A couple days ago I promised to follow up on the Paris Green Air Show so here we go. *** The show is held (2010 is the 2nd year) at the Musee Air + Despace, at Le Bourget airport, the field where Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis and where the huge Paris Air Show takes place every other year (next up in 2011). *** It’s mission statement is implicit from the phrase on the evocative splash drawing: “L’aviation du futur”. It took a bit of digging and some web translations to find out more about the show that Gizmag first posted about the other day. *** The explosion of imaginative designs and concepts at the show is staggering: very much like the first years of aviation after 1903. Dirigibles large and small, including man-powered balloons; aircraft engines with zero CO2 emissions; aircraft powered by electric, solar and hydrogen fuel cell engines; noise and pollution reducing sustainable development concepts for airports, runways and aircraft “villages.” All in all, quite a hoot; I’d love to go to the next one.
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Phoenix Correction
Whoopsie. In my last post on the Phoenix motorglider, I had some incorrect info that Jim Lee set me right on, so here’s the skinny. *** Urban Air USA, which Jim represented and which imported and marketed the Lambada motorglider is being purchased, he said, “with plans to return the Samba XXL (composite low wing SLSA) and Lambada (SLSA motorglider) to production.” *** Jim also notes Phoenix Air S.R.O. and his Lee Aviation LLC, dba Phoenix Air USA, are completely different companies with no relationship to Urban Air. *** Also, I’d mentioned Evektor’s new direct-sale program, but Mr. Lee also noted that Evektor is still working out the details and may not do direct sale ops but some other program instead. *** I’ve got queries into the Czech company and will update once I hear. *** Thanks for the clarifications, Jim!
SeaMax Illustrates a Point About Niche LSA
One of the oft-repeated questions about this new thing called Light-Sport Aircraft is: “When will the shakeout occur? When will some of these 75 companies [who certified a SLSA] disappear… and which ones will fail?” *** First, my ability to see the future is no better than anyone else. We’ve lost a few suppliers (Taylorcraft, Urban Air, Spain’s CAG, Higher Class). But as a longtime observer of many sport aviation segments, here’s my view: (1) The current market leaders — the top dozen or so — will likely remain as they’ve already proven themselves. Remember, many overseas brands have world markets so they don’t rely 100% on U.S. sales. And should they fail, it will most likely be due to business practices, not their aircraft design. A few newcomers will enter the top ranks, including such legacy brands as Cessna (which has presently delivered so few Skycatchers that the giant manufacturer is not yet in the Top 20).
The Second (Chantz) Around
Just out of a 3-day stomach bug sick bed, I must still be a bit delirious ’cause that old Sinatra tune, “Love is wonderful, the second time around” keeps winding through my fuzzy brain. *** No doubt I’m subconsciously morphing into music the news I got yesterday from old hang gliding pal and ultralight/light sport entrepreneur John Dunham that he’s back, in the biz he made so successful in the ’80s – Second Chantz Aerial Survival Equipment. *** His company sold more than 4,000 ballistic recovery systems when it was in operation, and has documented more than 70 saves worldwide. *** You can read all the gore-y details on John’s blog linked above but a brief bio must include his deep hang gliding/ultralight/LSA background as pilot, test pilot, instructor and savvy manufacturer/businessman from the early ’70s. He’s an all-around talent, this guy! *** John’s Flight Design West biz in Nevada marketed several LSA including the Flight Design CT and the lovely (and we hope soon-to-be-resurrected) Lambada motorglider.
Watt’s Up!
Getting ready for Oshkosh, and my first in-person look at an exciting new electric airplane which you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the months ahead. *** The Yuneec International E430 electric-powered two seater is in Phase 2 test flight mode. *** The bird is fitted with a 54 hp electric motor that weighs only 37.5 lbs., uses six lipo (lithium polymer) batteries and is capable of 1.5 to 2 hours of flight. *** And that’s with a 400 pound payload! A 10-battery configuration should bring duration to 2.5 hours. The sleek highwinger sports a 45-foot wingspan. Could that mean motorglider cred too? It gives the LSA a 25:1 glide ratio. Handling in strong winds could be a challenge with that wing and V-tail, but we’ll have to wait and see. *** Should motorgliding be enabled in future, perhaps with a folding prop, restarts would be a breeze.
