The U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in October 2004 was the first event to focus exclusively on Light-Sport Aircraft.
ou never get a second chance to make a first impression. With that in mind, you might ask how visitors regarded the first U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, held in Sebring, Florida, from October 28-31, 2004. The Expo was the first of its kind aiming at the new Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) segment, and it was a focused event, featuring only LSAs and ultralights. Is that two strikes against it or two good reasons for it to succeed?
From what I could see, those who attended the Sebring event were satisfied. Set aside for the moment reports elsewhere that the show was sparsely attended. It was the first of its kind. And as word of mouth is accepted to be the best marketing tool for shows, the attendance figures should present no surprise. The vendors were satisfied, and visitors also seemed to feel good about the selection of aircraft, the availability and ease of demo flights and the wide array of educational forums.
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Tom Ivicevich’s Wright Flyer
The Wrightness of one man’s dream
On December 17, 2003, Tom Ivicevich’s Wright Flyer won’t represent the only attempt to recreate the brothers’ famous accomplishment. Nor will he be the only Wright pilot flying cross-country to arrive at the sand dune shrine in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. But Ivicevich will do it all without major sponsorships. And he intends to fly coast to coast in his enhanced version of the original Wright Flyer.
This is one man’s dream, and he is well underway to reaching his goal.
Creating Interest
In January this year, Ivicevich’s 5¼8-scale Flyer flew while being towed by a 1930 Model A pickup truck at Redding Municipal Airport in California. The 190-pound aircraft took readily to the air at 25 mph.
In February, Ivicevich announced, “I am now organizing the start of construction for the full-size Flyer.” Next year, he plans to launch from Torrance, California, and make his way across the country.
All the Plane You May Want
Over the years, Titan Aircraft has made their Tornado a familiar aircraft seen at flight parks and airports around the nation. Since it was introduced in ’91, the sleek, efficient plane has evolved into a variety of models.
This month we examine the fine work of Roger Bacon who created a lovely red-and-white Tornado II 912, powered by the 100-hp Rotax 912S 4-stroke powerplant expected to be commonplace on light-sport aircraft. Bacon’s airplane is licensed in the Amateur-built category but its facts and figures suggest it could be flown with FAA’s proposed Sport Pilot certificate (until FAA’s new rule is introduced, a private pilot’s certificate or better is required).
Usually I prefer to fly a factory airplane to make sure it correctly represents what a buyer might receive. However, Bacon’s model is so well done, Titan Aircraft encouraged a test flight. Thanks to Bacon for his willingness to let me take his pride and joy aloft.
Hybrid Powered Chute
As focus sharpens on FAA’s proposed Light-Sport Aircraft regulation, the first aircraft segment to complete an ASTM airworthiness consensus standard is powered parachutes. While these aircraft are simpler, which helped speed the process, participating manufacturers got together well and hammered out their certification rules efficiently.
Summit Powered Parachutes of Canada hasn’t yet chosen to enter the Light-Sport Aircraft arena. They aren’t worried, just wary of new regulations. In fact, the company started work under England’s BCAR S regulation. Just recently, Summit was working to qualify for German DHV certification. They see no great challenge passing the proposed U.S. powered parachute standards, as currently defined.
Fortunately, the proposed Light-Sport Aircraft is not the only destination in sport aviation. It may be part of the spectrum of aviation regulations.
We’re seeing more new designs tuned to Part 103. And the Amateur-Built 51% rule will still allow many 2-seat ultralights to be built and flown as they are today.
Simple Sprint Pleasures
Excelling at “Just For Fun”
Going back to our roots and the dandy little ultralights that have given in-flight satisfaction to so many, we’re going to take a look at one of those aircraft, Quicksilver’s MX Sprint.
Some veteran pilots call the MX Sprint “humble,” but it is one of those “original” ultralight aircraft that simply won’t go away, and it shouldn’t. Why? Because the Sprint still offers a joyful flying experience that redefines boring holes in the sky. You pilot a Sprint in relative ease and at remarkable low cost, and once price enters the discussion, many ultralights show their value clearly.
Many in light-sport aviation are realizing that aircraft certified Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft (ELSA) and Special Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSAs), even when approved under a simplified, industry-created, ASTM-guided program, will be rather expensive aircraft. Some sleek fiberglass creations are reaching toward the six-figure mark – an unbelievable development given that ultralights have historically traded in a range of $8,000 to $35,000, the latter being a superbly equipped, Rotax 912-powered machine.
Quicksilver’s GT500 Qualifier
Quicksilver’s GT 500 is ready for sport pilots
In the automotive world, GT stands for Grand Touring and that may be an appropriate comparison for the GT 500 from Quicksilver Aircraft Manufacturing. With the unlimited view from the front seat of this tandem two-seater, touring in the GT 500 is definitely a treat.
