ByDanJohnson.com

This is NOT an official Flight Design rendering, just my own fanciful imagining of the proposed four-seat C4 based on the CTLS.

Although not strictly LSA-centric, here’s a cool story: German-based Flight Design, maker of the top-selling CT-line of LSA, is coming out with a new, certified four-seat aircraft dubbed the C4. *** As the name unintentionally implies, Flight Design surely hopes to have an explosive impact on the General Aviation market, and we wish it success. *** The first full-size POC (proof of concept) version debuts in April at Europe’s big Aero 2011 airshow in Friedrichshafen, Germany. It’s a fabulous show, BTW, especially since lots of electric-powered aircraft will also be on display. I’ll do a wrap up of its coming events in the next couple days. *** Back to the C4: An interesting wrinkle is the company’s outreach for feedback on the merits of the airplane’s design. They’ll poll the show goers at Aero, but also will have an online survey for all of us to weigh in on. That link won’t be hot until March 1st, but Flight Design makes it worth your time by giving away a Garmin aera 500 GPS for your trouble… not that serving up opinions is ever a problem for us pilots. *** This is apparently a sincere request, not just a marketing strategy: Although in development for years, Flight Design’s engineers won’t freeze the design until somewhere around Sun ‘n Fun 2012, after wading through all the public input. *** Also of more than passing interest is the company’s plans to type-certify both the CTLS and MC — currently ASTM-approved SLSA designs here in the States. Flight Design will use a EASA certification system, which makes use of the company’s recently granted Design Organization Approval. *** You have to admire Flight Design’s impressive commitment to all aspects of private flight. Over 24 years, the company has built more than 1,500 aircraft, flying in 39 countries, has successfully passed quality control audits conducted by LAMA, ISO (International Standards Organization) and TÜV (a vast German technical standards consortium in existence for 130 years, roughly equivalent to ASTM). *** It’s also developing a hybrid power system and working to expand its global service and support, currently in place in 39 countries.

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Smart Brief picked up on an AOPA poll of its membership (without citing the numbers of poll respondents) that shows an overwhelming majority can see themselves “flying as a sport pilot in the future.” *** That dovetails into a topic I’m working on in my column for the May issue, which covers the recent LSA Tour of Florida that took place right after Sebring 2011. *** John Hurst, head of Sebring Aviation, who flew a Flight Design CTLS on the Tour, told me of his desire to overturn what he perceives as an entrenched belief among younger pilots that LSA flight is primarily viable as an alternative for older pilots faced with the possibility of losing their flight medicals, and therefore their flight privileges. *** “I want us to stop preaching to the choir and reach out to younger pilots. Too many younger pilots think of LSA as a compromise you need to make when you’re in danger of losing your medical. I’ve heard younger pilots say, too many times, ‘I won’t have to do something like that for a lot of years’. I’m trying to change that perception to show them LSA offers several benefits they can’t get with a type certificated aircraft.” *** The question the poll doesn’t answer is, “How far in the future do you see yourself flying as a sport pilot?” *** On the face of it though, these are encouraging numbers. At the very least it shows that sport pilot flying is building a strong positive image for itself. *** The poll results: *** 74.91%: Yes — I could see myself flying as a sport pilot in the future *** 11.06%: Yes — I am flying as a sport pilot now. *** (aggregate total: almost 86%!) *** 14.03%: No — I would not fly. Update 2/16/11 — Both numbers are up even a little further: 75.29% now say they could see themselves flying as a Sport Pilot and 11.78% already are using the privileges… making a total of more than 87% favorable to FAA’s newest sector. By normal polling results this is an overwhelming majority. —DJ

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Several new airplanes debuted at Sebring 2011. photo courtesy James Lawrence Photography

