I was out in L.A. last week and had the distinct pleasure to hop a flight out of Santa Monica Airport, an old haunt of mine, with Flight Design USA‘s California sales rep, Karine Noel. *** Karine was a perfect hostess. She’s just set up shop to demo the company’s top-o’-market line of LSA. *** But she’s more than just another pretty face. *** Her GA chops include a stint flying for JetDirect Aviation and CFI/CFII, IFR and Commercial Multi ratings. *** That pedigree should prove a real asset when showing and translating the virtues and nuances of Light Sport flight to GA pilots, who often underestimate the sophisticated handling and performance of LSA. *** We launched in Karine’s CTLS demonstrator on a clear, cool morning, flew out over famed Malibu colony, then climbed to 5,000 ft over the wonderful Santa Monica Mts. to boat around at 120 knots for awhile.
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Flight Design… “Has a Map for That”
If you study FAA’s registration database as I do, you’ll quickly discover that Flight Design and its various CT models have a strong presence in the USA (the world for that matter, with 1,500 flying, according to the company). Since CT was first certified in April 2005 — the second LSA to win Special LSA certification, after Evektor’s SportStar — the German brand has steadily planted CTs across America. You can see a CT at more airfields than any other brand by more than double; the next closest is the American Legend Cub. *** The accompanying graphic was created by Flight Design USA to show the locations of more than 300 CT aircraft in the United States. The distribution is surprisingly even with obvious concentrations in big aviation states such as Florida, California, and Texas/Oklahoma with another area of strength in New England, home base of the U.S.
Launchin’ Hangar Flyin’ — C’mon for a Flight!
Greetings fellow LSA fans! *** Welcome to Hangar Flyin’ *** I’m Jim Lawrence, *** Light Sport Editor at Large *** We’re starting this blog so you’ll have a webby place for your questions, burning issues, rants (keep ’em clean) and for when you just feel like dropping by to stay in touch. We’re up, and we’re listening. *** Let us know how you feel about the LSA coverage in the magazine and here. Hope to see you in the skies this year. *** High and safe, *** Jim *** =================================================== *** To start things off right, here’s a couple shots of the bird I trained in: *** ——— the lovely Flight Design CTLS. *** It’s a wonderful example of the new wave of LSA machines: strong, responsive, comfortable, with great range, sturdy gear and real cross country legs with its 120 knot speed and 1000 mi range. *** Into the hangar before the next storm *** Sleek, pretty and sweet to fly… *** My flight instructor John Lampson.
Electric UL Getting Ready for Prime Time
Hungry for something new about electric flight, I swapped emails with Tom Peghiny yesterday. Tom’s the majordomo of Flight Design USA (top-selling CTLS LSA) and Flightstar (longtime maker of 3-axis control ultralights.) *** e-Spyder, the electric-powered single-seat ultralight he’s developing in congress with Yuneec, the powerhouse electric aircraft manufacturer that recently opened a 250,000 sq. ft. plant in China. *** Tom filled me in on the evolution of the production prototype. Denny Franklin, the Gyro Gearloose (i.e. intuitively brilliant) engineer and designer behind venerable designs such as the Drifter ultralight, is working up a longer wing with a sheared tip. *** Equally legendary hang glider sailmaker Steve Pearson of Wills Wing (top hang glider mfg.) is making a pattern for the new wing that will use a higher-camber airfoil than the first prototype. *** Wills will make the envelopes for the e-Spyder from a laminate covering material that’s 35% lighter than the 4 oz.
ZAP! Goes An Electric Record
More haps on the electric flight front: At Yuneec Aircraft’s new 250K sq. foot factory airfield in Shanghai, China, Gerard Thevenot, the pioneering French hang glider designer and pilot who blazed foot-launched trails starting in the 1970s, set an electric-flight endurance record in a Yuneec-powered hang glider. *** Flying his own trike design, the go-juice came from a new “longer version” of Yuneec’s Power Drive 10Kw motor system. The flight lasted 1 hour 16 minutes. *** The news here for LSA followers is the ongoing commitment Yuneec has to powering all types of light sport aircraft, from hang gliders, paragliders and trikes like Thevenot’s to the ongoing development of the e-430 two-seat LSA we’ve talked about this year in Plane & Pilot. *** According to Yuneec’s website, Thevenot reportedly made just a couple test flights, then jumped up and set the record. He’s hoping to increase the duration to 1 1/2 hours any day now.
