet he remained restless, seeking the very most he could do with electric power, which as most readers know, is still in the rapid development, not-quite-ready-for-market stage. Thanks to Flight Design USA boss Tom Peghiny for alerting me to Raymond’s latest progress.
Van’s Confirms 2014 Production of RV-12 SLSA
We’ve seen “legacy” general aviation builders depart the Light-Sport Aircraft scene. The reasons are varied but certainly this is highly competitive space with frequent innovations applied and clean-sheet designs emerging like clockwork (more than one per month for ten straight years!). Once a company becomes accustomed to the profits turbines and jets can generate, small piston aircraft looks like a lean market. However, as one major name exits another arrives. A year and a half ago at AOPA’s last Palm Springs, California Summit, Van’s Aircraft announced their entry to Special LSA through an arrangement with Synergy Air. It was something of a toe in the water for the large kit builder. To no one’s surprise, they sold out immediately. After spinning up operations to build and deliver the first batch, Van’s and Synergy evaluated and chose to continue onward with building ready-to-fly airplanes.
Dick VanGrunsven, founder of Van’s Aircraft, Inc., and Wally Anderson, head of Synergy Air, recently announced that production of the RV-12 SLSA will continue in 2014.
Slings from Down Under Airplane Factory
Welcome to summertime … in December, just after Christmas?!? True, down under in Australia or partway around the southern hemisphere in South Africa, weather patterns are roughly opposite of those in the northern half the globe. While it is presently cool or cold where many readers live, perhaps it is of interest to take a tour of a down-under manufacturer, in this case South Africa’s The Airplane Factory (TAF), designer and manufacturer of the Sling series of Light-Sport Aircraft, four seat models — some built ready to fly and some kits. In case you may have forgotten, the two seat Sling that now qualifies as a LSA was bravely flown around the world shortly after it was introduced by partners and frequent very long distance pilots Mike Blythe and James Pitman.
TAF’s American representative is The Airplane Factory USA. The California-based importer’s main main, Matt Litnaitzky, recently visited his supplier, snapping photos and giving us some additional insight to the organization behind the Sling series.
Aero Adventure: Kit Seaplane Company’s New Factory
The city of Tavares, Florida ought to be feeling good about their effort to become their adopted name: America’s Seaplane City (FA1). The city built a fine facility and seaplanes are using it. Yet the strongest measure of their success may be that the city, located about 45 minutes northwest of Orlando, has attracted not one but two seaplane manufacturers. I’ve written about Progressive Aerodyne and their SeaRey several times. We’ve done video with Aero Adventure since Alex Rolinski took over the operation. Recently, we were hosted by Alex Gutierrez as we paid a visit to their new factory following a laborious move from Rockledge, Florida to Tavares.
In 2013, this a tale of two men named Alex and a familiar brand in the light kit arena. The longtime friends got together in central Florida after Alex R purchased the rights, designs, and inventory of Aero Adventure.
Quick, say “Octodecacopter”…and Welcome the Future
It’s premature if not off the point to say this exotic, beautiful prototype will be the death of the helicopter. I will flat out make a prediction: a whole new type of flight is here … and it will change everything … and I mean everything about how we fly.
I was musing the other day, while catching up on the latest multi-rotor RC model technology with which to populate my Christmas wish list, about how long it would take before we saw a serious effort to build a human-carrying version. Clearly I was way behind the buzz curve: talk about instant gratification! E-volo of Karlsruhe, Germany has just made a lightspeed leapfrog over pretty much every other vertical takeoff/landing design or project I’ve heard about. The gamechanger: the just-maidened VC200 Volocopter. Watch the video, then read on. This project and others like it is going to change flight as we know it, make no mistake.
Flight Report: UL Power 350 in the S-7S
Rans designer Randy Schlitter is one of those restlessly creative types. Many aviators are aware he’s created twenty airplane designs and these are not all variations on a theme. While a few are based on another, several are completely fresh approaches. Way back when, we used to joke about the Rans design-of-the-month club, so often did he emerge at an airshow with somethings we’d never seen. If that’s not enough he’s also been making bicycles for a few decades. (My wife and I each ride one and love them.) He runs Rans Aircraft and Rans Bicycles as side-by-side enterprises. Still not content, Randy does a bit of writing and has produced some artwork. My advice for most folks: don’t try to keep up. Randy is likely to leave you far behind. So, when I saw an installment of his “Into the Flight” series — this one after flying one of his S-7 Couriers with a UL Power 350 engine installed — I asked if I could reprint it here.
New Manufacturer of Electric Aircraft
Once upon a time the light aircraft industry announced new manufacturers and models at the rate of two, three, or even more every month …for several years. As with every maturing industry before, this torrid pace had to slow. Yet the party isn’t over, far from it. Contrarily, I am aware of several new projects in the works and we all know of some (Icon, Terrafugia, Lisa among others) where companies have been working on their designs for some years but they have yet to secure FAA approval as a Light-Sport Aircraft. Neither has GreenWing International, a new company announced this week though that may change quickly enough.
“Yuneec International, a world leader in electric power systems, is proud to announce the formation of GreenWing International, [which is] entirely focused on bringing the revolution of electric power to the global general aviation market,” announced company CEO Tian Yu. Enthusiasts following electric powered aircraft development first saw Yuneec’s e430 at AirVenture 2009.
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