AOPA president Craig Fuller addressed LAMA members. photo courtesy Meg Godlewski

If you’ll pardon a little fun in my title, I’m pleased to offer a report from Chairman Bob Woods on the seventh running of the Sebring U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, abbreviated by many to simply Sebring LSA Expo. *** The total number of exhibitors was 147, a small decline from last year. Aircraft on display numbered approximately 135, about the same as 2010 and including some new or returning exhibitors such as Kitfox, Pipistrel, and Diamond. The Popular Rotorcraft Association had a presence this year with a promise to increase their footprint in 2012. *** Attendance was about 11,000, the same as last year (and I observe this count is larger than many other so-called “major” airshows —DJ). “Attendees were down slightly from 2009 due to extensive wintry weather up north, but Thursday was the best opening day we’ve ever had,” noted Bob. Saturday’s crowd was good, partly as Sebring offered reduced prices for Veterans. “Quite a number showed up.” *** Total aircraft operations (take off or land) was 2,538 according to official FAA records. Bob said, “This is the first year we have had an accurate count.” The busiest days were Thursday and Saturday. The count includes only those for the hours the temporary tower was in operation, thus powered parachute flights (done early and late) plus some transient traffic missed being counted. “Forum attendance also showed an increase this year,” Bob reported. *** On opening day Thursday evening the LAMA Dinner filled the big hospitality tent, supported by AeroShell, to hear AOPA president Craig Fuller address the SRO crowd (AOPA event videos here). Parlaying this success, LAMA plans another major speaker for the 2012 event. *** So when will the eighth annual running of the Sebring show occur? According to Bob, “Our 2012 dates are not yet set. I try to wait until I can get a fix on raceway activities before announcing. That normally happens just before Oshkosh.” So stay tuned. We also show the dates in the left column of this website.

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Alto 100

Kitfox Super Sport

FK9 ELA

Watching the excellent wing-mounted video at Sebring

Dynon’s Robert Hamilton and one pound transponder unit

Dave Graham (front row left) Bill Canino (front row, second from right) and friends

I’d call this Day 4 but rush-deadline work for the mag intervened after the last day at Sebring so just getting to it now. *** The Sebring experience gets better every year, I believe precisely because Bob Woods keeps it consistently valuable without tricking it up with a lot of extraneous booths selling things like Miracle Kitchen Knife or iPhone WonderMuffin Pocket Baker and the like: it’s an LSAshow, pure and simple, and a great opportunity for folks to crawl out from wherever winter is tap-dancing on their heads and let them see, compare, fly and even buy aircraft and peripheral stuff.Many airframe makers reported sales at the show, or expected deals to close afterward. Exhibitors hope for sales of course, but realize folks often need to go home, reflect on what they’ve seen, then push the button or think more on it. *** I’d say from everybody I talked to, optimism was rekindled that 2011 will be better than the last — a real toughie. *** Let’s wrap up my highlights, then look at the 2011 Florida LSA Tour that launched right after Sebring. *** Alto 100: Last year, Ron Corbi and Dan Coffey vowed to bring an Americanized, more affordable SLSA to our shores and did just that with this retooled Czech design, newly SLSA certified. Their “pre-emptive maintenance” approach looks to eliminate those features that most tend to wear out in LSA. American-made Matco wheels and brakes, bucked rivets instead of pop rivets in high-stress areas and so on. The Alto features a Vertical Power electronic electrical system, Approach Hub avionics wiring and a Dynon SkyView glass panel, all for under $100,000, should attract attention. It’s a cute airplane too. *** Kitfox Super Sport: Owner John McBean and Paul Leadabrand, owner of a top taildragger school in Idaho called Stick and Rudder Aviation, brought Paul’s Kitfox to the show. I had the pleasure of flying it with John the day after the show. What a refined and highly evolved sport plane this much-copied design has become in the 19 years since I built the first iteration of it. Smooth, responsive, great visibility, available as a kit too: and most important, really fun to fly. Big baggage compartment (or optional airframe ‘chute-ready). Base price: $83,495.*** FK9 ELA: Finally got to fly this handsome, comfortable cruiser from FK Lightplane, a refined fifth generation version of the European-popular carbon fiber airplane repped in the U.S. by Hansen Air Group. New is the redesigned engine cowl (reminiscent of the LoPresti speed mod on Piper Aircraft some years back) for the Rotax 912 ULS, which reduces drag yet improves cooling. Nice! New winglets reduce fuel burn and improve stall handling for U.S. LSA requirements. Folding wings, wing or fuselage fuel tanks. *** Hardware Dep’t: A couple more cool gadgets to talk about:Light Sport Group’s Contour A/V-ator HD GPS Camcorder has really caught on with flight schools and others looking to document their flights on High Def video. Now the light-weight, 1080P cam has GPS tracking ability: speed, altitude and position data encode along with the video and audio. Software included lets users play back, edit and share videos online. Data ports over easily to apps such as Google Earth. Price: under $600.And Dynon’s SkyView big, multi-talented glass panel keeps evolving. Marketing veep Robert Hamilton updated me on two new features: autopilot and transponder. For example, just tap VFR in transponder mode for the 1200 squawk code. Manual code input is a snap, too. The Dynon transponder sending unit weighs just a pound: easy to put anywhere. Dynon will also soon release a new worldwide Jeppesen-sourced navigation database. *** The Florida LSA Tour: Take five top manufacturers to six Florida cities and you’ve got the gist of this clever and, we can hope, effective marketing effort. Cooked up by Bill Canino of SportairUSA and American Legend’s Dave Graham, (formerly with Gobosh), the idea targets one of America’s busiest aviation states. On the tours: Legend’s Cub, Flight Design’s CTLS, Sportair’s Sting S3 and Sirius, the Rans S-19, and Jabiru’s J-230 joined the tour’s itinerary to Naples, Miami, Orlando, Spruce Creek, Leeward Air Ranch and Tallahassee. *** If successful, tours like this could fill the gap until the LSA infrastructure reaches more fully across the country.  *** I caught up with the gang at Orlando’s Executive Airport.  Air Orlando hosted an outdoor barbecue, much appreciated. Attendance was decent, and made up of serious potential customers, which is the whole point. *** Telling anecdote: I spoke with a Cirrus SR-22 owner who was looking at every LSA present. *** “I’m really impressed with the quality of these LSA,” said the mid-40s software engineer. “Once my teens are out of school, I’ll probably buy one for my wife and me to take trips in. I didn’t realize how well-built these airplanes are.” *** Sebring is done: Long live Sebring! *** And thanks again to Bob Woods and his terrific group of volunteers.

