Long in development to incorporate a raft of distinctive ideas, Vickers Wave took its first flight last month, mere weeks before the launch of Sun ‘n Fun 2022, which kicks off a new flying season.
Lead by company namesake, Paul Vickers, Wave has been a work in process for eleven years. All along Paul has been saying he would get it right on the first flight and it looks like he succeeded.
He also said that the methods he followed to get this far would speed production significantly. He means that when this airplane would take its first flight, it would not be some cobbled-together, proof-of-concept aircraft. The Wave that just flew should also go very directly into production without the need for another long round of engineering. Look at the images and the video. This looks like a factory production model, not a crude prototype still rough around the edges.
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Savage Norden from Zlin is the Newest Special LSA in the U.S. Fleet (#157)
Welcome to the newest Special Light-Sport Aircraft in the fleet: Savage Norden. The first example is in the United States and headed to its new owner. Norden is #157 on our SLSA List.
“It is the best of the several models of LSA that Zlin has ever made,” SportairUSA boss, Bill Canino said of Norden.
He proudly announced that Norden received its FAA certificate of airworthiness as a Special LSA. SportairUSA is the distributor and service center for Savage and other sport aircraft in the USA.
Because the first customer’s Norden was used to gain FAA acceptance as a Special LSA (that included logging 20 hours), the owner is understandably anxious to receive his new bird so SportairUSA will not be attending Sun ‘n Fun with the model. The first public viewing will be this summer at AirVenture Oshkosh 2022. U.S. Norden #1 will be flown in May to its new home in McCarthy, Alaska, at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains
Norden is “Best Yet”
About two years ago, Zlin first announced Norden, then with the 100 horsepower 912iS.
Wrapping Up 2021 — News Bits and Expectations for the New Year Ahead
Now that 2021 is historical and following two years of Covid uncertainty and business interruptions, many readers can breathe a sigh of relief for an better 2022.
We have two full years remaining before FAA’s Mosaic regulation becomes active. During that time you’ll need to respond to the proposal I predict we will see at Oshkosh 2022 (only seven months away). Until then, what might happen in the world of light aviation?
I don’t know any better than you. The future is as unknowable as ever. So many things can happen …who expected Covid-19? With my eye to the sky I’m pleased to start the new year out with some fresh news. Here are five stories to kick off 2022.
Rotax Power
141 Horses …and
Sometimes the changes are big (iOS 15.0). Sometimes the changes are incremental (iOS 15.2). Significant changes often arrive through small steps forward. News from Rotax Aircraft Engines represents one of those smaller yet valuable updates: more electrical power.
LSA Seaplanes — Sophisticated New Entries or Established, Proven, Affordable Aircraft?
UPDATE 11/28/21 — Vickers Aircraft sent fresh images and additional comments. See ••• below. —DJ
Excitement is in the air, even as the season wraps up activity here in the USA. Remember, while winter approaches for Americans, summer is coming to New Zealand.
That might explain an information deficit of late from LSA seaplane developer, Vickers Aircraft. People have been asking questions and reports have become infrequent. Uh, oh…!
Fortunately, the quiet period appears to have a good explanation.
Received November 24th, 2021 — “Hi Dan. Sorry (for a delayed response),” wrote Paul Vickers. “We are pushing very hard for a 10 December first flight. We are structurally testing the wing today.”
Often called a “strongback,” Paul refers to the I-beam steel testing jig seen in the nearby photo. “This was custom designed and manufactured by our Wave team,” he added proudly.
••• “Wave is not just another LSA,” clarified Paul in follow-up email.
Ending 2021 — Beginning 2022… What’s Behind and What’s Ahead?
With the DeLand Showcase 2021 ended, we have officially wrapped up the airshow season for 2021.
In retrospect, 2021 improved on surprisingly good results for 2020. Pilots are buying and flying — great! — while producers are maintaining or growing; both are good outcomes we can celebrate.
While much of America and the world were topsy turvy over the pandemic and the sweeping mandates placed on individuals and businesses, Light-Sport Aircraft fared reasonably well. Translation: sales held roughly steady despite Covid fear and talk of FAA regulation change hanging in the air.
The Sport Pilot kit market and Part 103 ultralights had nothing short of a banner year …and all that was 2020!
In 2021, the recreational flying community experienced an ongoing positive trend, but we can happily add into the mix a successful restart to the airshow calendar, lead by our friends at Sun ‘n Fun. From spring through fall, SnF was followed by AirVenture — both stronger than many expected after 2020’s enterprise-threatening cancellations.
Big Producer of Small Engines — Rotax Reaches a Major Production Benchmark
Two decades into the new millennia, few aviation companies can claim impressive growth. In two decades, one company that everyone now recognizes as a climber is Cirrus Design and their successful SR-series of general aviation aircraft.
