On Saturday, June 21 with a good crowd watching, an electric-powered trike took off and climbed into the FAI record book, or will after the organization’s normal process is followed. Let me state right up front that this story was recently released on AOPA’s ePilot written by our journalist friend Jim Moore. Despite appearing in the big member organization’s eNewsletter, the story was too cool for me to pass up for ByDanJohnson.com plus, as usual, I have an additional perspective to offer. The images are all courtesy of record-holder-to-be, Gary Davis. If you click the link above you can read Jim’s whole article; I encourage you to do so.
As Jim wrote Gary flipped the switch and flew, “a custom combination of a North Wing Stratus trike wing matched to an electric-powered trike frame designed by Randall Fishman.” We have a number of articles and videos about Randall’s pioneering work.
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Strutted Quicksilver on Full Lotus Floats
“It’s still the best,” is a phrase I could use referring to Quicksilver’s most-popular-of-all ultralights in general, the Sport 2S. Indeed it remains a delightful aircraft and the strutted construction appeals to many pilots. Or, I could be referring to flying an ultralight on floats, that being one of the very best ways to enjoy an ultralight. Or, I could be talking about both. You’ll want to read on and see.
I might also be talking about the strutted version of the venerable Quicksilver model being the best of the design series. Or, I might be talking about the innovative company representing the Quicksilver 2S on floats in central Florida. Every one of these statements is accurate in one way or another.
It was my pleasure to fly the Sport 2S on Full Lotus floats and it surely was a dandy experience. Is it the best? Well, it might be for you.
Icon Confirms Vacaville, California for Production
I have been following Icon Aircraft closely since I first met top gun Kirk Hawkins on the EAA Sport Pilot Tour back in 2005. Then he was one man with a business card and a dream. In the nine years following, Icon has become, well … an icon of light aviation. Almost everybody knows this (yes, I’ll write it) iconic company and their eye-catching A5 LSA seaplane. The southern California company reports more than 1,000 people have put down deposits. The first in line have been waiting quite some time to hear when their airplane will be built and now the company confirmed what we’ve reported earlier: they selected Vacaville, California to be their main production location — although component production will occur under the watchful eyes of successful GA builder, Cirrus Design, way up in North Dakota.
“After several years and an extensive nationwide search, I’m excited to announce that Vacaville and Solano County will be the new home of Icon Aircraft, Inc.,” reported CEO Hawkins.
Just on Fire! SuperSTOL Leads to 500th Kit
We all have favorites … foods, websites, movies, and of course, airplanes. I have favorites, too. This doesn’t mean my favorites are better than others, nor that anyone else may agree with me. That’s OK. Properly caveated, I have to say one of my favorite airplanes is Just Aircraft’s SuperSTOL. Flying it at last Sun ‘n Fun with head developer Troy Woodland was arguably my most enjoyable flying experience at the show, or for that matter, in recent memory. To state this carefully, airplanes have different capabilities so I don’t have an all-around #1 favorite but SuperSTOL is way up high on my list. Evidently, I am not the only one who feels strongly about the smile-factor of flying SuperSTOL. Honestly, what’s not to like? The plane flies docilely — even though it looks totally radical — and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Plus, the folks behind it are your salt-of-the-Earth, down-home types that you cannot help but like.
Aero 2014 Review … Starting to Think AirVenture
Life has settled down a little after the rush that began at the end of March. Five weeks back, Sun ‘n Fun was approaching to kick off the season of recreational flying.
Aero in Germany followed with only a one day break before boarding the airliner to Europe followed by plenty of follow-up and contemplating the hot and fast action. With a couple weeks of perspective and to answer a common question — How does the industry look in Europe? — I have some final observations.
I found five areas to consider and list them below. Among all the many wonderful aircraft I saw, two particular subgroups stood out for me personally, one for its sheer success and the other for its subtle return to a higher interest plateau.
I refer first to gyroplanes and secondly to, well … what to call them? How about simply “ultralights?” Even that word isn’t right because Ultralight in Europe means something quite different from ultralight (vehicle) in the USA.
