We’re off to the races … OK, the race track … OK, we’re off to Sebring, which happens to be alongside the Sebring International Raceway. Yep. It’s January so it’s again time for the Sebring Expo, this time number 11, the 2015 edition of the popular Florida show. I’ll be onsite for the four days, which this year is one day sooner, running Wednesday through Saturday. The plan makes it easier for vendors to stay to the end on Saturday and still have time to get home on Sunday so they can be back in their businesses on Monday.
Every time I head to a show people contact me, including journalists from publications that don’t follow Light-Sport, light kits, ultralights, or light GA as closely as we do). The question is always the same. What new aircraft or products will we see at the show? …Uh, let me think.
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Garmin’s Bon Voyage to a Longtime Team Member
When a multibillion-dollar company makes an event out of your retirement … well, that’s quite something but more importantly it shows how much that enterprise valued your years. Many people inside Light-Sport or light kit aviation know Tim Casey, the jovial expert behind Garmin’s hand-held and experimental line among many other products in his 23 years. “It has been a wonderful and exhilarating journey from the GPS 100 to G5000, and every product in between. I am forever grateful to have been given the opportunity to work with so many amazing people with a common goal to do whatever it takes to win the business and serve our customers,” said Tim.
“This is the day that I have not been looking forward to,” said Carl Wolf, Garmin’s vice president of aviation marketing and sales. “For many years Tim has been the face of Garmin’s aviation business … everyone knows him. Tim has fun every day and you can’t help but laugh along with him as he tells stories about his experiences.”
In December of 1990 after working as an air traffic controller, Tim noticed a job posting from a small company in Lenexa, Kansas for an Aviation Marketing Manager.
Ride-On Zlin; New Variation on Theme
Thanks to powerful Cubalike airplanes — those vintage yellow taildraggers types with huge engines up front to make them perform more energetically — 2014 saw increased attention to the Savage Cub S. The Czech company offered their 180-horsepower version of the Cubalike phenomenon albeit at a more affordable price. The leading brand of Cub-like airplanes has pushed prices beyond $200,000, which strikes plenty of people as paying a premium, though most agree the design is handsomely achieved. They continue to sell well so vintage style appears to hold appeal.
Meanwhile, Zlin engineers aren’t sitting still. This company has quite a flock of intriguing models, including Savage Classic, Savage Cruiser, Savage Cub (marketed as iCub in the U.S.), Savage Cub S, and Bobber. All these are now represented in America by SportairUSA, which also imports the TL Ultralight Sting and Sirius as well as selling Searey amphibious kits among a variety of other products of services they’ve assembled.
Touring All-American Propeller Maker Sensenich
In Light-Sport aviation, we have many international suppliers … of aircraft, engines, instruments, and much more to include propellers. I embrace the worldwide suppliers and don’t fret about America’s position. The truth is, any international supplier has to have a U.S. representative so American jobs and profits are part of that global supply chain and most aircraft built overseas have a substantial percentage of U.S.-produced components. Still, as an American, it is great to see solid U.S. companies prospering. One of those is Sensenich Propellers and last week, I took a tour of this enterprise based in Plant City, Florida (near Lakeland, where Sun ‘n Fun is headquartered).
I was shown throughout the facility by President Don Rowell, a 37-year employee of Sensenich (pronounced SEN-sen-ick). He directly manages the Plant City operation since 1993, after relocating from the company’s founding plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Both facilities continue to operate and are divided by prop material.
P1NG … Fully Refreshed from Brazil
P1NG is not a sound nor golf equipment. The clever name (that’s a “1” not an “i”) is similar to a plane you know as the Paradise P1. Now get ready for the “Next Generation” P1, or simply, P1NG. The P1 you may have already seen was designed around a four-seat model with the aft cabin simplified to a luggage space. More on the entire family of Paradise airplanes below. P1 and P1NG offer more cubic area than most cockpits in light aviation. Besides a spacious cabin the front seats remove in a few seconds allowing an occupant to stretch out fully in its length. Alternatively, P1NG could easily carry golf clubs (you probably ought to load the American Ping brand), a family pet, camping gear, or anything else that fits within the weight & balance envelope. Though absent from the U.S. market for several years, Paradise reports good business in their native Brazil, a large and aviation-active country.
