Beringer Aero USA announced an expansion of the French company’s U.S. presence on what they call “The Last Frontier.” Known for its best-in-class wheels, brakes, and related components, Beringer opened an office at the Birchwood airport in Alaska to wide their network and offer customer support.
Alaska is an airplane lover’s state. Reportedly one in 50 residents of the largest American state are pilots, compared to around one in 650 in the “lower 48.”
No wonder really, as the vast state has only a handful of roads and most of them are in Anchorage or en route to Fairbanks. The rest of the enormous state is largely accessibly only by aircraft.
“The Alaskan Landing Gear and a complete range of wheel and brake systems are nearing certification and will be available to all Cub owners and pilots soon,” announced Beringer. “Our wheel and brake kits raise the level of safety thanks to efficient and progressive braking action combined with the strong and reliable design of the wheels.” Weight savings comes as an added bonus, the company said.Beringer Conquers the “Last Frontier” — Putting the Brakes on Alaska
Beringer Aero USA announced an expansion of the French company’s U.S. presence on what they call “The Last Frontier.” Known for its best-in-class wheels, brakes, and related components, Beringer opened an office at the Birchwood airport in Alaska to wide their network and offer customer support.
Alaska is one of the most aviation-friendly locations on Earth… partly as they are so dependent on aircraft for transportation.
Alaska is an airplane lover’s state. Reportedly one in 50 residents of the largest American state are pilots, compared to around one in 650 in the “lower 48.”
No wonder really, as the vast state has only a handful of roads and most of them are in Anchorage or en route to Fairbanks. The rest of the enormous state is largely accessibly only by aircraft.
“The Alaskan Landing Gear and a complete range of wheel and brake systems are nearing certification and will be available to all Cub owners and pilots soon,” announced Beringer. “Our wheel and brake kits raise the level of safety thanks to efficient and progressive braking action combined with the strong and reliable design of the wheels.” Weight savings comes as an added bonus, the company said.
“The kits also come with a pressure regulator ALIR® to prevent the plane from nosing over and help keeping a perfect line at landing,” added Beringer. This makes even more sense in Alaska where short and difficult runways are commonplace and where help may be a long way off.
Beringer, know for great ideas like their groundloop-proof tailwheel has innovated again on the latest development phase of the Alaskan Landing Gear. The 13 inches of travel allow the gear to absorb a vertical speed impact of 700 feet per minute while staying below 3G load factor, while also providing favorable ground handling characteristics, the company explained.
“This best-of-both-worlds combination is accomplished using the new anti-roll system that provides a solid feel during taxi in all conditions including stout cross-winds and tricky side hills” said Beringer. That sounds perfectly suited to those challenging strips that Alaska calls runways.
Yet Beringer added that “while taxiing, the gear provides [only] 2 inches of travel,” which they say is comparable to the travel of the standard Cub bungee gear.
Find our more technical details by contacting Chief Engineer, Lukas Stutzer at 206-771-6329 (+33 492 201 619 in Europe) or by writing Lukas@beringer-aero.com.
Regular air show attendees may know Claire Beringer better. She is sales and customer support director, and can be reached at 920-509-1814, (Europe: +33 492 201 619) or by emailing to Claire@beringer-aero.com.
The following video shows off the Alaska Landing Gear quite well with beautiful scenery.
Beringer Aero USA announced an expansion of the French company’s U.S. presence on what they call “The Last Frontier.” Known for its best-in-class wheels, brakes, and related components, Beringer opened an office at the Birchwood airport in Alaska to wide their network and offer customer support.
Alaska is an airplane lover’s state. Reportedly one in 50 residents of the largest American state are pilots, compared to around one in 650 in the “lower 48.”
No wonder really, as the vast state has only a handful of roads and most of them are in Anchorage or en route to Fairbanks. The rest of the enormous state is largely accessibly only by aircraft.
“The Alaskan Landing Gear and a complete range of wheel and brake systems are nearing certification and will be available to all Cub owners and pilots soon,” announced Beringer. “Our wheel and brake kits raise the level of safety thanks to efficient and progressive braking action combined with the strong and reliable design of the wheels.” Weight savings comes as an added bonus, the company said.
News from the Paris Air Show probably does not interest you too much, unless you care about the airliner you will fly in eight years from now. However, one article caught my interest because of a few references. (The article I found is available 
Additionally, SureFly is not on the market yet and when (if?) it does arrive, it might be lots more expensive.
• Early models will be pilot-operated, according to the Vertical magazine article. The goal is to introduce future models featuring autonomous flight capable of carrying payloads of up to 400 pounds. To my view, every developer needs to speak to “autonomous flight” if they want to gain media coverage or raise big buck investments.
“Lot of guests will arrive all long the day by plane but the party will officially start at 8 p.m. with the visit of the new facilities, a photoBooth on flying topics, a Beaujolais culinary discovery, a cocktail dinner, a music DJ, and some animations throughout the night,” said DUC representatives.
The good news is, DUC props are available in the USA thanks to 
SportairUSA lists some of your choices in props from DUC.
Entering is simple with its widely front-opening canopy; you step on the solid floor and sit. Canopy optics were superb and you have 270-degree visibility thanks to rear quarter windows.