Back in 1998 many pilots were doubtful about Cirrus.
I was close to the company during these years. Over and over I heard statements such as: “They’ll never complete the design.” “They’ll never get FAA to approve it (especially with that parachute on board).” “They’ll never raise the money to produce it.” “They’ll never get production to a profitable level.” “They’ll never develop beyond a single model.” Those doubters were wrong on all counts.
Only a few years earlier, in 1992, Americans got their first glimpse of the 9-series Rotax engine. At the time, many aviation mechanics dismissed it as “…just a snowmobile engine.” They also turned out to be wrong.
Starting with their lightweight, advanced-technology, liquid-cooled, 80-horsepower engine, Rotax developed a line of powerplants and went on to dominate the light aircraft aircraft market globally.
Brazil’s Montaer MC01 Rises to a Need: Hand Controls to Let All Pilots Fly
Over many years, many people have done solid work to accommodate people who are physically challenged in one way or another. That’s great! More opportunities to bring in motivated pilots is worthwhile.
Yet designers have been hampered from making such changes, partly as they are burdened by a certification system that is simply too rigid to make the effort of approval worth it for small numbers of specially-equipped aircraft.
Cars, hotel rooms, curb construction, building ramps, smartphones, and more …all accommodate persons with disabilities. That’s wonderful, however…
All those arrangements that make life easier for someone in a wheelchair must nonetheless cope with strenuous regulatory demands. Cars, hotels, and smartphones are created by vastly larger enterprises with staff to handle regulatory burdens.
In the more intimate world of recreational aviation, the industry is composed of much smaller enterprises. A lighter regulatory hand (using ASTM standards instead of full FAA certification) allows easier airframe customization for specific purposes — such as hand control fittings and linkages — and this system allows changes on a dramatically faster schedule.
SW-51 is Shipping Quick-Build Kits — Create Your Ultimate Mustang with Incredible Detail
North American’s World War II-era P-51 Mustang has consistently won polls of pilots asking to identify their favorite aircraft.
You may love your LSA or Sport Pilot kit or an ultralight aircraft, but nearly all pilots occasionally dream of owning — or at least flying — a P-51 Mustang.
Let’s face it. You probably can’t afford to buy one and it’s almost certain you don’t have the budget to maintain it and fly it. The fuel bill alone for an hour’s flying will make you gasp.
So, what do you do if you have a Walter Mitty-esque urge to own and fly a P-51 but you don’t have a couple million laying around unused?
Why not build your own?
When It Looks This Good!
You can follow my previous reporting of this superlative development in other articles:
SW-51 Production Model First Flight (2021)
SW-51 Kit Introduced (2019)
SW-51 ScaleWings Takes Over (2018)
SW-51 Makes Maiden Flight (2014)
As you see from the timeline above, it has taken a while for the twists and turns of development to unravel themselves.
Video Bonanza! Despite Covid and Distance, Fresh Light Aircraft Videos Continue to Arrive
For 18 months, the world has been under assault from a bug so small you can’t see it without a big microscope. Plenty of us are hungry to return to what we once quaintly called “normal.” Hundreds of thousands of people at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2021 started back on that path!
Let’s review: Lots of people. Lots of exhibitors. Perhaps a record number of aircraft flown to the show by visitors. Airplanes were selling, according to many vendors. Weather was good; it only rained at night. No serious accidents. No subsequent reports of any “superspreading.” I’d say it’s all good, except…
I was able to gather lots of material and put up daily posts. That made for very long days and short nights of sleep but it’s what many readers have asked for and I’m happy to oblige. What I did not do was shoot enough video.
In the five days I attended, my Apple Watch said I walked almost 75 miles, nearly 15 miles a day on average.
AirVenture Day 2: LSA Sales Backlogged • Fun Fly Zone Relocation
Day 2 AirVenture began with “rain that went sideways,” according to one vendor. After a late night cranking out a report, I was grateful for an excuse to get another hour’s sleep. The overnight rain gave way to another beautiful, if hot, day in Oshkosh.
Tuesday, I hiked up to the north side, where the main displays are located. Most of the higher end Light-Sport Aircraft are located in this high-traffic area. Several LSA companies have jockeyed for years to find what they consider to be the optimal location for their exhibit. Being near the main foot-traffic road is very alluring to vendors.
In almost two decades of Light-Sport Aircraft (the then-new rule was announced at AirVenture 2004), LSA have integrated themselves into mainstream aircraft manufacturing …and not simply because of the aircraft offered. As late-night TV ads once said, “There’s more!”
LAMA board of directors member Phil Solomon — active in the flight school business and a former importer of Tecnam — expressed that the sales of LSA and the growth and development of the industry is only one of its successes.
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