Airplane Overload — Imagine a gymnasium, the full court kind where basketball is played. Imagine ten of them placed side by side. Big space, huh? Now imagine all of them filled to capacity with aircraft and airplane gear of every imaginable sort. Presto! You’ve got Aero Friedrichshafen. No wonder we go year after year (I think this was my tenth Aero and, for certain, I’m going again). In this wrap up post, I’ll provide a few more views of this truly excellent event. Good as my reporting hopefully is, however, true-blue aviation enthusiasts owe it to themselves to make the trip to the southern edge of Germany for this outstanding (nearly) all-indoor aviation extravaganza. I can find so many good reasons to like Aero, I’m sure you’d be pleased if you attend.
Final Facts and Videos — Aero Show Director Roland Bosch somehow made time in what must be an awesomely tight schedule to let us tape a video with him and his U.S.
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Live From Sun ‘n Fun 2013
SuperStol: Able to leap tall RVs at a single bound. Drawing lots of attention is the Just Aircraft SuperStol LSA kitplane (soon to be an SLSA) that has self-deploying leading edge slats, oleo main gear shock-absorbing struts (with humongous tires), even a shock absorber for the tailwheel. I found out later I was the first flywriter to get some time in the critter. Whether true or not, I felt like a kid on his first flight again: what a fun airplane! True — and amazing — STOL performance befitting a Helio Courier-style plane. My report will be out soon in Plane & Pilot magazine.
It’s the third day at Sun ‘n Fun. Breezy, hottish (high 80s), humid: in other words, classic Florida Spring weather. The attendance seems steady if not overwhelming. I’ve been hanging out a lot in the new Paradise City Light Sport/Ultralight area and grass landing strip in the southeast corner of Lakeland Linder Airport, and enthusiastically report it is vastly improved over previous years.
Pre-Sun ‘n Fun 2013 LSA News Wrap
CORRECTION 4/10/13 — Due to a misinterpretation of Just Aircraft’s recent news release I must update an earlier report. The company did indeed take its 300th order but it was for all versions of the Highlander model, not just the SuperSTOL. At Sun ‘n Fun 2013, company leader Troy Woodland confirmed very strong interest in the STOL model and expects around 60 orders in the first year since it was introduced. The big plus of my conversation with Troy is an impending flight in the remarkable-flying SuperSTOL, which I will report as soon as possible. Amazing SuperSTOL! — We’ve got a few news items as we head to Sun ‘n Fun where lots more will emerge. One of the big pre-show items was news from kit and SLSA producer Just Aircraft who reported the number 300 order for its Highlander. On a visit en route to Oshkosh last summer we stopped to visit the company and saw the SuperSTOL design taking final form.
Electric Avenue Widens; Evektor Motorplane Flies
An “engine” is a machine distinguished from an electric, spring-driven, or hydraulic motor by its use of a fuel, by which most mean gasoline or diesel fuel. An electric powerplant is often referred to as a motor to make it distinct although “motor” is defined as a device that converts any form of energy into mechanical output, which would include engines.
Without fretting over the definition, Evektor flew their new “motorplane” (my word) recently and this post presents our view of this accomplishment. We’ve reported several electric aircraft projects, for example, Yuneec’s Spyder and their larger e430 mentioned in my full-length article on electric aircraft. We’ve also covered Randall Fishman’s ULS (which will be on display in the LSA Mall at Sun ‘n Fun) and several others. To read all our 37 articles of coverage, type “electric aircraft” in the Full-text Search box on our Search page.
UltraCub (Belite)
[UPDATE — fall 2009: This article about the Kitfox Lite refers to a company now several years out of business. The new Kitfox producer sold the Kitfox Lite design to Kansas entrepreneur, James Wiebe. His company, Belite Aircraft, now produces the Belite Carbon 254 (and other variations) and has significantly changed structure with carbon fiber components to lighten the weight, assuring that it meets Part 103. For the latest info on their offerings, contact the company directly.
Information in this article, while similar to what Belite Aircraft produces today, will not be identical to the new model. –Dan]
Kitfox Lite: tastes great; less filling One the best-selling kit-built aircraft of all time is the Kitfox series. First designed by Dan Denney for a company bearing his name, the airplane is now marketed in several variations by SkyStar. As ownership passed, the market matured and SkyStar astutely chose to widen the appeal of the well-known Kitfox name.