A 100-hp Rotax 912 AirMax moves SeaMax easily on land or water. My experience on the water at 45 mph showed SeaMax to be a great little speedboat. Turning in this configuration employs the water rudder, which extends from inside the air rudder. You use opposite aileron to keep from sticking a sponson too deeply in the water.
Climbout at 70 mph produced about 1,000 fpm initially. SeaMax sustained climb at about 700 fpm with 10 degrees of flaps.
Stalls were mild in my trials. From most entries, stalls appeared to break benignly in the low 40 mph range though the factory says 36 mph with optimal flaps. Longitudinal stability checks and power changes showed SeaMax to be a generally stable aircraft; it recovered from mild disturbances of the stick on its own and with only a few oscillations.
Sonex
So, I got excited when I read the Sonex Aircraft announce the new Xenos B-Model. You can order a Xenos-B now, kits are shipping, and, earlier purchasers may wish to check out the 
Adam Yang, the CEO of 
Adam expressed, “I am grateful for all the people who supported the endeavor to make Searey a strong manufacturer of the fun, practical and safe aircraft including employees, customers, contracted professionals, distributors, suppliers, local government officials, pilots, instructors, Searey enthusiasts and their family members. Without everybody’s efforts and selfless support, it would have been absolutely impossible to achieve what we have today.”
Flying light aircraft to Cuba seems to be a kind of new normal. Whatever the politics of the relations between governments, the fact remains that pilots enjoy using their aircraft and want to fly to interesting destinations. To many, Cuba is one of those places, a reasonably short flight from the USA… albeit over a stretch of mighty ocean.
Starinsky and Schrade saw the rally as an opportunity to forge new relationships and take the first steps in revitalizing the once vibrant general aviation community in Cuba. They also sought to commemorate the first aviators to make the crossing from the Florida Keys to Cuba. “Rivals Domingo Rosillo del Toro and Augustin Parla accomplished the feat of the longest flights over water in May 1913,” said Cruiser Aircraft.
Like del Toro and Parla, the Cruiser team faced unfamiliar and possibly treacherous circumstances. This was a new experience for the pilots.
After a three-day visit in Havana, the Cruiser team returned to Florida clearing customs at KEYW before returning home to North Perry Monday on May 22.
Both these companies are to be congratulated for advancing the light aircraft field, but one aircraft really lit this space on fire: 
Thanks to those flight qualities, one was pressed into scientific survey service in a difficult environment. Russian biologists sought an aircraft to conduct surveys of wildlife populations along the Northeastern Russian Coast, above the Arctic Circle. George V. Kirtaev ordered a SuperSTOL kit from Just Aircraft in the summer of 2015. Russia allows homebuilts to be constructed, certified and flown in their airspace.
Wing slats combined with large surface area Fowler flaps allow the aircraft to be flown at extremely high angles of attack, permitting it to drop into small or inclined clearings. This provides access to considerably more off-airport landing sites, making the SuperStol one of the most versatile backcountry machines available. With the new wing configuration, Just Aircraft said the aircraft can cruise at 110 mph, land at 32 mph, and take off or land with as little as 150 feet of runway …or maybe a lot less.
Just Aircraft offers several SuperSTOL engine options including the original 
Wind blows across the dunes here in Nags Head in a way that first drew the Wright Brothers 114 years ago. Indeed, a couple miles north a memorial commemorates the famous bicycle shop owners who made history in this breezy outpost on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
Fun abounds and no wonder. “Spec” is sponsored by Kitty Hawk Kites supported by other local businesses. Kitty Hawk — Nags Head — the Outer Banks… this is a major tourist haven. Mile upon mile of beach houses are rented to millions of tourists from all over the east cost.
Powered aircraft pilot might not think this appeals to them. That’s understandable. Yet those of us who spent years in hang gliding can attest to the good times this kind of flying provides. More than any other aircraft, a hang glider comes closest to delivering the childhood fantasy of your arms as wings. Angels of the sky? Maybe, but if you fly, you know the enjoyment going aloft can bring; sand dune hang gliding is another fine way to enjoy the air.
Now consider Equator Aircraft P2 Xcursion, an electric hybrid seaplane with several compelling ideas. I wrote about this in 
Does any aviator in the country not know the name 
“This is the time of year when we go all out by offering spectacular discounts on our most popular products and provide a chance for our loyal customers to meet our vendors,” said Aircraft Spruce representatives. You might even win a free AvMap Engibox.
Rotax Aircraft Engines
BRM has been flying a prototype aircraft with the 915 iS engine installed. Their preliminary flying shows some solid results.
Mainstream media outfits exploded with news of Google’s flying car. Although such news outlets rarely seem to notice recreational aviation other than when an accident occurs, the reports I read did a respectable job of covering flying car projects we already knew about (reported 
Funded by Google founder, Larry Page — an uber rich tech personality — Kitty Hawk is not simply an exploratory project. They actually plan to sell this cool little rig. Flyer is an open-seated, 220-pound empty weight octocopter with seat (saddle?) for one person. Powered by eight battery-powered propellers, it is a man-carrying drone for sport flying.