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An FPNA A22 Valor, soon to be represented by a new dealer… Flightline Aviation based at the Sebring airport.

Tom Guttman Jr. makes a low pass for my camera.

Tom soldiers on downwind through the building chop.

Photo courtesy U-Fly-It

***
The day dawned foggy and solid overcast…then cleared almost instantaneously…then snap overcast again. ***
The wind grew… and grew… the temperature dropped, and by the end of it, everyone agreed it was an unseasonably chilly day, more like San Francisco in winter than Sebring, Florida. ***
But people flew, and flew. Folks came out in good numbers and, according to all the exhibitors I spoke with, and that was a lot, there was focused interest and orders, or solid prospects, were recorded. ***
My flying fortunes started bright and early with a morning flight in the new Flight Design CTLS, thanks to Tulsa, OK Airtime Aviation dealers Tom Guttman and his son…Tom Guttman. Makes “Hi Tom!” less of a chore, you only have to say it once. ***
These enterprising lads have finalized the fitting and testing of their Clamar floats, designed and built by famed float maker, Clair Sceli. They’re beautiful to see and fun to fly on. ***
We did several landings and takeoffs on nearby, wind-whipped, whitecap-popping Lake Jackson. Solid, balanced, well-performing. And all that extra drag only costs about 13 knots in cruise… we were showing 102 knots indicated straight and level, full power coming back to the field. ***
Tom Peghiny, Prez of Flight Design, also had a gorgeous, futuristic panel on proud display: two Dynon Skyview EFIS displays and a Garmin 696. Gorgeous! See for yourself… I’ll fly the Criquet Aviation Stolp Storch 75% replica tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, here’s some tantalizing specs: •
Span 34.7 feet •
Wing Chord 5 feet •
Cockpit width (tandem) 28 inches •
Baggage 3 cubic feet or 25 pounds •
Fuel capacity 30 gallons •
Engine 100 hp Rotax 912 with Continental Lightweight 0-200D available soon 100 hp • Prop Diameter 6 feet Tennessee wood •
Takeoff distance 168 feet •
Rate of climb 850 fpm •
Cruise 80 mph •
VNE 117 mph •
Stall (clean) 36 mph (that’s not knots, that’s mph folks) •
Stall (40 degrees flaps) 30 mph!!! •
Landing distance 173 feet ***
And pictured here is the nifty Levil Aviation 1831 EFIS …yep, it’s a touch screen. Does anybody doubt, with the paradigm shift brought about by Apples iPhone and iPad, that touch screen cockpit displays are the future? ***
This 10.4 inch Touch Screen Computer ties in all EFIS engine and navigation monitoring functions into one MFD.

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Garmin G300 display has this page that lets you do instant weight and balance calculations. Just input the values in the top of the screen, and the little dot tells you whether you’re good to go… or not.

The Garmin G300 easily lets you input pilot and passenger weights and fuel quantity. If you’re in the weight and balance limits, you instantly see the green dot, left. Too much weight in any category gives you a clear warning.

