Flying light aircraft to Cuba seems to be a kind of new normal. Whatever the politics of the relations between governments, the fact remains that pilots enjoy using their aircraft and want to fly to interesting destinations. To many, Cuba is one of those places, a reasonably short flight from the USA… albeit over a stretch of mighty ocean.
“Exploring new destinations and sharing the joy of flight are two of the key driving forces behind Cruiser Aircraft Inc. So when plans were announced for the first VFR Air Rally,” the company announced, “Cruiser Aircraft.eu CEO Oscar Starinsky and Thomas Schrade president of the company’s U.S. presence knew they had to be a part of it.” Cruiser Aircraft is a relatively new entity — seen earlier this year at the Sebring Expo. The new enterprise is the exclusive western hemisphere importer of Czech Sport Aircraft’s SportCruiser.
Starinsky and Schrade saw the rally as an opportunity to forge new relationships and take the first steps in revitalizing the once vibrant general aviation community in Cuba.
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Just Aircraft …No “Just” About It. SuperSTOL Leaps Aloft.
CubCrafters now leads the field for Special LSA (see this report to learn more) thanks significantly to their early installation of the 180 horsepower Titan engine. Outback Shock is starting making waves in the sky with their impressive entry. Outback with Shock options is sold in America by SportairUSA.
Both these companies are to be congratulated for advancing the light aircraft field, but one aircraft really lit this space on fire: Just Aircraft and their ground-breaking SuperSTOL. Just Aircraft went beyond vintage appeal by extending SuperSTOL ability with several distinctive features.
“The dual slatted wing significantly enhanced performance and slow flight control,” said design engineer Troy Woodland. His SuperSTOL wing design incorporates self-deploying leading edge slats and wide span Fowler flaps to increase stall range. SuperSTOL also uses vortex generators to further stretch slow flight performance and handling (photo).
“This provides access to considerably more off-airport landing sites, making the SuperSTOL one of the most versatile backcountry machines out there,” Troy added.
Sleek, Sexy Electric Light-Sport Seaplane
AirMax SeaMax — Icon A5 — Vickers Wave — MVP — Lisa Akoya… you only need look at the best promoted brands to see that arguably the most innovative ideas in light aircraft are coming from the LSA seaplane sector. Each of these is a great example of visionary engineering.
Others LSA or light kit seaplane developments — Searey, Mermaid, ATOL Avion, Aero Adventure, among others — are somewhat more conventional but that’s reassuring to some potential buyers. All these names have one enormous advantage. They have practical field experience. Of the five in the first paragraph, only SeaMax has a longer period of use by owners in regular operation.
Now consider Equator Aircraft P2 Xcursion, an electric hybrid seaplane with several compelling ideas. I wrote about this in an article two years ago; now we have an update.
Rotax 915 iS Light Aircraft Engine: Testing & Award
Surely all readers know that Rotax-brand engines dominate the light aircraft landscape. The company owns something like 75% or more of the global market and close to that in the USA. Some worthy competitors are keeping the pressure on, but Rotax continues forward. The engine-to-follow is their new turbo-intercooler-fuel injected 135-horsepower 915 iS variant.
Rotax Aircraft Engines first announced this new model at AirVenture 2015; see our video interview for details and go to the official 915 iS page for even more.
In the press conference where the engine was unveiled, many in the standing-room-only audience were airframe manufacturers. As soon as the management and engineering team was done presenting, they quickly swarmed over the powerplant. You could almost see the wheels turning in their minds as they contemplated how they could fit and use this machine in their aircraft.
That was almost two years ago — AirVenture Oshkosh is only about 75 days away!
Google’s Larry Page Building an Ultralight? Yes!
Mainstream media outfits exploded with news of Google’s flying car. Although such news outlets rarely seem to notice recreational aviation other than when an accident occurs, the reports I read did a respectable job of covering flying car projects we already knew about (reported here and here earlier; some projects have advanced, some have dropped out, and others have arrived).
One glance at the images tells you this is no “flying car,” as no car is involved. More accurately, Kitty Hawk’s Flyer is an ultralight vehicle in the water thrill craft or all-terrain vehicle category … making it sort of one of “ours,” if I’m permitted to stretch the possessive.
