A few years ago, I visited Continental Motors in Mobile Alabama on the Gulf coast of the southern U.S. state.
Here’s what I wrote about that tour. The factory was a World War II-vintage facility. I saw many new CNC machines and they were humming with activity. I also saw acres of the earlier generation of engine-manufacturing equipment. Nearly all of this hardware was idle even as it occupied large amounts of space. Times have changed. Continental changed, too, but the old tooling still rested in position
Now, that is changing. Last year the company announced their new “green field” construction project, one of the largest in the state. It was clear that …well, let’s hear how the company describes it.
“This Is a New Dawn”
“We’re proud to introduce you to the new name and brand identity of a company that has been a major leader in the world of aviation for over 110 years.” said Continental.
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Hit the Books! Too Cold to Fly? How About a Good Read? Here’s Two Choices…
UPDATE 12/20/18 — Video added regarding the second book below. See at bottom of post…
Unlike most aviation outlets, I’ve refrained from putting out a Christmas gift guide for pilots. I prefer to stick closely to aircraft as that’s what you pilots want the most. I learned this lesson many years ago when I starting writing light airplane reviews and found a market that lead to this website.
However, as a content creator I admire the work of other writers and in this post I have a couple for your consideration. Possible Christmas gifts or otherwise, these offer good wintertime reading when the snow flies and temperatures drop below freezing.
Electric Airplanes and Drones
Not many years ago, such a title would have provoked raised eyebrows or confusion. We didn’t have any electric airplanes until around 2007 when Randall Fishman showed up at Oshkosh with his very credible single place (Part 103) trike ultralight powered by battery-supplied electric motors.
Holy Batcopter! …to the Rescue? No, But How About to Sebring 2018?
Amazingly, “Holy Batcopter!” was not one of the 368 different “Holy…” exclamations uttered by the Robin character in the 1960s TV series. The iconic Bell 47 chopper — without Robin or Batman — will make an appearance at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in just a couple weeks. The event runs January 24-27 this year.
“Relive the 1960’s era at Sebring’s Aviation Expo with a ride on the original N3079G Batcopter from the Batman TV series,” encouraged promoters of the 14-year-old event.
In 1996, pilot Eugene Nock bought the famous helicopter, which was used in the 1966 “Batman” movie and several TV shows.
“What we have is an icon in the aviation world as well as the collectable toy world,” Nock said. “It is a one-of-a-kind aircraft, absolutely internationally recognized.”
That’s why Nock — an airline transport pilot who has logged more than 14,000 hours — will be flying this vintage flying machine at the upcoming Sebring Expo.
Just Aircraft …No “Just” About It. SuperSTOL Leaps Aloft.
CubCrafters now leads the field for Special LSA (see this report to learn more) thanks significantly to their early installation of the 180 horsepower Titan engine. Outback Shock is starting making waves in the sky with their impressive entry. Outback with Shock options is sold in America by SportairUSA.
Both these companies are to be congratulated for advancing the light aircraft field, but one aircraft really lit this space on fire: Just Aircraft and their ground-breaking SuperSTOL. Just Aircraft went beyond vintage appeal by extending SuperSTOL ability with several distinctive features.
“The dual slatted wing significantly enhanced performance and slow flight control,” said design engineer Troy Woodland. His SuperSTOL wing design incorporates self-deploying leading edge slats and wide span Fowler flaps to increase stall range. SuperSTOL also uses vortex generators to further stretch slow flight performance and handling (photo).
“This provides access to considerably more off-airport landing sites, making the SuperSTOL one of the most versatile backcountry machines out there,” Troy added.
SportairUSA
SportairUSA is a pioneering LSA distributor featuring the top-performing STOL, the Savage Nomad Shock Ultra, and Z~Floats—amphibious floats for light aircraft. It is a full-line, mid-America operation providing LSA & Part 23 airframe, engine & prop maintenance, repair and avionics.
Legend Cub Continues to (Slowly) Tear Up the Skies
At last fall’s inaugural DeLand Showcase event, I got a chance to fly Legend Cub on their own Legend Floats. I’ve interviewed Legend folks about this model, but flying one was still on my to-do list.
American Legend Aircraft Company was one of the very first in the Light-Sport Aircraft business and they’ve now fleshed out their product line of pretty yellow taildraggers… though, of course, they don’t have to be painted yellow even if almost everyone orders them this way. I guess it’s a vintage look thing, but I’m here to tell you these Cubalikes are nothing like your granddad’s Piper Cub (thank goodness, as Legend has made many desirable improvements).
One of the biggest changes is the wide variety of engines this company has offered. They started with the Continental Motors‘ venerable 100-horsepower O-200, added the 120-horsepower Jabiru 3300 six cylinder model, then tapped the 115-horsepower Lycoming O-233, and now Legend offers the mighty 180-horsepower Titan, offered these days by Continental following their acquisition of ECi of Texas.
Quicksilver Aeronautics — GT 500 Restore (0715)
In this video, we think you will see something unusual. This is a 1991 Quicksilver GT500 that looks as though it just rolled off the assembly line. That may be common in vintage aircraft but here’s one you can afford and which nearly anyone can fly. Longtime Quicksilver expert, Todd Eleffson went through this particular GT500 from nose to tail beautifully restoring it. A friend who asked me about it bought the plane before AirVenture 2015 ended because it was an excellent value. More of this is coming as Quicksilver are common around the world.
John Moody — Father of Ultralights
Not many people can be called the “father” of anything. That unofficial title has to be limited in its use. Nonetheless, John Moody is widely ascribed to be the Father of Ultralight Flying and I have to agree. I saw John fly a bi-wing hang glider to which he’d added a tiny engine way back in 1975. Even hang gliders were fairly new then and it was years before FAA created the ultralight vehicles we know today. Hear his story in this video and see a couple vintage ultralights he flies.
Electric Power — eLazair at AirVenture 2011
A vintage ultralight from the 1980s, the Lazair, returns in the hands of original designer, Dale Kramer, who has now removed the two small gasoline engines and replaced them with electric motors and batteries. Our video provides the details of how Kramer reformed his design and how crowds at AirVenture 2011 responded to the surprise debut.
CubCrafters — SportCub
CubCrafters is a well-established company that retores vintage Cubs, makes the FAA Type Certificated Top Cub, and is one of our LSA market leaders with their SportCub. This may look like a replica Cub but is actually a thoroughly modern version as evidenced by significant use of carbon fiber to stay with the LSA empty weight limit.
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