Cessna’s Skycatcher program is really gaining traction. I had a fun chat with Julie Filucci, Mgr of Cessna Pilot Centers (an excellent formation stick too — she flew for my Cessna shoot a year ago). *** Matt Tutton, an Orlando Cessna dealer, and Bob Stangarone, Cessna’s VP of Corp. Communications also weighed in the haps in Wichita. *** By the end of 2010, 30 Skycatchers had been delivered, mostly to flight schools across the U.S. *** “We expect to deliver 150 more by the end of this year,” says Bob, “and more than that in 2012, although we don’t have an exact number yet.” *** Cessna’s working tirelessly working away at that backlog that initially climbed to 1000 orders when the scratch-built LSA was first announced a few years back. *** Both Julie and Matt Tutton had recent long XC trips with the Skycatcher. Julie’s reached out to Oshkosh from Wichita, while Matt’s went southeast from Wichita to Orlando. *** “I did some low and slow flying,” says Matt, “and it trims up so nicely; with half flaps I was loping along at 45 to 50 knots, going around and taking pictures. The visibility in the Skycatcher is incredible. Just keep a micro fiber cloth with you to keep the window clean for photos and most of the time reflections aren’t a problem.” I’d imagine that high wing helps a lot too. *** “With the Garmin G300 on board,” Julie said as she demonstrated a really cool feature of the proprietary EFIS (based on Garmin’s terrific 696, 7″ display), “you’ve got everything you need: Airport Information Manuals, weight and balance automatic calculator and a lot more.” *** Weight and balance can be tricky with LSA due to the upper weight limit of the category. *** “With the G300’s calculator, feature” says Julie, “two heavy passengers can automatically dial in the numbers and instantly see whether they’re in the box (see photos below).” *** Since useful load on the Skycatcher is listed at 490 lbs. and can be less than that with options such as wheelpants, a second MFD etc., keeping track of weight is important. *** “Most training operations are an hour to an hour and a half though,” said Bob, “so even with two heavy pilots, they can carry enough fuel for at least a couple hours plus reserve.” *** Perhaps the biggest weight factor in Skycatcher orders has been the optional airframe parachute. *** “No one’s ordered one yet,” Bob said. “It adds 38 lbs. As a former flight instructor, I prefer students not have that ease of getting out of a tough situation; sometimes you need to sweat your way out of it. That’s the logic I think why there have been no takers so far.” *** He adds that the system can add extra peace of mind, especially for spouses. My argument in favor of ‘chutes continues to be that there is likely to be no pilot skill-centric option after a bird strike, pilot incapacitation or mid-air collision. *** Which makes the upper weight limit of the LSA category problematical. I wish there was a weight allowance for parachutes, just as there is for water operation equipment (raises the limit from 1320 lbs. to 1430 lbs.) Surely FAA and ASTM aren’t saying water operations are more important than survival after a major mishap. *** Julie also filled me in on the soon-to-be-released Sport Pilot training course, currently available through Cessna Pilot Centers and translating to an online course. The new course, due to be finalized within the next couple months, has tons of video shot by the King School. *** “John and Martha King show students exactly what procedures look like from the cockpit point of view. They had the airplane for three months for filming. The program, based on the FITS training principles, gives you a feel for what you’ll do before you even go out to airport.”  *** I’ll go through the program once it’s released and do a story on it.

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In a tersely worded and OMG-style announcement, Piper Aircraft today said today it “will terminate its business relationship with Czech Republic-based Czech Sport Aircraft to market that company’s Light Sport Aircraft, citing differences in business philosophies.” *** Piper’s CEO Geoffrey Berger said, “After a year working with Czech Sport Aircraft, Piper determined that it is in our company’s best long-term interests to discontinue the business relationship…Clearly, the company (i.e. Piper) has a different business perspective and approach to the market than Czech Sport Aircraft,” he added. *** Piper excited the LSA world with its announcement last year, when helmed by former CEO Kevin Gould, that it would virtually take over rebadging, and upgrading, the popular but problem-plagued Czech Sport Aircraft SportCruiser, a beautiful and popular aircraft. *** “We at Piper have a close affinity with this emerging segment of the marketplace,” Berger continued, “and we have great expectations for the LSA industry. The LSA we were distributing is a good one and we encourage aviation enthusiasts to continue their support of this segment of the market,” Berger added. *** “We certainly understand the implications of this development in the Light Sport Aircraft segment and do not take this action carelessly,” he said *** No word (of course) whether Piper will get back into the LSA segment any time soon…they were pretty secretive about it the first time around. *** I called and spoke with Jackie Carlon of Piper, who dispelled my two initial surmises: *** That Czech Sport Aircraft couldn’t produce in quantity and/or quality, or that the program, brought onboard by Kevin Gould, who was a real mover in repopulating the low-performance end of the Piper Aircraft legacy, was a casualty of his departing the company last year. *** No, and no, says Jackie. *** “Piper made the decision to terminate our master distributor agreement,” she just told me. “We were happy with the aircraft, and it was doing very well in the marketplace. Piper and the distributors were very pleased with the quality. At the end, it was truly a fundamental difference in philosophy. Now, we’ll be focusing on managing the transition process, establishing a plan on how to best do that.” *** When I asked her if killing the program was a change in strategy reflected by the departure of Mr. Gould, she said “Absolutely not, we remain committed to the light end of the spectrum, such as our Archer which just celebrated its 50th anniversary, and our trainers.” *** “Piper supports the LSA marketplace; it’s a good market, with a lot of potential, and we remain very enthusiastic about it.” *** In other words, she wasn’t at liberty to say anything more at this time. *** I’ll do more digging on this. If you have a great airplane, which the PiperSport/SportCruiser is, and quality control and delivery weren’t the problem (so far as we know now), and it’s selling well, then the mystery only deepens. *** More news as I can dig it up. *** But wow, what a shocker…and what a potential morale blow to the industry as a whole.

