Simple, light, and affordable is not a throwaway line. Each word is pivotal.
Like many of you, I have enjoyed the advancing development of the LSA space, leading to Mosaic LSA in about 15 months. Additional operational capabilities plus features like autopilot, synthetic vision, and powerful, compact engines… all these can build a very exciting airplane.
With Mosaic, the list gets even longer: more weight, more seats, more powerful engines, plus retract, adjustable props, even aerial work for entrepreneurs (see full list). Wonderful, I agree. Some pilots have asked for more and industry with FAA have been working to achieve these potentials.
Yet this is a path to ever-more complex (and expensive) aircraft. Have you been waiting for Mosaic LSA? If yes, your wishes may be answered in 15 months. If not, please continue reading.
Simple, Light, Affordable — All three words are key. Much depends on your aviation goals.
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AVI’s Affordable, Foldable, Composite Part 103 Ultralight Aircraft Gets a Fresh New Look
Aeromarine LSA’s Chip Erwin is one but certainly not the only busy fellow in the modern Part 103 aircraft space. AVI’s Radu Berceanu is another a man on the move. Chip works in metal. Radu works in composite. You know Chip better (he’s adept at PR) but you probably know Radu’s designs. Readers have responded enthusiastically to articles and videos about Swan.
In an earlier article I promised a video look. Now that the flying season is easing into the holidays, I have more time to spend editing videos. What takes a few minutes to shoot takes hours to edit but I’m pleased to let you hear from Radu himself. His English is quite good and you get a lot of views of the new & improved Swan, now called Swan LE.
Fresh Swan Retake
The article from April this year had additional detail for Swan LE and mentions Dracula, the subject of a future video and article.
Humble Triangle — Innovative Glider Control Mechanism Has a Nearly Unknown History
When Wilbur and Orville set out to fly their first airplane 120 years ago, aeronautical knowledge was rare and precious. Pioneers like Lilienthal preceded the Wright Brothers but the Ohio bike shop owners still had to figure out almost everything. They did so without funding, university degrees, or government help. Today, nearly every aviator celebrates their December 1903 achievement.
Aviation is a many-varied activity, though, and not all aircraft followed the same development path. Especially after World War II and the arrival of kit-built aircraft, American aviators began exploring in many directions.
Around the time NASA was pushing hard to land on the moon, a growing group of enthusiasts were jumping off mountains in pursuit of flight. Hang gliding soared into sky in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Enthusiasts grew to more than 100,000 active hang glider pilots globally, flying in nearly every country on Earth, perhaps as the most affordable of all aircraft.
News Wrap — Lift Offers Part 103 Hexa for Work; Aero Asia Success Points to 30th Anniversary Event
As I recently wrote about Aerial Work for Mosaic LSA, perhaps it’s fitting to write about Part 103 vehicles doing commercial work.
But isn’t flying for hire prohibited in Part 103? Yes, it is.
However, “public use” aircraft do not have to meet FAA aircraft certification regulations nor operating limitations. “Public use” can include activities like police, fire, rescue, border patrol, and similar typically government functions whether provided by federal, state, or local agencies. In short, government departments at all levels get special privileges.
This means little to pilots unless you are one flying for a government agency. For the producers, however, this can mean potentially lucrative sales. In the case of Part 103 multicopter producers it may represent a means of market entry.
In this article I reference an aircraft covered before called Hexa (earlier article, with more aircraft detail), designed and built by Lift Aircraft in Austin, Texas.
TrueLite’s New Wing — U.S. Importer On-Site Finalizing Affordable Part 103 Project
When I wrote about TrueLite a little over one year ago, readers loved the concept pushing the article to one of my best-read pieces of the year. That story had lots of detail, different from what follows.
Now the story is the start of production and preparation of import to the US for final assembly.
Francesco Di Martino is the man behind Zigolo, a superlight Part 103 entry. Zigolo looked so light in construction, relying partly on cable support, some pilots were hesitant about the design. A few years passed and sales were made but behind the hangar door, Francesco was busy with his Aviad company.
