The weather, big crowds, safe flying and airshow speed, action, and thunder combined to make Sun ‘n Fun 2014 one to remember. As reported in AVweb, top man John “Lites” Leenhouts was quoted, “We’re up 20 percent overall, as of Saturday night, over our average for the last 12 years.” As proof of crowds that seemed to grow to a crescendo, multiple long lines of people buying entry passes on Saturday caused ticket sellers to run completely out of Saturday one-day arm bands. They had to start using Friday arm bands to get everyone in who wanted to enter. Acts like the Blue Angels, “Fat Albert” — the Blue Angels C-130 Hercules support aircraft that did its own high-banking act — and a F-22 Raptor captured attention. When we drove off the grounds Sunday evening as airshows are normally winding down, we witnessed literally hundreds of people clustered outside the gates to watch the airshow.
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Super Petrel LS Is (Almost) the Newest SLSA
In the beginning … OK, a few years ago, FAA went around to a couple dozen LSA producers to evaluate the state of the then-new LSA industry. The agency teams did not conduct an audit, they emphasized. More intensive examinations, actual audits, followed in recent years. Last year the agency issued new guidance to help them and everyone else judge who really was and was not a manufacturer. If the need for such a definition surprises you, remember, the brave new world of Light-Sport Aircraft threw curves to government regulators, captains of industry, aircraft design geniuses, plus all we rank and file customers. Everyone learned a great deal as an entirely new sector of aviation was given birth … one, by the way, with a worldwide impact as more countries sign on to the ASTM standards method of assuring airworthiness. The LSA industry is now a few months away from its tenth birthday and the gears of production are beginning to mesh more smoothly than ever.
Simple Aircraft (Like LSA) Need Simple Rules
In this post I’m going to do something potentially risky. I am going to make some statements about the politics of aircraft certification. While rather dull, this subject is nonetheless something pilots and others feel rather strongly about as the safety of aircraft — for persons in or under aircraft — is involved. Doesn’t everyone except a handful of thrill seekers care deeply about safety? I certainly do yet I feel it’s time for some new directions. I fully expect not everyone will agree, but I feel strongly that these statements need to be made. So, here goes …
My term as Membership Secretary of ASTM’s F37 LSA committee will complete later this year; I will be term limited out. That’s perfectly fine … I’ve done my duty for several years. ASTM’s F37 committee is the group that wrote and updates the standards used to gain acceptance for Light-Sport Aircraft. F37 is populated by some exceptional people that are largely unsung heroes for all the hard work they’ve done with little recognition.
Electric Skyway — Flying GreenWing’s eSpyder
I was a little nervous, I admit. Oh, I wasn’t worried about flying the eSpyder as an airplane. Many years ago I logged plenty of hours in a Flightstar single place ultralight and this was essentially the same airplane. Except it wasn’t identical; this one was powered by an electric motor and it’s funny how that changes everything. Like most of you, I only have experience with gasoline engines (though I have logged many hours of soaring time with no engine whatsoever). So, I have the usual set of knowledge and reflexes about fuel consumption, engine noise, power settings, climb rates … and the sounds of all these things. It’s all different on an electric airplane. Much as I had awaited this opportunity, I found myself apprehensive about the new experience. I’ve had three two-stroke engines go silent on me and I simply didn’t know exactly what to expect from an electric motor.
Aero Friedrichshafen Video Bonanza
We were busy at Aero Friedrichshafen 2013, knocking out more than 30 videos for your viewing information and entertainment. That’s more than seven videos per day and a sum of more than five hours total running time (more than three Hollywood movies in minutes of viewing time). With these and all the videos shot at Sun ‘n Fun the week before Aero started, we expect to offer more than 300 videos on our LSA Video page. I’d like for you to understand how much effort that represents. I’d also like to thank BRS Parachutes, ICP North America, and Renegade Light Sport Aircraft for providing financial assistance to Lightsport and Ultralight Flyer. Without their support, these videos would not likely have been made.
Today, I uploaded more than a dozen new videos to ByDanJohnson.com. We have many more coming. The newest ones include • Introduction to Aero and what you’ll see • Tecnam’s aerobatic Snap • FlyEco’s Diesel engine • FK 51 replica Mustang • Yuneec’s electric-powered eSpyder • lightweight electric aircraft • Zlin’s customizable Bobber • ICP’s Savannah taildragger and new engine • BOT SpeedCruiser with D-Motor • BRM Aero’s Bristell taildragger • Phoenix Air’s electric-powered ePhoenix • Nando Groppo tri-gear and, • one from AirVenture 2012 on the Zenith CH-650.
