We reported on FX1 shortly after it began flight trials in the hands of American light aviation expert John Hunter. This article offers John’s perspective on flight characteristics along with specifications; you should definitely read this if FX1 stirs your imagination.
InnovAviation is an Italian company founded in 2001 by Alfredo Di Cesare, who began his aviation career in the early 1980s as an importer and kit builder of Striplin Aircraft from the USA. Later that decade, Alfredo started importing Germany’s Comco Ikarus C22, which lead to C42 that became that country’s most popular light aircraft.
Alfredo saw room for improvement.
He probably also saw the success of America’s Flightstar, which was significantly based on work by Hans Gygax, the brain behind Comco’s C42. While resembling Flightstar, you can also see FX1 is much more developed.
FX1’s cabin is fully enclosed and sports large, curved doors.
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Skonkwerks …an Ultralight Aircraft Tribute to an Aviation Pioneer
Update 8/17/17: See our video interview at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 on this aircraft (at bottom). —DJ
The aircraft you see in the photos is called “A Tribute to Alberto Santos Dumont.” Do you know who that is?
In my conversations with a few other pilots, almost everyone knew the name (“vaguely”) but not one remembered what that person did. Since the 24 Bis (that’s what they call the example you see in the images) is a tribute to Alberto, let’s take a second to recall his history.
Santos Dumont was a prolific aircraft designer working from 1898 to 1920. The first year was when he made his first balloon ascension, in Paris, on July 4th. Only six years later, not even three years after the Wright Brothers’ famous Kitty Hawk flight, Alberto flew his 14 Bis on November 12th, 1906. This flight won him the accolade “first person to fly in Europe.”
His first production aircraft weighed in at 242 pounds.
Workhorse Dragonfly Rancher Takes on Heavier Duties — Aerial Work LSA?
You may not know this Dragonfly airplane but I do. Very well. Since before it was called Dragonfly, I followed the development of this unusual aircraft by Bobby Bailey. You probably don’t know him either but he’s one of the most inventive light aircraft designers. A man of very few words, he prefers to create than to talk about it.
Dragonfly is an important icon in the hang gliding community. This aircraft was purpose-built to tow hang gliders aloft. At a place near Sun ‘n Fun called Wallaby Ranch, this happens nearly every day of the year. Proprietor Malcolm Jones founded “the Ranch” in 1992. He has a fleet of Dragonflys that he uses to tow up experts, students learning to fly, or almost anyone wanting to get an introduction to hang gliding.
Dragonfly has been fantastically productive, towing so many thousands of flights that I doubt they could be accurately counted.
Sexy Arion Lightning Taildragger; a Beautifully-Done Homebuilder Project
I readily admit I find Arion’s Lightning LS-1 (the Special LSA model designation) one of the most handsome in the Light-Sport fleet …which is saying something as we enjoy dozens and dozens of quite beautiful aircraft in this sector. It’s also all-American, referencing its design and manufacturing.
Lightning lives up to its name, running easily to the 120-knot maximum for LSA, especially when powered with a very muscular six-cylinder, 120 horsepower Jabiru 3300 powerplant.
Every Lightning to date has been a tricycle gear airplane and, honestly, for most pilots, that is the right choice. However, like many aviators, I love the look of a tail dragger so when I stumbled across the one you see in the photos, I did a double take. Whoa! That looks hot!
What you see here is a product of seven years of work by builder/owner Mike Lotz. I asked him to tell me about it and he offered enough that I’m going to let him tell his story.
Summertime is Float Flying Time; Legend Cub Has the Gear
When summer rolls around and the sweat rolls off, it’s a perfect time to think about float flying. In the Light-Sport Aircraft or light kit-built airplane space, you are lucky to have a broad number of choices. This includes seaplanes (with boat hulls), floatplanes (land planes equipped with floats) or either of those on aircraft such as weight-shift trikes.
Legend Cub is a modernized version of the old Piper Cub. Sulphur Springs, Texas-based Legend was an early entrant to the LSA world. They’ve done well enough under the leadership of Darin Hart to occupy the #5 spot on our all-time-fleet ranking of Special LSA; they are one of only five LSA producers with more than 200 aircraft registered with FAA.
American Legend flew a float-equipped Legend Cub way back on March 11, 2005 even before the first Special LSA were accepted by FAA.
Legend’s floatplane offering boasts advantages. “It weighs less than comparable aircraft, cost less, and came with the added advantage of doors and windows on both sides of the cockpit,” observed the company.
