Web stats showed a strong response to my article about Ukraine-based light aircraft builders continuing on even as the missiles fly and the bombs fall around them. The situation is terrifying and the future uncertain but the stories we don’t hear sometimes involve courageous people in the recreational aircraft industry.
In the middle of the last decade, long before Putin’s aggression, LSA market leader Flight Design went through a German-imposed reorganization. While difficult, the company emerged stronger and more stable.
In development through this challenging time, Flight Design unveiled their new F-series, starting with their two-seat LSA F2 model at Aero Friedrichshafen 2019. They also displayed an F2e powered by electric motor. Those who examined these displays could readily see the spacious fuselage was built with a four seater in mind for the future. Things were progressing well…
Then, WAR!
Some experts believe ample signs existed that Russia might invade Ukraine yet to ordinary individuals busy living their own lives, hostilities seemed to erupt suddenly.
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Big, Beautiful, Powerful — The Highly Finished Montaer MC01 with Rotax 915iS
Pilots love airplanes (duh!). Pilots also love engines, especially when they are truly powerful. So, perhaps Brazilian manufacturer Montaer made a market-savvy move by moving quickly to incorporate Rotax’s most potent engine, their 915iS producing 141 horsepower in a turbocharged and intercooled package. The result of Bruno de Oliveira‘s design work is MC01 915 as seen in the nearby photos and in more detail in the video below.
Other powerful engines are available, for example, the even-higher-horsepower Titan from Continental Aerospace. These powerplant designs are sharply different because the Rotax uses a smaller displacement and is physically more compact. The 9-series is also significantly less noisy and it boasts the latest technology from an engine builder cranking out thousands of engines a year (when counting the many non-aircraft engines the Austrian company makes).
I wrote that Bruno moved quickly. That’s because this is a new model, first introduced to Americans only last year.
Can a Minimal Aircraft Deliver Maximum Enjoyment …Affordably? Yes, North Wing Does It!
A Message of Thanks
on a Day of Thanksgiving
Does a “simple aircraft” seem a contradiction in modern aviation? Today, a mid-range LSA is commonly equipped with sophisticated digital avionics, autopilot, articulating fowler flaps, carbon airframes, powerful engines, numerous safety items and quite a bit more. Doesn’t everyone want those features?
Is is even possible to fly an aircraft without all these advanced devices and services? Who would want such a simple aircraft?
You might be surprised. Over the years I’ve come to believe that Part 103 ultralights (see a lengthy list of 103s) are selling at roughly the same rate as Light-Sport Aircraft (market stats). I frequently get pushback when making this statement but I believe part of the answer is that these aircraft don’t fly where larger, more powerful, faster, noisier aircraft fly. Most 103 aviators fly out of fields or airparks.
Globetrotting By Weight Shift Trike — Adventurers Fly 100,000 Miles In An Open Cockpit
Rotax’s 9-series engines have propelled several aircraft in round-the-world flights. One major user of the Austrian powerplants is The Airplane Factory in South Africa. They’ve done so many circumnavigations of the planet, you could be excused for losing count.
However, very long flights in an open cockpit airplane are rare. The very first such involved four open cockpit Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, which Donald Douglas modified from his DT-2 torpedo bomber.
In April 1924, eight U.S. Army Air Service pilots and mechanics in four airplanes left Seattle, Washington, to carry out the first circumnavigation of the globe by air. Only one completed the entire journey 175 days after 74 stops and flying about 27,550 miles.
Amazingly, 35 replacement engines, along with numerous spare parts, had been distributed throughout the world to assist the effort.
In contrast, our trike adventurers had but one engine and only each other to support a voyage four times as long as the 1924 group.
Cross Country Delivery of AeroJones CTLS Light-Sport Aircraft Represents a “First” in China
American and European pilots can plan a trip across the continent with surprising ease and with great support from air traffic controllers, airport operators, and businesses that serve aviation. No one stops you to ask what you’re doing. You probably question why I even bother to write this because it’s so well understood.