Aero-Lite Revisited
[UPDATE fall 2009 — Aero-Works left the business several years ago (though in late 2009, originator Terry Raber said he will return to production). Meanwhile, producer Wings of Freedom has begun work on the Phoenix-103, a derivation of the Aero-Lite 103 but with numerous small changes.
This article refers to the aircraft built by AeroWorks and will not be identical to the Aero-Lite 103. The companies are different and Terry Raber has no association with Wings of Freedom.
In the uncertain “new world of Sport Pilot,”
one thing remains exactly as it was – FAR Part 103. While new rules and regulations may shake the ground under the feet of ultralight pilots, Aero-Works continues to produce their popular AeroLite 103. If you build it carefully, you can still enjoy a twin-cylinder ultralight with lots of features that fits Part 103.
Even airline pilots who normally fly under smothering regulations appreciate FAA’s simplest, least intrusive rule, Part 103.
Cumulus
Authorship Note: Although most pilot reports on ByDanJohnson are…well, by Dan Johnson, this one is not. Our great friend, Dave Higdon, created this flight review and we appreciate his willingness to let us portray it.
The article represents the Cumulus originally made by the first US Aviation, whereas today, the kit is being supplied by Ultralight Soaring Aviation LLC. [Nov. 2008]
Sailplanes, hang gliders and motorgliders suffer in “demonstration mode.” They can’t do what rivets the attention of the crowds: roaring takeoff runs that transition into steep best-angle climbs to pattern altitude before crossing the runway’s departure end.
Published in Light Sport and Ultralight Flying
Cross-country LSA
Motorglider Soars and Cruises
Cross-country LSA
It may look like a motorglider or
even a sailplane, as the Lambada
is exceptionally clean and sleek
with long, slender wings. But the
Lambada is also a first-class touring
machine in the LSA category.
Recently, Urban Air USA demo pilot
and gliding expert Jim Lee flew a
Lambada from Melbourne, Florida, to
Moriarty, New Mexico. His mission
was to conduct a series of demo
flights for the newly certified motorglider.
Total statistics for the Melbourne-to-Moriarty run prove the efficacy of a
motorglider LSA. Total distance, 1,550
nm; total time en route, 16.2 hours;
average ground speed, 96 knots (110
mph); fuel usage, 57 gallons 100LL;
fuel consumption rate, 3.5 gph at
5,000 rpm. The Lambada could have
used 87-octane regular auto gas, had
it been available, and the motorglider
would have burned slightly less fuel.
¡°In an age of $3-a-gallon auto gas and
with 100LL reaching $6 a gallon,
cruising the country in a long-gliding
Lambada looks pretty good,¡± indicates
Urban Air USA importer, Joe Bostik.
Lambada’s Choice
Motor Along Economically
Not all light sport aircraft (LSA) are made alike.
You probably knew that already, but consider
the Lambada. This sleek composite 2-seat
shoulder wing is part airplane, part glider and it has
the interchangeable wing tips to prove it.
For a soaring enthusiast like myself, flying the
Lambada gratified a desire I’ve had for years, since I
first saw the Urban Air design at a German airshow. On
January 9, 2008, I went aloft in a Lambada with Josef
Bostik – a former U.S. National Champion hang glider
pilot turned airline captain – at Wallaby Ranch, an
iconic hang glider park in Central Florida where hang
gliders are towed aloft behind specially built ultralights.
The particular Lambada I flew bore N-number
N109UA. Bostik indicated that 108 other Lambada
aircraft are flying around the world, though the
one I flew is the first ’08 model to pass ASTM standard
certification.
Big Crowds at the Sun ‘n Fun LSA Mall
Sun ‘n Fun 2008 is history, but planning is already underway for the 2009 event. Event boss John Burton confirmed we will again have the LAMA-hosted LSA Mall right at the front gate next April 21-26. A major success at this year’s Lakeland, Florida airshow, the industry Mall presentation featured 17 Special Light-Sport Aircraft. Weather prevented Fantasy Air’s Allegro from attending. Two days before the event, a tornado crushed a Sting S3 planned for display. And work at Quicksilver Manufacturing postponed the exhibit of the GT500 (they’re finishing SLSA approval, reports national sales manager, Todd Ellefson). *** The 17 who were in the ’08 LSA Mall enjoyed significant traffic all week and virtually every visitor to Sun ‘n Fun was at least exposed to Light-Sport Aircraft in a wide variety (although we were not able to enlist any trike or powered parachute companies).
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