Keeping Up With Flight Design
My former rock-and-rollin’ Sport Pilot flight instructor and flying buddy John Lampson and I took advantage of the gorgeous New England fall weather yesterday to sharpen up with a Flight Design CTSW thanks to another old flying pal, Flight Design USA prez Tom Peghiny. *** John and I revisited the spirited handling of the SW by jumping up to 3,000 feet and cruising through glass-smooth air over the lovely Connecticut and Massachusetts countryside, cloaked now in the gray wiskers of leafless trees. *** I also caught up with some of the latest developments for the company, including the new postage stamp released in China featuring the CTLS. *** The CT is the only LSA in the aviation stamp series, which also included GA aircraft from Cessna, Cirrus and Diamond. *** I wonder if President Obama is being made aware that private aviation is beginning to happen in China, as airstrips and infrastructure are being built all over the country for a burgeoning middle class that wants to fly.
New LSA Milestone; CT Delivers 300th
Sales are subdued all over aviation but it isn’t stopping the top performers in the Light-Sport Aircraft marketplace. As our last market share update illustrated, Remos, Tecnam, SportCruiser, and Jabiru have all done reasonably (or very) well in the last 18 months. Always among those contenders is longtime market share leader, Flight Design. *** Just a couple days ago (photo), eastern distributor Flight Design Mid-Atlantic delivered CT#300 to owner Kenneth D. Griffin of Southampton, New Jersey complete with his personalized tail number (N74KG)… interestingly, CT#200 also got a call sign identifying its owner. *** In the Something-for-Nothing Department: Flight Design will be giving away the first MC at AirVenture when EAA completes its 2009 Sweepstakes and awards some lucky person a brand-new design as well as a brand-new airplane. Big flight school and mail order house, Sporty’s, is giving away a 2010 Cessna Skycatcher.
Arriving from Shanghai…Electric Power Two Seater
Two Chinese delegates attended ASTM meetings in Freidrichshafen Germany in April, the first time the nation has been represented. Those reps indicated they believed ASTM acceptance in China may not be far off. Meanwhile, Shanghai-based Yuneec company is moving forward, and upward. *** Yuneec’s E430 will be featured at AirVenture along with a distinctly American design: the Flightstar Spyder (single place, Part 103-capable ultralight) fitted with a Yuneec electric motor. *** Using a 6-battery setup on their two seater, E430 expects 1.5-2 hours of flight and with such an installation, payload is a respectable 400 pounds even with a 45-foot wing span. A 10-battery setup may fly 2.25-2.5 hours. A video gives a hint to the sound level (turn your speakers up loud). *** Yuneec International announced, “The E430 is a twin seat, single engine, LSA class aircraft designed to be simple to use, easy to fly and with virtually zero vibration.
Avemco Offers “Favored Rates” for Selected SLSA
REPORTING AFTER SUN ‘N FUN — Not as exciting as a perfect landing, insurance is nonetheless a vital component of flying. For the most part: no insurance/no flying. And, as we’ve seen play out on the national stage with AIG (though not the aviation division) insurance is anything but assured when it comes to even giant companies failing. When you pay thousands of dollars per year as one expense of your flying, you want to know your company will be around to cover any loss. *** Avemco says it is the largest direct insurer — meaning they deal insurance company to owner without a middleman. They also report receiving an A+ rating for 25 consecutive years from A.M. Best, the insurance rating agency. Yet it gets much better. *** At Sun ‘n Fun Avemco president, Jim Lauerman announced “favored rates” for selected Special Light-Sport Aircraft (see photo caption).
Terrafugia Escapes Terra Firma on First Flight
Massachusetts-based Terrafugia announced today the first flight of its proof of concept Transition “roadable aircraft.” The maiden flight occurred on March 5th and followed six months of static, road, and taxi testing. Transition made its first escape from Earth at the Plattsburgh, New York airport, flown by retired Air Force colonel Phil Meteer who reported, “Transition flew like a really nice airplane.” *** Terrafugia said their Transition can cruise 450 miles at 115 mph and can drive at highway speeds on the road. Designers say it fits in a standard home garage. Transition uses front wheel drive on the road; both ground and flight modes are powered by the 100-hp Rotax 912S. Terrafugia CEO Carl Dietrich said that transforming Transition from plane to car takes the pilot a mere 30 seconds. Then you can drive your airplane off the airport to a local gas pump and fill up at a substantial discount to 100LL avgas (see inset photo of Dietrich at gas station).
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