In the last couple years a rivalry erupted among companies in Europe aiming to be the fastest LSA-type aircraft*. I have previously reported on Porto Aviation and its fast-flying ways.
Setting aside the politics of FAI-recognized record flights, no question remains that designer Alberto Porto is determined to create a very fast-flying aircraft. Check this article with more about speed attempts and to see images of a fixed-gear version called Siren.
Gear up with an adjustable prop and flown at common cruise altitudes, it’s clear that Superveloce lives up to its name.
What could the typical pilot expect while flying Superveloce? Porto Aviation lists the cruise speed at 75% power from Rotax’s 915iS at 200 knots true airspeed at 9,000 feet. Compared to other LSA I have examined, this tops the list (although some other fast designs aren’t too far behind).
Porto Aviation, previously quartered in Switzerland, is now a bit further south in Italy.
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Aero Friedrichshafen Prepares to Open — Preview as Europe’s Top Show Takes Shape
Aero is open! Yesterday, after flying across the Atlantic and despite starting to run low on energy and affected by the time zone change, a small group of us eagerly took a walk through Aero’s cavernous 12 halls to get a early peek.
As I’ve observed many times, the night before, mere hours ahead of the show opening, the exhibits look chaotic. With packing boxes and parts strewn everywhere it seems impossible vendors can be ready in time. Aside from a few well-heeled organizations — those larger businesses that can pay outsiders to set up their exhibits ahead of time — most companies were scrambling furiously to be ready by opening day… which is now today.
Yet it always works, magically perhaps. Once again, late hours turned into a show by Wednesday the 19th, opening day. The show runs through Saturday the 22d. If you’re in Europe, I hope you’re coming.
Aero Friedrichshafen 2023 — JH Aircraft’s Popular Corsair Debuts e-Motion at Europe’s Best Show
OK, I admit it. I’m a huge fan of Aero Friedrichshafen. This show packs a lot of delight into four days and 12 gymnasium-sized exhibit halls.
In 2023, many of the aircraft on display are known to Americans. However, Europe tends to produce more proof-of-concept projects than we see in America. This is partly as European governments subsidize certain developments, such as when a designer engages a national university. The builder gets technical assistance. The students get real-life experience.
Help with these costs yields many interesting designs but few make it to market. However, novel ideas can find their way into other, marketed designs.
Other projects are carried, just like in America, by entrepreneurs that simply will not stop until they reach their goal. Jörg Hollmann of JH Aircraft is a driven engineer who has steadily developed and improved his super-light Corsair lookalike. For Aero 2023, he has something new… again!
GONE FLYING! — Affordable Aviation to Spread More Widely via Flying Magazine Channels
For a long time, my entire focus has been recreational aviation news. Normally, the news is about an aircraft, a new engine, or some innovative flying product. The news is rarely about the messenger, ByDanJohnson.com.
As many who attended Sun ‘n Fun 2023 learned and even more discovered via online news — Flying Media has acquired the ByDanJohnson aviation brand and all of the written, photographic, or video content created under the tagline, “By Dan Johnson.”
This content dates to 1976. Since the mid-1990s, much of this work migrated from print to the web. Work on the website began in 1999… a mere four years after the World Wide Web was birthed by the Netscape browser.
Building a website was very challenging then — we called it “stick-built,” as every line of code to make it work had to be written essentially from scratch. WordPress, which today delivers ByDanJohnson.com and about one-third of all websites worldwide, did not exist in 1999.
Magical Merlin Motorglider Goes Both Ways: Part 103 or Motorglider; Gas or Electric
Regular readers know I have closely followed the Merlin developments. I use plural because developer Chip Erwin has steadily built this single seat flying machine into a whole fleet of its own. At Sun ‘n Fun we saw a display of three airplanes in different variations.
Let’s begin with a focus on the modest cost of Merlin. I promote affordable aviation all day long. That word “affordable” means something different to every single pilot so every time I use the word someone is going to tell me, “It’s still too expensive.”
Look I get it. I’m a consumer, too. Plus, who doesn’t enjoy a deal? So here’s the short answer: “Finished Price: $34,000.” That’s a direct quote from Aeromarine-LSA. I know some may say that doesn’t work for them but in this day and age, that is a bargain for a ready-to-fly aircraft. When that buys an airplane built like Merlin Lite, one equipped the way Chip has configured it, I consider that one of the great values in aviation.
CubCrafters Votes for Rotax — New Carbon Cub UL Model Is First-Ever 916iS Installation
CubCrafters has never made an aircraft powered by Rotax. Images accompanying this article portray their very first example using the 9-series engine in a model intended for production. Most of their factory pilots or dealers have never flown behind a Rotax.
