We continue with further coverage from the first major airshow in almost two years… THANKS to Sun ‘n Fun 2021 for helping present these interesting aircraft and more.
This article has news …about two aircraft in a category I refer to as “alternative aircraft” …about an easily-mounted autopilot you can actually afford …and the success story of a French prop maker now well established in the USA.
Alternative aircraft is my umbrella term for weight shift aircraft (trikes), powered parachutes, gyroplanes, carriage-equipped powered paragliders (not the same as powered parachutes), Light-Sport motorgliders, and Light-Sport Lighter-than-Air flying machines. These unorthodox, not-mainstream aircraft have maintained a steady share of sales; around 100 new such aircraft enter the U.S. market every year.
Counting all types, the “alternative aircraft” sector may account for a quarter or more of all LSA sales. Alternative aircraft have attributes that drive customer inquiries: better affordability and unique flying qualities.
Search Results for : CT AND hand control
Not finding exactly what you expected? Try our advanced search option.
Select a manufacturer to go straight to all our content about that manufacturer.
Select an aircraft model to go straight to all our content about that model.
Sun ‘n Fun 2021 / Day 1 — Charged with Excitement …Battery Electric Aerolite 103 Is Flying Now!
For years I’ve said that of all aircraft to succeed with battery electric flight, the first truly usable, enjoyable aircraft would be a Part 103 ultralight. I’ll list several reasons below but the aircraft you see in these images is already flying with electric propulsion and you can get on the list now.
U-Fly-It boss Dennis Carley said they are working on a name. For now, I’ll call the new entry the Electric Aerolite 103 and this machine is ready for market. A few customers already offered payments to get in line (more on that below, too) and one man wrote a check for an Electric Aerolite even while he keeps flying his gasoline-powered Aerolite. How’s that for a vendor’s dream?
Are you ready for electric? It’s ready for you!
“Clean and Tidy”
You hear that phrase about Aerolite fairly often. A very knowledgeable veteran of the light aircraft business, Scott Severen, spoke of visiting U-Fly-It, producer of the Aerolite.
Modernized Part 103 Ultralights; Here Is Aeroplanes Dar Solo UL and More
Excitement surrounding Part 103 Ultralights continues. Considering what a nightmare of a year the entire world has experienced, many find it incredible that 103s are not only surviving, but thriving.
We still have such models as the popular CGS Hawk and Aerolite 103 that are gusseted-tube structures with Dacron wings; this remains a great choice for light aircraft.
However, we are also getting some advanced configurations. Examples reported recently here are the Aeromarine LSA Merlin Lite, Sector’s Spark, and Top Rudder’s Solo.
In this article, I look at another entry after a reminder from an alert reader …one on which I had previously reported. This one has been around a few years but never established any U.S. presence. That could change as 103 types continue their growth.
Small Airplane Specialist
Aeroplanes DAR
Airplanes Dar is a small innovative company with a long history that started in the previous century… on June 24th, 1917.
Direct Fly Alto LSA — It’s Back with All its Sweet-Flying Qualities (Ghostbuster Optional)
Back when Light-Sport Aircraft were still youngsters in aviation (LSA are teenagers now), Ron Corbi imported the Direct Fly Alto 100. In those early days, competition was fierce and only a few of the nearly 100 manufacturers who entered the race were able to rise into the top 20 best-selling brands.
Then, life got more complicated for Ron and he chose to quietly bow out of representing Alto.
However, Czech Republic producer Direct Fly never stopped. Indeed, the company has supplied more than 80 aircraft to dealers in places as close as Europe and as distant as Australia.
Given the deluge of handsome LSA offered to Americans, Alto slipped off the radar for most Yankee pilots but not before Ron demonstrated the design’s worthy qualities. Check this video with Ron regarding a flight school using Alto 100.
As we prepare to start the third decade of the new millennia, learn more by visiting Alto North America.
Try and Fly TriFly — Kolb’s Wonderful Single Seat Light Aircraft Goes Both Ways
Some pilots are wary of taildraggers. This is hardly surprising since only tricycle-gear aircraft have been used in primary flight instruction dating back into the 1970s. Most pilot have no experience with taildraggers but nearly all have heard of the dreaded ground-loop tendency such gear configuration can allow.
Indeed, when investigating insurance for a taildragger, you will have to prove you have some experience or get training from a suitably-experienced instructor — and you won’t find many able to help you.
How about if an aircraft went both ways? What if an affordable aircraft allowed you to fly with tricycle gear but permitted you to practice your taildragger technique yet still use the nosewheel’s self-straightening capability if you start to get a little “sideways” (literally or figuratively)?
Kolb Aircraft has an answer.
