Events of last fall changed many things, among them the FAA’s action to push through the proposed sport pilot rule with its definition of a new class of aircraft.
Work on the proposed rule has slowed as the FAA focuses on efforts to ensure the air transport system is intact for millions of airline travelers. New rules for aircraft flown primarily for fun were necessarily put on the back burner.
As we’ve noted in these pages before, the proposed rule offers significant promise to light aviation, and many experts are sure that the sport pilot NPRM (notice of proposed rulemaking) will still be released for public comment, followed at some point by a new rule. Certainly it represents a breath of fresh air, and that may be just what a beleaguered FAA needs come springtime.
Possibilities
I’ve had the pleasure of flying a great many of the light aircraft introduced over the last 25 years.
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Sky Ranger
The Leading Trainer in French Flight Schools
To many observers, the Sky Ranger looks like a RANS Coyote. Based on general appearances, it appears the French light plane borrowed heavily from the popular model sold by the Kansas light plane kit leader. But, Sky Ranger importer Richard Helm bristles a bit when he hears that statement and retorts, “People compare the Sky Ranger to the RANS Coyote. They say it’s a knockoff, but the French designer didn’t take anything from the Coyote. It’s built completely different,” although he admits, “It does look a lot like the Coyote.”
Give a Yankee welcome to the Sky
Ranger. The French-designed
ultralight is typical of a trend I
think we’ll be seeing with increasing
frequency—imported light planes from
Europe. Sky Ranger is built in the
Ukraine by Aeros, Ltd. I visited this
factory with Phil Lockwood of
Lockwood Aviation in the spring of
2001. Once built by Synairgy in France,
Sky Ranger production moved to this
former eastern-block country in 1997.
Europe Embraces Light-Sport Aircraft
Many excellent aircraft may be headed our way
Parlez-vous Française? Sprechen Sie Deutsche? Parlate Italiano? Fortunately, to understand European recreational aircraft you don’t need to speak French, German, or Italian. Yet the light-sport aircraft (LSA) that may interest you could come from countries where the mother tongue isn’t English.
Welcome to the globalized
world of light-sport
aircraft where the workers
who built your plane may speak
Polish, Russian, Hungarian, or
Latvian in addition to French,
German, or Italian.
Though many intriguing
ultralights come from Europe and
Americans have seen a few of these,
many are a complete surprise to
Yankee pilots. That will change.
Last year after EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2002 ended, I traveled to
Blois (pronounced Blwah), France, a
town about 200 kilometers south of
Paris. There I attended the 22nd
salon (or air show) that organizers
present at this location each year in
late summer. Let’s take a walk
around the salon at Blois.
Hawks and their History
A look at CGS Aviation and its Roots
The Hawk and Chuck. Chuck
and the CGS Hawk. They are
absolutely intertwined. While
Chuck has a wife, Pixie (aka Nancy),
and family—four sons (Chuck Jr.,
David, Ted, and Don)—he has
another family in his aircraft.
Going Way Back
Our story this month takes us back
in time. EAA recently celebrated the
induction of Michael Sacrey into the
Ultralight Hall of Fame. He was
present near the beginning of the
movement. But even before
ultralights were officially recognized
as a segment of aviation, Chuck was
doing essentially what he is doing
today—selling flying machines.
In the early days, Chuck built
hang gliders, with names like the
Swooper, Spitfire, and Falcon (models
I through VII). While hang gliding
was most popular on the West Coast
and many major hang glider
manufacturers were located there,
hang gliding was also popular along
the dunes of the Great Lakes, and
Chuck’s operation was one of the
biggest in the eastern part of the
country.
Cosmos Phase III
One of the first trikes I flew was a Cosmos, way back in 1984. It was a trendsetter then and was one stoutly built trike capable of real functions. The reason I flew and owned a Cosmos in those early ultralight days was due to its capability as a tug for hang gliders. I’ve been involved with hang gliding for many more years than powered ultralights so when the two dovetailed in the Cosmos Tug, I was pleased to the point of purchase. Maybe you’ll also be so moved.
Today’s Cosmos Phase III trike is vastly better than that ’84 model. But it retains the brand familiarity (albeit with different ownership) and functionality while increasing the state of the art to a highly refined point.
In the 18 years since that first Cosmos experience, I’ve flown all Cosmos entries except the Echo. This new Phase III appeared in many ways to be the French company’s finest work.