Funded by Google founder, Larry Page — an uber rich tech personality — Kitty Hawk is not simply an exploratory project. They actually plan to sell this cool little rig. Flyer is an open-seated, 220-pound empty weight octocopter with seat (saddle?) for one person.
Remos Light-Sport Aircraft Has a New Owner: Stemme
On April 13, 2017, only briefly after the Aero Friedrichshafen show ended, LSA manufacturer Remos has a major announcement. “Remos has a New Owner,” exclaimed the German company on their website home page.
Stemme and Remos decided to work together more closely. “The only logical step was to merge both companies. Stemme AG ist the new owner of Remos AG. Remos now is a 100% subsidiary of Stemme,” said Stemme CEO Paul Masschelein. Stemme’s facility in Strausberg and the Remos facility in Pasewalk will continue to operate.
To reassure customers old and new, Masschelein added, “The Remos GX is a major part of our plans for the future.”
Both companies are referring to the move as a “merger.” This transaction follows a cooperation beginning in 2014 when Remos AG began producing structural composite parts for Stemme.
“The agreement has been unanimously approved by both companies’ supervisory boards,” they reported.
Here Comes FX1 Light Aircraft from Italy
In the late 1990s, the Italian JetFox 97 flew as an evolved ultralight. Resembling the FlightStar that sold around 1,000 units in all configurations, JetFox differed by enclosing the engine and cabin. Instead of a simple tail boom the European ultralight had an aft fuselage among other refinements. As Light-Sport erupted into the marketplace, JetFox appeared to slip away. However, good ideas can be recycled and revived. Such appears to be the case for FX1.
John Hunter has extensive experience with Drifter, AirCam, and several Aeroprakt models. Recently, he has been in Italy visiting Innovaviation to conduct the first test flights.
Created by JetFox designer, Alfredo Di Cesare, FX 1 is a modern aircraft cabin and fuselage structure made primarily of light weight carbon-graphite composite with wings and tail built from aluminum. Under the shapely skin is a cage of welded chromoly steel that provides robust occupant protection.
Alfredo wrote, “FX1 is a fourth-generation sport plane [that] evolved from successful European designs of the last three decades.” Using computer-aided design FX1 “has been carefully engineered to optimize all aspects of a proven configuration.”
Additional details including many more photos plus design considerations can be found on Innovaviation’s website.
He Built and Test Flew Airplanes for You!
We lost one of the good ones recently. You may not have met or even know this man, but you certainly know — and may absolutely love — the airplanes he created.
We say a sad and final farewell to Professor Luigi “Gino” Pascale.
While it is somewhat melancholy to bid farewell to this man of short stature but giant achievements, he did what he loved for seven decades and until very near the time of his death. None of us can ask for much more than that.
Luigi is also succeeded by family members who continue to run and expand the operation he began with his brother Giovanni so many years ago. Officially he was chief preliminary design officer of Costruzioni Aeronautiche Tecnam but Tecnam team members remember him fondly as the heart and soul of Tecnam. He was 93 at his passing.
Professor Luigi — as I heard several Tecnam employees refer to him — got his start in aviation designing model airplanes way back in the 1930s.
Bristell
Bristell USA distributes the highly-refined Bristell aircraft in North America. The Czech-built aircraft is a 5th generation design with excellent performance, wonderful handling, and a most appealing shape. Other airplanes may look similar but Bristell has gone far beyond.
The Future of Flying… Could It Happen?
Two forms of flying are racing at us at increasing speed. This is both scary and promising at once. What can we expect? My crystal ball is no better than yours, but let me tell you what I can imagine may be headed our way.
I refer to two generally unrelated activities in the air: autonomous aircraft and FPV drones. Most pilots to whom I’ve spoken seem intrigued by these innovations and a few are enjoying their quadcopters, myself included.
Others are not so sure if they like the idea of either unmanned but man-carrying aircraft or a swarm of drones buzzing about the airport or neighborhood. I understand this viewpoint. Most of us treasure our privacy and don’t want it invaded.
Yet I invite you consider the following scenario… perhaps 3-10 years in the future.
Think about why you like recreational flying, in your LSA, light kit, or ultralight.
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