Kolb TriFly
Producers of Part 103 aircraft, such as Kolb Aircraft report consistently strong business for the last few years.
Virtual Sun ‘n Fun 2020 — 5 Light Aircraft You Might Have Seen in Lakeland
While I continue to worry about the cash crunch faced by two of my favorite shows, I am still driven to provide content as if those shows had occurred this year and not been postponed to 2021.
Of course, I refer to Aero Friedrichshafen and Sun ‘n Fun, the latter my focus for this post.
Here I will relate five aircraft you might have seen in Lakeland last week …before it was bumped to early May, but which is now off until April 2021.
I admit I secretly hoped for good news in these sad cancellations that might allow me to attend both events in 2021. I had to pick one over the other in 2020 as they were exactly opposite one another. Unfortunately for my schedule, the year-long postponement didn’t change anything. Sun ‘n Fun 2021 will be 13-18 of April while Aero 2021 is planned for 14-17 April.
Coronavirus Claims Another Victim: Aero Freidrichshafen 2020 is “Postponed”
That was several hours of my life I will never get back — booking airline, rental car, and a series of hotel rooms… and then cancelling all of them! Drat!
Yet my frustration in scuttling travel plans to attend and work Aero Friedrichshafen is minor compared to the effort by the people running Aero and the 700 vendors that all must now change their plans. Even noting this does not count the hundreds of small businesses from gas stations to restaurants to hotels and more that will suffer sharp revenue losses, possibly resulting in many jobs being terminated.
What a mess!
Not Just China’s Problem
“As Head of Aero Friedrichshafen, I have experienced many situations during the last 30 years which have affected the global economy and the aerospace industry in a negative way,” started Roland Bosch, the longtime leader of this very popular European airshow. “But never before has an incident had such a strong impact on the global economy like the new coronavirus.
TQ Takes to the Air — In Your Instrument Panel and into the Blue Sky
When your product fits a small space in the instrument panel, how do you show off such a small product in a more visible way at airshows. TQ Sales Director Sebastian Glück had an idea. He worked with TQ Aviation managers to acquire a beautiful Dornier Do 27 and applied the bright blue TQ logo to the airplane.
Did it work? Absolutely. The handsome aircraft (it is far from a Light-Sport Aircraft) was prominently parked during the DeLand Showcase 2019 and TQ could be pretty certain every single attendee saw the aircraft.
Dornier Do 27 is a light single-engine six-seat STOL multi-purpose transport aircraft produced by the German manufacturer Dornier-Werke GmbH. Instead of four passengers, Sebastian and his associate Karl-Heinz Reichmann used the huge aft doors to load all their airshow exhibit gear. The space was full but loading it looked very straightforward except for hoisting it up high.
Seamax Offers Rotax 912iS and Garmin G3X; Enjoys a Strong DeLand Show for their LSA Seaplane
Saturday was the final day of the last airshow of 2019. DeLand Showcase 2019 suffered its chilliest weather of the four years it has been operating. Nonetheless, my unscientific survey of airshow vendors jibed with numerous comments from individual pilots: despite the less-than-ideal weather this year, sales of aircraft and other aviation gear proceeded. These smaller, sector-focused shows clearly remain successful.
I rush to observe November is commonly a very predictable time of year in Florida, with temperatures in the high 70s / low 80s with clear blue skies. This year not so much but I’ll bet next year will return to normal. Temperatures are already back to almost 80° today.
Deland Showcase is much like the boat shows I used to marvel at in my former home of Minnesota. In that northern, almost-Canada state, huge boat shows were staged in the dead of winter, when snow and ice covered the surface and most boats were hidden in warm storage facilities.
The Changing Face of Light-Sport Aircraft — Speed and Safety Behind Single Lever Control
In mid-October, FAA provided another update to the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association. It speaks to bigger — and faster — flying machines ahead for Light-Sport Aircraft. Let’s look at one aspect of the regulation-in-progress.
First, a caveat: While FAA is communicating some of the ideas they are planning for LSA this is an effort of rule writing likely to see more changes.
What LAMA reports to its members and what we provide here is not certain …although it remains well supported at the top of FAA. Even higher in the federal hierarchy, the Department of Transportation recently gave a go-ahead to continue their work. Not all currently planned ideas may survive either the internal debate nor the public comment period.
Single Lever Control
In-Flight Adjustable Prop
This phrase, Single Lever Control, communicates two things: (1) that the system on the airplane seen in the video adjusts the prop to optimal pitch for the phase of flight, and (2) that the system does so based on the pilot’s movement of the throttle combined with its own information about parameters of the aircraft at that time.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- …
- 62
- Next Page »