LSA Industry On Life Support…ummm…Nah.
In a recent article from Flying Magazine, an editor volunteered his opinion that the Light Sport industry is on life support. There are so many good arguments to refute such a sky-is-falling assessment, it kind of makes you wonder why a respected journalist would go out of his way to attract a lot of heat in the first place … but that’s another story.
Dan Johnson makes a ton of solid rebuttal remarks in this article and in a video he did with UltralightFlyer.com — check those out.
Meanwhile, here’s a magnificent retort to the LSA-is-dead silliness: Airtime Aviation out of Tulsa, OK. Owners Tom Gutmann and his son Tom Jr. just delivered their Number 100 Flight Design airplane, a new CTLSi with a fuel injected Rotax 912 iS engine.
At Sebring I saw a bunch of installations of the new engine: it’s really catching on.
Grand LSA News Wrap-Up… Pre-Oshkosh
CESSNA’S DISCOVER FLYING
I met new business leader for the Skycatcher LSA, Tracy Leopold, at Sun ‘n Fun 2012 where she confirmed the Wichita giant’s support for their lightest aircraft, now being assembled in Independence alongside other Cessna models. As summer began, Tracy’s Skycatcher group amped up their game with a program called Discover Flying Challenge. *** After hiring eight university graduate flight instructors — plus a ninth to act as dispatcher — the team took off in all directions and will reunite again at AirVenture 2012. Meanwhile, the youthful team is visiting Cessna Pilot Centers and non-CPC FBOs plus fly-ins and air shows all the while doing what college grads do these days: updating Facebook and Twitter feeds and blogging about their activities. *** “We wanted to do something different, something that would get the attention of the next generation of pilots while at the same time getting the Skycatcher in front of the public,” explained Tracy.
PiperSport… A Return to Basics
Legacy Brand Enters the LSA Market
The U.S. Sport Aviation Expo held in Sebring, Florida, every January has become the place where new flying machines and other aviation products for the light aviation crowd are unveiled to the public. It’s exciting to start the year off with a bang, and understandably this show has drawn increasing crowds. Yet like all events, it has evolved.
In the Expo’s formative years, media attendance was fairly light. When a company called a press conference, they generated only a handful of reporters and photographers. In many ways the 2010 event revealed a new media attention to the Sebring show. For proof, you had only to attend Piper Aircraft’s opening-day press conference.
This is all the more surprising as Piper never before exhibited at Sebring. All that changed with the introduction of the newly rebadged PiperSport. When they took the wrapping off their new models, a large crowd of media folks and the general public pressed close to get a gander and hear Piper leaders speak.
Is “Spin Resistance” a Big Deal? Well, Yes!
On Memorial Day I had a chance to visit Icon Aircraft and spend some time with CEO Kirk Hawkins. We met seven years ago — just after the SP/LSA rule was released — near the beginning of his ambitions to create an entirely clean-sheet LSA amphibian.
*** Recently, Icon released the video appearing below to tout their spin resistant airframe (or SRA). Aviation and mainstream media jumped on this story and you may see other reports. I reported work toward this earlier and it’s been some time coming. Why the wait? From my first-hand experience with Cirrus Design and the development of their SR20, I have a bit of inside knowledge on this subject.
*** Cirrus also tried to grab the golden ring of SRA, as did their then-close competitor Columbia Aircraft (the two companies won their Part 23 Type Certificate within days of one another). Neither succeeded.
LSA Highlights from Sun ‘n Fun 2012
Whew! It’s over. Man, Sun ‘n Fun can be the busiest six days of one’s life… well, at least until the next one. In this survey article, I want to skim the very top of what I found interesting at the recently concluded show. Each highlight will get fuller coverage. Before starting, though, I owe a couple shout-outs. *** A huge, enormous thanks to Jim Lawrence who kept you up on a daily basis. Accomplishing that means long days shooting photos, interviewing personalities, and working into the night in a motel room with a crappy Internet connection. It may look easy and fun but only half that assessment is true (hint: it ain’t easy). *** Secondly, another thanks-a-million to UltralightNews, my video collaborator. I have the easy job; they will put in an enormous number of hours to edit and finish more than two dozen new videos that I’ll post here as each is done.
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