Helping One Another: Two Aircraft … One ‘Chute
It wasn’t supposed to work out this way, but three people in two aircraft were saved when a European ultralight used an airframe parachute to save everyone. On Sunday, September 7, 2014 — commonly, these things happen over the weekend when recreational aviation is often pursued — at the German airport Koblenz-Winningen a Zenair CH-601 and K-18 glider collided in midair. During the collision, the planes became hopelessly entangled. The pilot of the CH-601 activated his Magnum Rescue System manufactured by the Czech Stratos07 company and the aircraft descended as one safely to the ground. Two occupants aboard the CH-601 plus a 17-year-old pilot of the glider were able to walk away from the aircraft with what was reported as “slight injuries.” One aircraft apparently struck the other almost perpendicularly in a classic “t-bone” mishap. Such accidents are bad enough between two cars, but when airborne such an incident can often be fatal to all aboard both aircraft.
Midwest LSA Expo 2014 Highlights
The sixth annual Midwest LSA Expo just concluded. These LSA-only events offer a more intimate setting where you can speak at length with an aircraft or other product representative. They don’t offer the dense traffic of the big shows but the valued trade off is that nearly everyone who shows is interested. People came from as far as California and I witnessed many demo flights. The Mt. Vernon airport is as good as it gets for this purpose with easy access to big broad runways and plenty of open airspace. Lead by energetic Chris Collins, a team of volunteers made it work again. When the event isn’t swallowing all their time these folks have a little fun. Don’t worry about the nearby picture; TSA and Homeland Security can calm down. This was a planned promotional venture on the side of a great new restaurant called Rare, a chop house.
Amazing LSA Seaplanes: Lisa’s Supersleek Akoya
We just passed September 1st and that date is significant in the LSA universe. It is the day, ten years ago, that the Sport Pilot & Light-Sport Aircraft rule we have been celebrating all summer officially became part of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). If you’re thinking, “Hey, I thought it was announced in the summertime, at AirVenture!” … you’re correct. It was, but that was just the administrator’s public relations timing to get the biggest bang for the buck, at Oshkosh. As we continue the tenth anniversary celebration — looking back on the first decade — we see the astounding development of 136 models of LSA, more than one every month for ten years running. This profusion of models runs the length and breadth of aviation, from fixed wing, three axis airplanes to powered parachutes to trikes to motorgliders and from less than $30,000 to over $200,000. I fully expect designers to continue pushing the envelope in every direction but one facet of LSA development seems as energized as a Saturn V moon rocket: LSA seaplanes.
Post-Oshkosh 2013 Quick Review
At the big show EAA likes to call the Summer Celebration of Flight, we rove the grounds seeking new airplanes, new engines or propulsion systems, new panel gear, updated models and more. In this very fast tour, we’ll zoom around AirVenture for a glance at some airplanes and components that caught our attention. In subsequent posts we’ll delve a bit more deeply into certain ideas we thought were novel. All photos accompanying this article are courtesy of Light Sport and Ultralight Flyer, producer of the 300+ videos you can find on this website.
Rans showed off their new S-20 Raven. Those who thought designer and company boss Randy Schlitter got stuck on S-19 were wrong (it’s never wise to think he’s done designing). His new Raven combines elements of the S-6 and S-7, namely the side-by-side seating of the S-6, with the welded spaceframe and superwide door of the S-7.
RV-12s, Hot Off The Griddle!
Put on them bibs, pardners, if you’ve got an appetite for one of the tastiest SLSA out there. Last year, Van’s Aircraft came out with its Signature Series, an even dozen fully built SLSA. They were assembled by Van’s kit builder support company Synergy Air of Eugene, Oregon. Now I’m not trying to set you up for a fall, but even though the company did just announce another 12 RV-12 batch, priced at $123,000 each (loaded), the odds are reasonable that by the time you read this, they’ll be gone too. My apologies for bringing good, then potentially bad news.
My pessimism derives from the last batch. See, they were snapped up so quick that the next 50 or so eager customers on the list — with checks in hand — were turned away. By the way, that $123,000 sticker includes ADS-B, two-axis autopilot, wheel pants, and premium paint schemes with pinstripe.
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