Yes, those of us in countries where private aviation is well-established take for granted the privilege of flying cross country. In fact, it’s one of the great joys we love to experience. It’s a fantastic way to see the country. That’s simply doesn’t happen in China. …Or, it didn’t. Things are changing and one company has forged ahead despite the challenges.
This story involves a Taiwanese-origin, China-based company called AeroJones and involves the delivery of one of their CTLS aircraft to a customer. In the USA, this would never be news. In China, it most definitely is!
AeroJones’ Great Aerial Trek
After purchasing the rights, AeroJones builds the Flight Design CTLS for the Asia-Pacific market.
Aeroprakt and Aeros Continue Manufacturing Despite Senseless Destruction in Ukraine
The following story is one that moved me and might affect you similarly. I consider all recreational aviators anywhere in the world as fellow flying enthusiasts. Maybe you do, too? Whatever we fly, pilots share a love of aviation, regardless of what language we speak or what currency we spend.
I am flooded with admiration for those airplane producers in Ukraine who have courageously continued even as bombs fall and missiles fly. I have visited three Ukraine producers (some years ago) and I can only try to imagine what they are experiencing today.
In this article I want to shine a light on courageous efforts by regular Ukraine citizens to continue making aircraft that bring satisfaction to pilots in America and many other countries.
Aero Hang Gliders
and Nanotrikes
As you’ll hear in the first video below, I was told a compelling story about workers in Kyiv-based Aeros going to their factory pre-dawn, entering quietly, working with reduced lighting to be less conspicuous, and locking themselves in for the workday.
Montaer Aircraft USA
Montaer Aircraft USA
Aero Showcase — Day Two: Was This the First Mosaic LSA Show?
As I departed DeLand airport on Saturday at the close of Aero Showcase 2022, I recalled multiple conversations with attendees regarding the airplanes on display. Over and over I was asked if one of the displayed aircraft could benefit from a higher weight under Mosaic rules.
The short answer, I told them, is yes. A good many LSA were initially designed and subsequently tested to higher weights than the 1,320 pounds permitted under present FAA rules. What will happen to these 1,320-pound LSA when higher weight Mosaic LSA come out, some asked? Will these current LSA become obsolete?
I believe they will not, because any LSA you buy today will work just as well under Mosaic. It may not carry as much or have some other attribute, but neither will current LSA cost more as will larger and better equipped Mosaic LSA.
However, many — perhaps a third, maybe half — of all LSA on the market today have actually been constructed and tested to carry somewhat higher weights.
Aero Showcase — Day One: Inaugural Event Starts Well with Sales Logged
I have long recognized that one of the toughest things a group can do is decide to launch and operate a new event. I think this is probably true outside of aviation as well but it’s certainly tough to do with airshows where weather is one of many factors you need to consider.
With that in mind I would say that Day One of Aero Showcase 2022 — the rebadged and revised version of the five-year-old DeLand Sport Aviation Showcase — should be judged a success.
Coming Together
As I arrived on Friday morning, a weekday and therefore a workday for many, I was pleasantly surprised to see nearly every airplane present had a small cluster of people around it. Organizers benefited from a beautiful day in the mid-70s and the outlook for Saturday is equally good. Weather is forecast in the upper-70s with mostly sunny skies and almost no chance of rain.
First-Ever Montaer MC01 915iS to Debut at Season-Finale Aero Showcase This Weekend
When I asked “Mosaic LSA?” in the lead image of this article, was I simply being provocative? Or, is the soon-to-be-debuted Montaer MC01 with Rotax 915iS a forecast of what is to come with Mosaic?
Hopefully the title did get your attention but it asks a legitimate question for buyers of new potentially-Mosaic-compliant Light-Sport Aircraft.
The reason I feel this way is not merely the 141-horsepower engine Montaer designer Bruno Oliveira installed on the nose of his three-door LSA (see earlier review, before 915).
A more significant reason is that this airplane is one of several that may be able to re-declare compliance and get a substantial weight increase. It will already have a powerful-enough engine to lift a heavier load.
So, buyers of this airplane (and I repeat, MC01 will not be the only such choice) may be able to acquire a present-day 1,320-pound LSA and later get it bumped to perhaps 1,600-1,700 pounds, maybe more.
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