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just after hand-propping: photo courtesy Michael Bradford

Seems everybody who’s done any kind of flying has a J3 Cub lurking somewhere in their psyche.A most evocative rendering of the mystique of flight in a Cub comes in the form of a poetic blog by Michael Bradford, a long time hang glider, ultralight and light plane pilot. *** I wrote for a publication, Glider Rider (now Light Sport and Ultralight Flying), that he edited for years and we hadn’t talked in some time. My loss. *** Now, as self-described “recovering smartass” and software writer, Michael keeps his feet in the hang gliding harness boot and can be counted on for eclectic, highly original takes on ‘most everything. *** But don’t take my word for it: check out his blog. *** He calls himself “Lazarus Nobody.” The blog’s titled: Nobody’s Flying Service: Making People Nervous since 1951. *** I bet, like me, you will nod and smile as you read through his excellent take on what it means to fly. I plan to read it over on a regular basis.

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In a related note to yesterday’s post on possible changes to the 3rd class medical requirement for Private Pilots, FAA proposes new wording re the “auto-feathering” description for LSA powered gliders. *** The official description simply removes the word “auto” from the term “autofeathering.” It’s more of a semantic rather than practical change, updated to reflect actual hardware modes already out there. *** In effect, the amendment embraces both manual and autofeathering operations for powered LSA gliders. *** Anyone who wants to comment can go to the link above until Feb. 2, 2011. The final rule becomes official on March 4, 2011.

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There’ve been some rumblings recently that the FAA is unofficially taking a look at the private medical requirement for pilot licensing. ***  Janice Wood, writing for General Aviation News, cites the efforts of an airport owner/operator, David Wartofsky, to petition the Secretary of Transportation to replace the FAA’s 3rd class medical with a driver’s license for private aircraft weighing under 6,000 lbs. *** Mr. Wartofsky makes some salient points, and calls the eventual loss of 3rd class medicals that all pilots face as “the greatest threat to aircraft ownership”. *** I’ve never thought there’d be a snowball’s chance in a blast furnace of the medical being removed, but there are compelling reasons to do just that — or amend the current rule to conform with the lesser medical requirement of a state driver’s license, such as requiring vision-corrective glasses when flying. How many drivers in 4,000 pound cars who barely passed their driver’s license requirements whizz by you head-on at a closing speed of 120 mph? *** Some of the downsides of the 3rd class medical: • High costs to manage the system • Overkill on the 3rd class requirements for physical health, which are equivalent to those required for a Commercial Driver’s License… while a light plane is equivalent in its potential crash impact to a passenger car; • Statistics show that barely 1% of all general aviation accidents are medically related. Light-Sport statistics, since the rule came into effect in 2004, reflect the same ratio of medical to all other causes of aviation mishaps, which supports Wartofsky’s contention that a 3rd class medical is no more necessary for light planes than for LSA. Another point on the LSA side of the equation: many owners are baby boomers who fly LSA rather than run the risk of losing their 3rd class medicals. *** Wartofsky’s petition, which you can view and sign, was published by DOT as required by law… and then buried by a comment period open until 2099! Sneaky sneaky, DOT! *** Pilots can get involved by adding comments to the petition and contacting their representatives in the House and Senate to support the petition. *** As Wood states, the objective is to force a full re-evaluation of the need for a 3rd class medical through a NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking).

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