Get Up to Speed; Jet Fox 97
Sleek with curvaceous lines, the Jet Fox 97 commands attention, even when surrounded by other desirable flying machines. Welcome to Italian company Euro ALA and its candidate for the proposed Light-Sport Aircraft category. Sergio Cremonesi, the factory representative with whom I would fly the racing-looking Jet Fox 97, told me the “ALA” stood for Advanced Light Aircraft.
Advanced, indeed! I’d seen this machine in France at airshows in ’98 and ’99. I snapped photos of it and wherever I showed those pictures, ultralight pilots smiled with appreciation. In the finest Italian sense (think Ferrari), the Jet Fox 97 has the lines and looks to draw closer inspection.
One look inside – all Jet Fox 97s I’ve seen appear to be similarly outfitted – and those smiles morph into grins. The panel looks like something out of a fighter aircraft. A color flat glass display is flanked by the usual assortment of “steam gauges,” installed with engineering precision.
Sportstar Sidebar
Why Buy this Plane over Another?
I asked the question of U.S. dealer James Peeler. He’s been a Flightstar dealer and pilot for several years and is “one of us” ultralight pilots. Now that he represents the Czech aircraft, he should be able to relate why the model excites him.
The EV-97 EuroStar aka SportStar has been manufactured for more than 6 years in the Czech Republic and has been used as a trainer in Europe without even one service bulletin or airworthiness directive issued, Peeler says. The factory has achieved the ISO 9001 quality standard certification.
More pragmatically, Peeler says, “The plane flies better overall as a trainer than anything I have ever flown in my 22 years of flying with more than 5,500 hours in 103 different aircraft (general aviation, Experimental, rotorcraft, and ultralight).
“The performance is uncanny,” he continues. “It gets off like an ultralight (in less than 300 feet) and climbs like a homesick angel at between 1,200 to 1,500 fpm with two aboard, cruises at 100 to 120 mph, Vne 167 mph, and stall at 38 mph.” I didn’t find the ground roll as short nor the climb as strong, but perhaps Peeler’s technique is that much better than mine.
Xair Standard and F Models
he Xair hardly looks like a Weedhopper anymore. And its French-based producer, Randkar, may no longer care to associate with the pioneering design (though they surely wouldn’t mind selling 4,000 units like the Weedhopper). Indeed, the machine is now so different, the heritage barely reveals itself.
Today, it may take a stretch of imagination to see the Weedhopper under the Xair’s fancy new coverings. To try, let your mind’s eye take away the entire cockpit assembly and the aft fairing. What you’re left with does begin to look like a Weedhopper. The swept wing with its long chord, the simple, angular tail… it’s clearly a derivative of John Chotia’s Weedhopper.*
Global Contender
Created in America, the Weedhopper migrated to Europe (where more than one company picked up on the simple ultralight). One of those companies is France’s Randkar, which produces the Xair. It is built by an Indian company, Raj Hamsa, and returned to American soil by its U.S.
North Wing Prepares the Apache Sport
Trike and trike wing manufacturer North Wing Design has debuted a new trike called the Apache Sport. Developed for the proposed Light-Sport Aircraft category, this new 2-seater can also be operated as an ultralight trainer qualifying under the training exemption to FAR Part 103.
Barely a year after the new millennia dawned, North Wing Design introduced their first new 2-seat trike to the ultralight community – the original Apache. In the last year of the old century, the Washington-based company offered their first trike – the single-seat Maverick with its distinctive strutted wing.
Prior to these developments, North Wing Design was a trike wing supplier. For many years, small manufacturers of trike carriages have been buying wings from North Wing because they handle and perform handsomely. In a still-earlier role, the company was a savior to owners of certain brands of hang gliders whose manufacturers had left the business.
North Wing came to the aid of these stranded owners.
Super Drifter
The original Drifter was one of the ultralight industry’s flagship aircraft. Hatched by early entrepreneur Dennis Franklin, the Maxair Drifter enjoyed immense popularity. Several reasons exist for the Drifter’s popularity, and these were enough for Leza-Lockwood to offer a rebirth to the design.
Déjà Vu All Over Again
The Drifter is a tough design. The basic airframe consists of a lower boom tube that supports the pilot at the front and the large empennage at the rear with an engine midship. Because the separation is longer than some similar designs, the Drifter boasts a high level of stability that should please most pilots.
Secured to the boom by a series of triangulated tubing structures, the wing is classic Klaus Hill. This prolific designer from the early ’80s died in an unfortunate accident many years ago, but not before putting his indelible mark all over ultralight aviation. Klaus is directly responsible for the wings of the Weedhopper, Hummer, Humbug and SuperFloater.
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