As a follow-on to the earlier project, Francesco created the all-metal, much-updated Mg21 as he called it; Zigolo was called Mg12.
When Francesco linked up with Part 103 impresario Chip Erwin of Merlin Lite fame, things started to move quickly.
Earthstar’s Thunder Gull Is Soaring Capable and Was a Pioneer in Electric Propulsion
Continuing our tour of the Top 50 videos from Videoman Dave’s popular YouTube channel, we come to Earthstar Aircraft’s Thundergull. My interview with Mark about his electric project garnered 236,000 views and ranks at #11 among the Top 50 of Dave’s more than 1,500 videos.
This remarkable small aircraft, a single seater until their Odyssey model came out, was ahead of its time. Over a successful run dating back into the 1990s, Thunder Gull evolved into several variations and developer Mark Beierle experimented with various propulsion systems. A gifted designer, Mark pursued development more than production so the total number of ‘Gulls has never become large.
If you are looking to buy, getting a current owner to part with their pride and joy could be challenging. The Earthstar website is functional but does not appear to have been updated in some time.
Thunder Gull owners or pilots may be purists insisting nothing compares to their Gull, yet some interested buyers are aware Titan Aircraft makes a very similar aircraft.
It’s What!? “It’s an …Ultralight Motorglider Floatplane,” and Many Can Afford It
In 2021, Merlin Lite lit up cyberspace after I wrote about the new entry’s introduction at Midwest LSA Expo in Mt. Vernon, Illinois. So many tens of thousands of you wanted to read about this intriguing aircraft that I worried the website could crash.
A few other airplanes have drawn large numbers of readers but Chip Erwin creations seem to do that with regularity. Most companies I write about struggle to come up with something new each year when we greet each other at airshows.
Contrarily, Chip is so bubbling with new ideas and excitement about them that he can barely talk fast enough to get all the words out of his mind. He’s always an exciting interview and a new video below offers another.
Why a…
Ultralight-Motorglider-Floatplane?
Following is what Chip has to say about his new creation. This is not identical to what’s in the video, so you want to read the following plus catch the video to learn more.
Aero Showcase Approaching — Tecnam Technical Partnerships — Van’s “Serious” Announcement
In this post, we’ll look at three news items affecting the affordable aviation community.
This article touches on the last LSA event of the season plus two market leaders, one from the US and one international, each with significant news.
Aero Showcase
November 3-4, 2023
First up is some fun news to complete a vigorous year. In their second event, Aero Showcase is hosting a flock of airplanes at one of Florida’s most vibrant recreational aviation airports. Partners Alex Rolinski and Doma Andreka return for the second annual of their own event, which follows on the heels of the DeLand Showcase that ran several years, all of which grew out of the Sebring LSA Expo.
While the DeLand event is still growing compared to those earlier events, it enjoys a beautiful new facility and will present a good selection of airplanes. When I asked attendees at last year’s first Aero Showcase, most thought the organizers did credibly well.
“Charming” and Affordable, Part-103 JK-2 Nano Now Propelled by 50-Horsepower Engine
“When I roll up to the terminal on any airport, it never ceases to amaze me how a small crowd will gather around the aircraft. Happens almost every time,” said Jeffrey Boyd, importer of the JK-2 Nano single-seat gyroplane. “They just think it looks cute and different. Then they find out it’s quite affordable.”
I reflected back that this cleanly executed Nano had the same effect on me when I first saw it at AirVenture Oshkosh 2021. A glance at this eye-catching design, beautiful in its simplicity and compact in its features (see on trailer or in shipping crate) suggested to me that JK-2 Nano could find a market.
For more than a decade, interest in gyroplanes has been strong. After European designers took earlier American simple gyros and transformed them into sleek aircraft, a wider range of pilots looked at them more positively. However, those more elegant and feature-laden designs steadily rose in price.
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.
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