SeaMax LSA Seaplane Builder, AirMax, Partners with Embry Riddle Aero U
Seamax will join Embry-Riddle Research Park’s Customized Business Acceleration Program, the aeronautical university based in Daytona Beach announced on July 3rd, 2017.
“This partnership will allow us to integrate Seamax into Embry-Riddle’s remarkable research and devel- opment cluster to further accelerate our technological and business capabilities” said Seamax CEO Gilberto Trivelato. “It will enable our company to leverage new features to our aircraft and to introduce more reliable products to aeronautical market.”
A great partner helps and the business concept with a major academic institution sounds good but what does it mean?
For AirMax, which recently reentered the U.S. market after a business reorganization (see recent article). it means a new American location for the Brazilian manufacturer. The company’s U.S. office will be housed at the John Mica Engineering Aerospace Innovation Complex, called MicaPlex, at Embry-Riddle’s Research Park adjacent to the Daytona Beach Campus. This location will allow the producer to work with current Research Park tenants and resident partners as well as access research facilities, technology and resources.
China’s Geely, Owner of Volvo, Acquires Terrafugia’s Light-Sport Aircraft Transition
In a familiar theme, a Chinese company has acquired an American aircraft company. Past purchases include Cirrus Design, Mooney, Glasair, and Continental Motors, among others.
This time news reports say a Chinese company bought a company from the light aircraft space: Terrafugia, maker of the Transition flying car, or as they prefer to call it, a roadable aircraft.
Geely is an automaker based in Hong Kong that bought the famed Swedish car maker, Volvo.
The Massachusetts airplane developer has put out slick video presentations of their newer-still model, the TF-X, a hybrid electric variation (video at bottom). I suspect it is this newer entry that has both automobile makers excited.
Terrafugia first announced their Transition roadable airplane in 2006, flying a proof-of-concept aircraft in 2009 along with a demonstration before attendees of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh in 2013. The Massachusetts company built a second-generation Transition prototype in 2012.
The Aero Adventure Continues — Aventura Light Seaplane Kit
Let’s make an important point right up front. Seaplanes cost more than land planes. A fully-built, ASTM-compliant LSA seaplane starts at $150,000 and can go way up from that point. With a boat hull and retractable gear, of course, these water birds cost more to manufacture.
Must seaplanes be so costly? Fortunately, no! Aero Adventure manufactures a surprisingly affordable light seaplane kit.
With the Suzuki-based AeroMomentum engine, you can get an Aventura in the air for less than $50,000 …yep, nose to tail, tip to tip, including a basic panel and powerplant for $49,000. Elect the super-popular Rotax 912 and the cost rises a bit to $55,000, at which level Aventura remains one of the major bargains in light aviation. Learn more about the AeroMomentum engine in this video.
AeroMomentum has a few choices for you, Alex indicated, including their 100 horsepower AM 13 model or the 117 horsepower AM 15.
Your “Light-Sport” Quad Awaits, and It’s Affordable (kinda, sorta)
Update: Unknown at the time this article was posted, Viking Aircraft Engines reports it provides the powerplant for SureFly. —DJ July 5, 2017
News from the Paris Air Show probably does not interest you too much, unless you care about the airliner you will fly in eight years from now. However, one article caught my interest because of a few references. (The article I found is available here.)
Here’s the parts that grabbed me:
(1) “We’re hoping it can be a light-sport aircraft type of licence,” said developing company CEO Steve Burns. “We want to keep it minimal, and we believe it’s easy enough to fly to do that.”
(2) It will be pilot-operated; controls are said to be minimal, with buttons for up/down altitude adjustment, and a joystick for forward, sideways and yaw.
(3) The company aims to bring the SureFly to market at a price of just $200,000.
SeaMax Light-Sport Aircraft Seaplane Returns to American Market—Pilot Report
SeaMax from Brazil has been somewhat absent in recent years. I will spare you the detail but the company used a lot of energy to repel an undesired takeover. In recent months that was resolved and the company is now ready to move forward smartly.
SeaMax was an early LSA to meet the consensus standards as required by FAA. The first was the Mermaid in February 2006. Second was the Colyaer Freedom on January 2007. On Christmas Day 2007, SeaMax became the third.
However, of those three only SeaMax has remained in regular production for the last ten years. More recently, SeaMax was followed by SeaRey, Super Petrel, and A5 as ASTM-compliant LSA seaplanes. See our SLSA List for all aircraft shown in sortable columns.
At Sun ‘n Fun 2017, I did a video interview with designer Miguel Rosario that you can watch below.
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