Let’s consider light amphibious aircraft – the boathull variety, not floatplanes
– but including both freshly designed, fully built light sport aircraft
along with kit aircraft born of the ultralight heritage.
In the last year, the exceedingly handsome Icon A5 has made quite a splash, literally
and figuratively. However, the A5 is more than a year away from first deliveries
and an order placed today might not be delivered until 2011 or later. Another LSA
amphibian called the Mermaid was designed and introduced by Czech Aircraft
Works of SportCruiser fame. Although five are available in the country, sales have
yet to take off.
Another popular American seaplane, the SeaRey, is moving toward ASTM
approval but remains a kit that asks several hundred hours of a builder’s time. The
simpler and faster-build Aventura models also remain available; this design has
been on the market for many years. Either kit is less costly than a fully built aircraft,
but all seaplanes have loftier price tags to cover their ability to operate on land
or water.
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“New Wave” LSA, Part 1 — Terrafugia Transition
Recently, I visited three brand-new LSA developments. All are American. All are propelled by young engineers and enthusiasts. All are remarkably sophisticated. All companies have been successful at raising funds. And, perhaps most notably, all projects were started specifically because of the emergence of the Light-Sport Aircraft rule. *** All three are emphatically not reconfigured European microlights or vintage American designs…not that I have any objection to such aircraft. I am simply encouraged by fresh new designs from fresh young faces. Aviation needs that! *** My first example (others soon) is the Terrafugia Transition. Called a “roadable aircraft” rather than a “flying car,” Terrafuguia does what others have done but in a new, far more practical way. Compared to the Transition, Molt Taylor’s Aerocar is so last century. Transition folds its wings without leaving the cockpit. The company has produced a professional video that explains the concept and the award winning people behind it.
Swedish LN-3 Seagull — Tandem-Seating LSA Seaplane …Plus, Breaking News!
LSA seaplanes are a segment all to themselves. [See Breaking News at bottom!]
It isn’t only that seaplanes can offer “triphibian” capabilities (a term once promoted by MVP) because they can operate from land, water, or snow. That makes them versatile but amphibious craft must incorporate retractable gear and since they require a sturdy hydrodynamic boat hull as well as aerodynamic aircraft structures, the engineering task becomes significantly larger than land plane designs.
Icon took years with their A5 and Vickers is still working on their Wave. Both took more than a decade to reach market. Several other LSA seaplane projects required similarly lengthy development.
Now from Svenska Flygfabriken (Swedish Aviation Factory) comes LN-3. This new entry is distinctive because it is a tandem-seating seaplane. Yes, I know lots of Cub-types on floats are tandem but among boat-hulled seaplanes, I’m not aware of any others like this.
Super Petrel XP Arrives in Florida; Proven Product Significantly Upgraded
A few days ago a couple Super Petrel XPs arrived in Florida. In no time, Roger Helton‘s team had the pair assembled and had earned their Special Airworthiness Certificates, from two different FAA inspectors no less.
Development happens fast in light aviation; Mosaic will further quicken the pace.
Welcome to Light-Sport Aircraft where the swift thrive and those that can’t move fast enough fall behind. LSA is a market full of seasoned competitors. They’ve learned their trade well, surviving and some even gaining during the Covid upset. Any new creation coming to market will be measured against tough standards.
You think the pace of development is fast now? Wait as Mosaic approaches and company after company announces new products to take advantage of the “Christmas in July” list of new privileges FAA offered in the summer release of their Mosaic proposal (view list at bottom). The regulation is currently in review by the agency and according to their own statements, it should go live by second quarter 2025 (2Q25).
Vickers Aircraft Claims a “World First” as their Wave LSA Seaplane Completes Flight Testing
“Vickers has achieved what others only dream about… a ‘World-First’,” the New Zealand LSA seaplane developer announced. The southern hemisphere company was reporting on the completion of their flight testing program.
“Wave performed exceptionally well, so well in fact that we believe we may have achieved a world-first, a 100% score, passing all criteria and requiring zero changes,” stated company CEO Paul Vickers. He suggested this achievement shows the prototype “is perfect and can enter production,” adding that fabrication of first components is underway.
Although in development for more than a decade, Vickers has indicated all along that their care in design would lead to a quickly approved product that could enter production quickly. The company appears to be reaching this goal.
Test Pilot Report
“In conducting our Flight Test Plan on the Vickers Wave proof of concept, an evaluation was made of the plane’s adherence to ASTM Light-Sport Aircraft industry consensus standards as accepted by FAA,” reported flight test pilot, L.