When the sport pilot/light-sport aircraft (SP/LSA) final rule arrives on the aviation scene, this top-of-the-line model from the longtime Southern California ultralight manufacturer may well be one of the first available ready-to-fly light-sport aircraft (LSA). Quicksilver co-owner Carl von Hirsch has indicated the company will build the GT 500 as a ready-to-fly Special LSA. It will also offer the strutbraced MX Sport IIS as a LSA entry.
You might say the GT 500 is preapproved; in 1993 the tandem, two-seat aircraft received both a type and production certificate in the Primary Category (see sidebar). It’s pretty safe to say that the design will quickly pass muster under the FAA-mandated LSA consensus standards under development by ASTM International.
Sabre’s New Wildcat
Smoother and More Refined
Sabre Aircraft’s Wildcat is an evolving story of ultralight aircraft development. It also speaks to the increasing maturity of the light aviation industry.
For years, Sabre Aircraft’s sales of their various trike models may have been the largest of any U.S. manufacturer. As 2003 ended the company was reporting delivery of some 700 ultralights.
The company has long offered a good flying, simple trike with a modest price tag. Proprietor and designer Richard Helm made steady improvements to his Sabre Elite and Sabre 340 designs. But he took no major strides forward.
The vigorous pace of Sabre trike sales and the company’s need to stay on top of manufacturing issues can explain a drawn-out development period. Little time was left over for projects such as getting an entirely new trike ready for market.
That didn’t stop Helm. He kept working on elements of what would eventually become the Wildcat.
Breese With HKS Engine Is A Winner
Twenty-something years of ultralight flying have seen many changes take place in our ultralights. At the beginning of the ultralight industry we had craft such as Eagles, Weedhoppers, and Quicksilvers powered by engines like the 15-hp Yamaha, Mac 101, and Chrysler. Of these, only Quicksilver remains vibrant.
Here in 2004, we have aircraft like the Breese DS with its 60-hp HKS 700E 4-stroke engine. It may look like a Quicksilver but it’s a different flying animal. M-Squared’s Jay Stevens gave me a checkout in the single-seat Breese with its Japanese 4-stroke powerplant and it proved to be a very satisfying experience.
Strong and Powerful
The resemblance to Quicksilver, especially the California company’s strut-braced model, is obvious to most ultralight veterans but Breese manufacturer M-Squared has steadily changed their design. Looks, therefore, can be deceiving.
The use of struts first set apart the designs of Paul Mather, proprietor of M-Squared. A tailplane that uses no cable bracing added to the different appearance.
On An Escapade
Just Aircraft’s Excapade … certificated in England and ready for sport pilots!
Southwestern Idaho has long been a hub of aircraft activity. With ranches and towns settled in great distances, it’s not surprising that aviation, once an established mode of transportation, quickly became popular in that part of the west. It’s also not surprising, then, that the area has been a hub of aircraft building activity. Here’s the story of one aircraft that’s evolved from that heritage.
In 1983, a two-seat, steel tube and fabric aircraft called the Avid Flyer made its first appearance at EAA’s annual convention. Describing the new design in the October 1983 issue of EAA Sport Aviation, then editor Jack Cox wrote, “Dan Denney of Boise, Idaho, was the person with the idea from which sprang the Avid Flyer. He wanted ‘something between ultralights and homebuilts’|(and) Dan had a friend uniquely qualified to transform that (idea) into|an airplane, Dean Wilson.”
What Denney and Wilson demonstrated to the fly-in crowd that year might be called the forerunner of the pending light-sport aircraft category|even at a time when ultralights were still gaining their foothold.
Hawk looks Good in Wood!
Not all Light-Sport Aircraft will be composite.
Beautiful imported aircraft like the CT2K, Mirage, Jabiru, or Kolb Sport seem to best represent what many pilots imagine when they hear the words “light-sport aircraft.” These shapely composite designs are speedy and modern looking. Yet we’d be foolish to ignore the entire fleet of amateur-built light-sport aircraft (LSA) candidates. One of these is Fisher Flying Products’ Dakota Hawk.
Wood Still Works!
The Dakota Hawk is a simple, wood-structure light aircraft covered in fabric. Sound familiar? Sound comfortable and well understood? You bet it does.
While the Dakota Hawk may not be seen as a “modern” design, neither is it a vintage aircraft like Fisher’s fascinating Tiger Moth replica. Instead, most pilots probably link the Dakota Hawk to a golden era of general aviation when Piper Cubs, Taylorcrafts, and Luscombes were the darlings of light flight.
Regardless of what regulatory program it operates under, this high-wing taildragger is a sweet flier that will address what many pilots want out of aviation.
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