Part 103 Carbon 254
[UPDATE — fall 2009: This article about the Kitfox Lite refers to a company now several years out of business. The new Kitfox producer sold the Kitfox Lite design to Kansas entrepreneur, James Wiebe. His company, Belite Aircraft, now produces the Belite Carbon 254 (and other variations) and has significantly changed structure with carbon fiber components to lighten the weight, assuring that it meets Part 103. For the latest info on their offerings, contact the company directly.
Information in this article, while similar to what Belite Aircraft produces today, will not be identical to the new model. –Dan]
While it may have been a long time coming, SkyStar Aircraft – the builder of the extremely popular Kitfox series – has done their Kitfox Lite version right. It was easily worth the wait.
While the Kitfox Lite and Avid Aircraft’s Champion were both flying regularly last summer, SkyStar elected not to have the plane flown for an Ultralight Flying!
Building a Quicksilver Wing — In “Fast Time”
I once saw Boeing employees racing around furiously to build an entire 747 in just seven minutes. Pretty amazing, huh? I’ll bet you didn’t know they were so efficient. OK, fine … spoil my fun by telling me that is baloney and simply a “Hollywood effect.” Yes, the truth is, all I refer to is a video watched by every visitor to the Washington State 747 assembly building (by the way, not far from the Arlington airshow every July and a most worthwhile visit). I thought the professionally produced video was terribly cool, as was a tour of Boeing’s astoundingly-enormous building … so immense that several 747s could be assembled at once in a clear-span structure.
So, how about the same idea down here in the world of airplane the rest of us can buy and fly … at least after we build the airplane? I was recently sent such a video from the new owners of Quicksilver Aeronautics.
Towering Inferno
Update 3/22/13 … CHICAGO / Associated Press announced that the FAA put the final list of air traffic control tower closures at 149. The process of shutdown will start early in April. One key point: closures will not force the airports themselves to shut down, but all pilots will use unicom frequencies to communicate their position and intentions to other pilots in the vicinity. “We will work with the airports and the operators to ensure the procedures are in place to maintain the high level of safety at non-towered airports,” FAA Administrator Michael Huerta said in a statement.
In what could be a major impact on smaller regional airports such as Salinas Municipal in California, Lakeland Linder Regional in Florida (home of the Sun ‘n Fun show next month), and Wittman Regional in Wisconsin (home of Oshkosh Airventure), airlines have yet to say whether they will continue offering service to airports that lose tower staff.
Tecnam to Debut New Low-Wing LSA
Tecnam announced that it will reveal their “Astore” next generation Light Sport Aircraft at Aero Friedrichshafen 2013 in Germany on April 24th. “Astore is an all-new, two-seat, low-wing airplane that offers superlative performance,” wrote company officials. The Italian company celebrates its 65th year in 2013 and saw fit to name the new model accordingly. “What could be more fitting in this special anniversary year than for Professor Luigi Pascale, Tecnam’s legendary head of aircraft design, to name his new creation in honor of his first production aircraft, the P48 Astore.” Tecnam has a tradition of naming models for the year the design was introduced.
Tecnam said their new Astore “affords the pilot the smoothest and most pleasurable flight with innovations such as an Apple iPad® mini supplied with each aircraft as standard.” They’ll use a Levil G mini WiFi connection to supply information for the smaller Apple tablet so it can act as the Astore’s Primary Flight Display.
March 2013 LSA News Wrap
Several news items in our March 2013 LSA News Wrap and we’ll get to it … right after this: We’re thrilled to tell you that — for the second month in a row — ByDanJohnson.com achieved another record. Despite fewer days, February substantially exceeded January’s Unique Visitors, reaching another all-time traffic mark. Last year was amazing and 2013 is even better. THANKS so much for your regular visits and welcome to our new readers!
Sam LS Flies — Pilots love new developments, so aviation media outlets jumped all over the first flight of Thierry Zibi’s Sam LS. The retro-looking, all-metal Light-Sport candidate (it has not yet gone through the Special LSA process and will initially be sold as a kit) attracted plenty of attention at the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo where the company bought a premium position just inside the main gate. By Sun ‘n Fun in less than one month, Thierry will hit another benchmark as the aircraft flies for the public.
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