Top 50 Video: MVP — “Most Versatile Plane” LSA Seaplane Entry
Long before “Mosaic” was a term anyone used*, one airplane stood out for its highly-original design, innovative features, and amazing versatility. Welcome to the once-wonderful world of MVP, the Most Versatile Plane. I am featuring this aircraft as part of an on-going series of our Top 50 Videos (of 1,500) on Dave Loveman’s Light Sport and Ultralight Flyer YouTube channel.
The bad news is… MVP never made it to market, a shame… yet despite heroic fund-raising efforts, sufficient support never materialized.
The good news… other designers observed what MVP offered. Around the time MVP was actively fund raising, Vickers Aircraft down under in New Zealand had begun work on their Wave that is now nearing market release. Icon’s A5 was already mostly frozen for design but some European entries later showed innovations first promoted for MVP.
Developer Darrell Lynds scoured the world for investors. I went with him and other aviation pioneers to China in 2017 where Darrell worked non-stop trying to raise money.
Streaking through the Sky — Speedy Risen Continues our Top-50 Aircraft Series
When this series started, Icon’s shapely A5 LSA seaplane topped the list. Handsome as it is and like most seaplanes, A5 is not particularly fast. The subject of this second in the series of 50 aircraft is Porto Aviation’s Risen. You might say it is on the other end of the speed spectrum Risen rips!
This one challenges all others in the speed contest for LSA (and later, mLSA).
Our #2 video on Videoman Dave’s immense library has garnered 700,000 views. That’s particularly satisfying as Dave was able to use footage from my first solo video effort.
I was at Aero Friendrichshafen 2015 when Risen made its debut. Videoman Dave was not able to attend that year but I hit it off with developer Alberto Porto and he consented to work with me. I was just learning how to shoot a video so for this one to go over well speaks loudly about how much pilots love Risen.
2022 In Review — How Did LSA and Sport Pilot Kit Aircraft Fare During a Turbulent Year?
The year started with hope. As 2022 arrived, America and most countries (China excepted) were emerging from two years of difficult lockdowns and Covid. The good news was that a flood of money from the U.S. government had buoyed the stock market and I’ve long observed that in a rising equities market, LSA and SP kit aircraft sell well.
No one thinks this is because anyone sells stock to buy a Light-Sport Aircraft. Rather, it’s something economists call the “wealth effect,” where rising asset values give stockholders confidence that good times are here and they can buy an airplane to have fun.
Then… Russia invaded Ukraine and global markets trembled.
Despite a year of war, of plunging stock markets and sky-high energy prices, of protests and riots in multiple countries, plus on-going supply chain strains and lingering Covid fears, the light aircraft nonetheless grew by a very healthy 18%, after rising 10% in 2021.
Oshkosh 2022 – Day 4… TAF’s Sling HW with Rotax 915 is a Big, Comfortable Lightplane
Somewhere, it seems like a group of light plane developers must have held a meeting and decided that low wing manufacturers needed to broaden their line to include high wings. A batch of new models has been unveiled or announced this year. (Article updated 2PM – 7/29 Fri — new image of the gorgeous taildragger; see below)
Did these builders not notice the industry already has a whole slew of popular high wing models? Some, like Flight Design’s CT series, has been a market leader since the beginning. Companies in the list below didn’t follow the leader then? Why now?
Of course, no such industry agreement happened. Each company examined their lines and chose individually to go forward with their designs. Honestly, they’ve all come out so recently they could not have coordinated such a broad launch in a single year even if they tried.
Nonetheless, here they are, one after another.
Aero 2022 Bonanza — Huge Aircraft Review from Europe’s Best Airshow
This year, 2022, saw a return to all the great airshows we have come to know and love. One of my all-time favorites and my #1 pick in Europe is Aero Friedrichshafen.
I already provided three articles — (1) turbines, (2) six innovations, and (3) Aero success — covering what I found to be highlights of Aero 2022 that I thought you would like best.
Now, thanks to encouragement from Marino Boric — a Europe-based, highly-knowledgeable professional journalist — I want to provide what longtime radio broadcaster Paul Harvey used to call “…the rest of the story.”
What follows is Marino’s few-paragraphs-each review of no less than 21 airplanes, 4 electric projects, and 6 combustion engines. You will not find this depth of reporting anywhere else in the USA.
Folks, this article is much longer than our usual articles (by 6X).
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