Yet Carbon Cub UL is also the first aircraft in the world to be fitted with the Austrian engine maker’s newest 916iS powerplant. Why did the Washington state company do this?
One main reason given by Brad Damm, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing, is because customers asked for it. However, Brad has several other good reasons, which he shared in the video below.
916iS Launch Customer
At Sun ‘n Fun 2023, CubCrafters introduced a new variant of its Carbon Cub aircraft line. Being developed with a special eye for international markets, the west coast company named it “Carbon Cub UL.”
“We invested in several new technologies to make the Carbon Cub UL even lighter and better performing than its predecessor, the Carbon Cub SS,” stated CubCrafters.
Sun ‘n Fun 2023, Day 3 — Four-Stroke Power for Part 103 Ultralights, Available Now
If I hear one thing over and over it is this: “I want a four-stroke engine for my Part 103 ultralight. Are any available?”
For years the answer was, “Well, brand XYZ offered one but they disappeared from the market some years ago. One such winner I flew was the Bailey four-stroke out of England. However, a visit to their website recently was not very productive. Regretfully, other four-stroke powerplants are rare (although for slightly larger airplanes, Chip Erwin’s V-Twin will soon add to the choices).
Are you out of luck trying to obtain a Part 103 four-stroke? NOPE!
Aero 1000 Engine
Fine Swiss Engineeering
Air-Tech, Inc., is one of my favorite companies. While I love the people behind this Louisiana company, it isn’t their deep expertise, long experience, or even an endearing sense of humor that surrounds the Bornes — a father and son team to envy.
Sun ‘n Fun 2023, Day 2 — Newest Special LSA Is Actually the Oldest: Junkers A50 Junior
In a splendid professional presentation, Waco Aircraft unveiled their newest vintage-style aircraft. Well, that’s close to factual. In truth, Junkers Aircraft is its own company, but as it shares common ownership, it’s OK to group these two vintage designs together, partly as they are both 100% built-in-America designs.
In Battle Creek, Michigan a European businessman, Dieter Morszeck, has invested more than $30 million to create a modern airplane factory capable of producing such complex yet handsome designs as the Waco biplane. For 2023, that facility has a new occupant, Junkers Aircraft. Both are owned by Dieter and this man is serious about aviation.
Mr. Morszeck made his money in the luggage business. His brand, Rimowa, is known widely for its corrugated exterior, leaving an earlier Junkers aircraft built similarly to be dubbed the “flying suitcase.” This is a delicious bit of serendipity because now his former luggage business can be expressed in an airplane… one that draws people’s attention wherever it shows up.
George Jetson Flying Machine — Now a Reality and a Qualifying Part 103 Ultralight?
Air taxis — eVTOLs — UAVs — UASs — UAMs. I like “multicopters,” but the name game continues.
Maybe these new-fangled flying contraptions have numerous (indecipherable) names because they’re still deciding which way they’re headed?
I believe aircraft like these are nearly inevitable and I not only don’t resist, I’m rather enthusiastic about them. I’d love to get picked up from my driveway and whisked by air to an appointment across town in minutes, free of clogged roads. C’mon, UberAir!
However, that dream may be years in the future. Oh, the technology is nearly ready now. It hasn’t been proven to be in-the-field robust yet but engineers know today most of what they need to make air taxis viable. Their much bigger challenge? Gaining public acceptance and winning regulatory approval. That could take a long time. Meanwhile…
What’s Here TODAY?!
Air taxis may be fuzzy in the distance but another class of these machines is nearly ready for market.
He Wrote the “Bible” — Now He’s Offering the Premium Training Option for Powered Parachutes
Recreational aviation can be hugely rewarding in many ways, but creating a well-functioning and useful business in this sector of flying has challenges.
Some who try eventually hit upon the right formula but no one says this is easy. Technology has been particularly helpful to smaller enterprises, especially those that serve customers widely dispersed across the country. Whatever you think of social media, the fact is they help those with specialized interests find people who can provide services.
One fellow has found his magic carpet. His instruction calendar has a few available slots in 2023 but he has already almost filled this year’s schedule book. How did one man succeed and who is this story about?
A Full-Service
Individual
I’ve known Roy Beisswenger, founder and proprietor of Easy Flight, for many years. I have long tracked his journalistic work for ultralights and LSA enthusiasts (Powered Sport Flying magazine) and we established a closer working relationship almost ten years ago as we sought change to regulations from FAA.
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