Zenith’s CH 750 Is a Success In China
China, China, China … Americans hear a lot about this fast growing country although financial news outlets say growth is slowing as its economy matures. American pilots have been hearing plenty, too. Sometimes it seems like an unending list of companies (Cirrus Design, Continental Motors, Mooney Aircraft, several LSA seaplane manufacturers and various other enterprises) that report gaining Chinese investment. We have several times written about western light aircraft builders gaining approval to sell in China after meeting requirements from the country’s aviation authorities. We have even seen a number of Chinese-designed light aircraft some of which are exploring new new ideas. European and other aircraft are offered for sale at shows though deliveries remain modest. Behind all this bustle of activity Zenith Aircraft has been quietly collecting orders and making shipments. Indeed, they released fresh news about their success in China.
New SLSA (#135) is Quicksilver’s Sport S2SE
Once upon a time, a couple years before the SP/LSA was announced at AirVenture 2004, I thought the odds were high that Quicksilver would be the very first Special LSA to hit the market. Several other industry veterans agreed. Their GT500 was the very first to earn FAA’s Primary Category approval, back in 1993. This was a costlier effort than achieving ASTM compliance and so it seemed a done deal that Quicksilver would gain quick approval. I was wrong. Indeed, I was wrong by a dozen years. However, that’s over now as the Temecula, California company earned FAA acceptance for their Sport 2S side-by-side open-cockpit aircraft. In mid-April, FAA sent a letter saying all was well and the company can go forward with manufacturing. With their approval earned, Quicksilver’s S2SE is number 135 on our list of SLSA.
Will Escutia, president of Quicksilver Aeronautics, explained that the California company used “L-S2S” (the Light-Sport version of their strutted 2S) as the model name during the certification process.
Summer Is Here; Flying the Edra Super Petrel LS
Winter has finally released its icy grip on the northern states that were so punished over the past few months. Here in the “Sunshine State” of Florida, it feels like summer. So what do pilots do in the summertime, in Florida? Go fly seaplanes, of course? What else? Indeed, quite a flock of seaplanes and floatplanes converged on the central Florida city of Tavares, about 45 minutes driving time northwest of Orlando. Appropriately, the area is known as “lakes district” for all the bodies of water. City leaders portray the Tavares as “America’s Seaplane City” and to reinforce that, they have developed their lakefront to include a very welcoming seaplane base with bigger plans underway. On Saturday, April 26th more than 40 seaplanes flew in for the event. One of those was Edra Aeronautica’s Super Petrel LS, one of the newest Special LSA in the fleet. My friend and Spruce Creek Fly-in neighbor, Brian Boucher, is the North American representative for this interesting seaplane and I finally got my first flight in it.
Flying through the Great Halls of Aero 2014
Aero 2014 is history now but sorting through all the discoveries and reviewing hundreds of photos I shot will consume more time. Just to give a flavor of the diversity in the halls, I present some images below with photo captions. As time allows I will provide several articles about aircraft and concepts contained in the great halls of Aero. One topic I will not cover is the large number of radio control or other model airplanes I saw. In some years, such can take an entire gymnasium-sized hall by themselves … fascinating! Yet the image you see nearby is a shot taken by a small quad copter (photo inset) with its wide angle lens. Such tiny flying machines are surely part of our future and seeing things below is part of their mission (for better or worse). My LAMA Europe associate and friend, Jan Fridrich, asked a vendor to shoot the image you see, which would not have been possible by any means other than a hydraulic lift.
First Impressions at the 2014 Aero Friedrichshafen
From the outdoor event at Sun ‘n Fun we jetted across the Atlantic to go indoors for Europe’s amazing air “fair” (as they prefer in Europe versus “airshow”). Aero always manages to please and this year was no exception. My only objection was the very tight timing with Sun ‘n Fun, which left us packing up furiously on Sunday, gathering new clothes on Monday, and racing to the airport for a flight to Munich, Germany followed by some hours of driving after a night with no sleep. My wife Randee and I arrived at Aero 2014 by noon on opening day. Whew!
Both shows are must-go events in my coverage of Light-Sport, light kits, and ultralights. Next year will be even harder with Aero immediately preceding Sun ‘n Fun. Still, that’s a year away and I am pleased to be in Friedrichshafen, Germany for this excellent event.
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