A brave new world of “sport pilot” approaches. Like all things new, it has plenty of allure and some uncertainty attached to it. Its promise is great, but no one, including FAA, can predict how it will turn out. In such times familiar and reliable aircraft become as comfortable as a well-worn helmet. Such standard bearers may not seem as exciting as a new machine, but you can count on them to behave with good manners. In aviation, no proof is better than years of field experience in the hands of many owners.
Into this hazy future flies one aircraft
that qualifies as a known
quantity. The RANS Inc. Airaile
S-12 and S-14 models have established
themselves as some of
ultralight aviation’s most popular aircraft.
RANS reports close to 1,000
Airailes sold (800-plus S-12s, more
than 100 S-14s, and about a dozen S-
12S models). This blows away every
RANS model line except the ubiquitous
S-6 Coyote series; however, even
the S-6 counts only a couple hundred
more deliveries.
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Phamous Phantom
Phantom ultralights continue to charm many pilots
The proposed sport pilot and light-sport aircraft rule changes have been
the focus of much discussion and anticipation over the last several
months, and good reasons for such unbridled attention are plentiful.
Under the proposed rule, you can obtain
an FAA sport pilot certificate in as
little as 20 hours and then carry a passenger
without having to become a flight
instructor. Many interesting aircraft will
become available for purchase either as
kits or ready-to-fly light-sport aircraft
(LSA), and these machines will be more “capable” in that they will be faster, better
equipped, more comfortable, and
more closely resemble conventional aircraft.
In many ways, they will outperform
the general aviation aircraft they may
come to replace.
Experts expect financing and insurance
to become more readily available.
And access to America’s 12,000 airports
should follow. You’ll be able to buy fully
built LSA that will qualify for commercial
operations like flight training or rental.
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.
First to Achieve Light-Sport Aircraft Status?
Discounting coordination qualities, steep turns, well, all turns went very well in the GT 500; it is very precise in handling. You can always point the plane where you wish.
Many pilots, especially those trained in general aviation aircraft, love the yoke. I much prefer a joystick. This is personal preference, but you can’t fault the execution of the yoke arrangement in the GT 500. Like all components, it’s very well done.
Since I’d just flown the Flight Design CT before the
GT 500, comparisons were easy. Handling in the composite CT aircraft was much more fluid (though that may not suit everyone). The CT could also fly nearly as slowly over the fields as the GT 500, showing the possibilities in new aircraft designs.
The GT 500 behaved very properly at speed. Cruising at 90 mph indicated, the design felt very solid and gave every assurance. However, at 4,200 rpm and 50 to 55 mph, I experienced almost a continuous shudder that seemed to come from the tail.
Proven Design; Ison Aircraft’s Eros
The pretty blue Eros with bright yellow stars on it is no ordinary ultralight. On second thought, “ordinary” and “Eros” aren’t words that go together. Of those aircraft designed by Wayne Ison and his former TEAM team, this model is the hottest of the fleet. I believe I’ve flown all Ison designs that were put into manufacture and Eros is one of my favorites. (In truth, it’s a tossup between the Max-103, Air-Bike, and the Eros.)
The Legend of Davy Lee
For this month’s pilot report, I got the chance to fly a special Eros, a Grand Champion at Sun ‘n Fun ’98 in the Lightplane Class. It belongs to owner/builder/pilot Davy Lee Cooper and it represents my second review of an Eros.
Cooper’s Eros is Rotax 503-powered as was the earlier Eros I flew, but both are derived from the Eros-preceding V-MAX with a Half VW engine. Without a doubt the Rotax 503 is more energetic, yielding better climb rates and somewhat faster speeds.
An Escapade Just for You
Engineering design is usually an evolutionary process. While occasionally a breakthrough idea comes to market, most development in aviation is a result of small steps. The Escapade is a good example.
Once Flying K Enterprises (now Sky Raider LLC) offered their Sky Raider. The single-seater had much in common with the immensely popular SkyStar Aircraft Kitfox. In fact, when SkyStar offered their Kitfox Lite single-seater, Flying K built the welded fuselage for them.
Then came the Sky Raider II with a tight back seat that could be used for an occasional ride though not instruction as no controls were installed in the rear. The new Summit offered by Just Aircraft late last year was a variation on the Sky Raider II theme.
Company leadership changes as do their designs and the path from Flying K to Just Aircraft is convoluted; other business names are involved. By example, Rocky Mountain Wings, run by former Flying K partner Stace Schrader, offers their very similar Ridge Runner.
Gemini Powered Parachutes Come From Experience
According to the new Ultralight Flying! “Ultralight and Microlight Buyer’s Guide,” 24 companies are building powered parachutes in 2003. That figure doesn’t include recently announced foreign competitors and doesn’t count all that may follow. How does a new company stand out in such a crowd?
Gemini Industries boss Randy Snead is a well-known personality among powered parachute enthusiasts. He was the main technical person with Buckeye Industries, working with FAA personnel for months in pursuit of Primary Category certification. In blazing that new trail, Snead earned a reputation as being serious and knowledgeable.
His business enterprise is new to the scene, but given Snead’s long experience in this segment of light aviation, Gemini Industries should prosper. I see the company surviving any industry shakeout as the Indiana company keeps its overhead low and offers reliable products at low prices with reasonable delivery times. Gemini Industries isn’t flamboyant like some powered parachute producers and that’s exactly why Gemini’s formula should work.
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.
Long-Lasting UltraCruiser Fun Plane
A Gift of Design
The UltraCruiser was born under rather unusual circumstances. Its designer, Morry Hummel, was not a young engineer with a passion for flying ultralights. On the contrary, Hummel is one of aviation’s pioneers with many years of experience. His story identifies how he found the time to create the UltraCruiser and, in particular, why the ultralight is fully named UltraCruiser, God’s Gift.
Hummel wrote, “I crashed my miniMAX on July 19, 1995. I lost my right leg below the knee, my left leg was badly broken, and my face crushed. My teeth were wired shut for 10 weeks and I was fed through a tube in my stomach.
“While I was in the hospital for 5 months, I had time to think. God had spared my life for a reason. The UltraCruiser is named God’s Gift because I am only 85 years young and flying again.”
I found it an inspiring story.
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