The age of Light Personal Aircraft is not far off in the future but is that where “fast-glass” LSA are headed?
Certainly, some LSA producers have ambitions for four seat cruisers or tougher bush aircraft or larger load-carrying aircraft to satisfy pilots that want more capability from their aircraft.
Those goals are fine, of course, but they are not what stimulates leaders and engineers at JMB Aircraft, a restless bunch that loves flying their screaming machine as fast as they can.
How fast is it? I went aloft with dealer Kyle Schluter to find out.
I also learned about the fuller product line and what Sport Pilot certificate holders can do to own and fly one of these impressive aircraft. (Article updated 7/17/21)
Orange Lightning in the Sky
Maybe it doesn’t look familiar but VL3 has already been seen by Yankee pilots under the brand name Gobosh and with the model designation 800XP.
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Newest SLSA in the Fleet: Flight Design’s F2 (also a Precursor to Mosaic?)
Taking a welcome break from FAA news, let’s check out our favorite topic: cool new airplanes.
Welcome to the New F2
“Wait,” you exclaim! “F2 isn’t new.” Excellent, you’ve been keeping up.
What you don’t know is that Flight Design’s latest and greatest just earned FAA acceptance, winning a Special Airworthiness certificate as the latest Special LSA to enter the market.
Announcing Number 156 on our SLSA List.
Flight Design put years into this thorough evolution of their market-leading model and it has so many new qualities, we present two videos below trying to tell you about all of them.
Now Available as a
Ready-to-Fly Special LSA
“On July 8th, 2021 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the first production Flight Design F2-LSA to reach the USA was inspected by an FAA representative and issued a certificate of airworthiness as a Special Light Sport Aircraft,” beamed Flight Design USA leader Tom Peghiny.
FAA’s Big Stumble — While the Debate Rages, Students Don’t Get Trained
UPDATE 7/8/21 — BREAKING NEWS:
EAA issued a report today saying FAA took some steps to resolve this matter, but it is far from an elegant solution and does not fully address the problem. You can get a lot from Pelton’s concluding remark but I urge reading the whole article. ••• This thing is far from over, I suspect.
Here’s what Jack wrote, “This entire episode is a scary example of how new interpretations of the regulations can upend the entire community. While this short-term fix allows operations to continue, it never should have come to this point. Creating more than 30,000 new LODAs and exemptions is a paperwork exercise that does nothing to advance safety.”
A most worrisome thing happened recently and it definitely fired up journalists in cyberspace.
FAA’s Orlando Flight Standards District Office took an organization called Warbirds Adventures to court over them charging students they were instructing in a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk.
A Threat? Yes, Possibly! Density Altitude Commands Your Respect
Normally, this website focuses tightly on airplanes and the equipment and services needed to keep them flying. However, on regular occasions, I receive questions about density altitude and light aircraft. A surprising number believe LSA perform less well than legacy airplanes in these conditions. (They’re wrong.)
Since I also hear questions regarding techniques to fly in mountains, why not combine these two challenges? This information can be useful to anyone who flies any kind of aircraft anywhere in the world.
To provide the best information, I went to an expert. I know a thing or two about airplanes but Paul Hamilton, founder of the Sport Aviation Center, is an expert trainer, not only writing and making videos on the subject for years but regularly providing flight instruction. Further demonstrating his versatility he does so in three-axis and weight shift.
I asked Paul to compose a short lesson about density altitude and he quickly complied.
Electric Record UPDATE — Record Set, Trek Continues…
“WE DID IT!” boasted the team from down under!
“We are thrilled to announce that this afternoon we achieved a World Endurance Record for an electric aircraft, breaking the previous mark set in Germany last year.” (Note: Official recognition always takes more time.)
Pipistrel distributor Michael Coates, wrote, “South Australian-based Eyre to There Aviation … Flying a Pipistrel Alpha Electro plane, arrived in Port Augusta late yesterday (Friday June 25) after breaking the previous mark of 750 kilometers on the leg between Shoalwater Point Station and Whyalla.”
Lead by Eyre to There Aviation Managing Director, Barrie Rogers, the team will continue to Adelaide aiming to fly 1,350 kilometers by the end of the journey.
More than Distance
“Along the way, the team has also broken other world records for electric aircraft,” Coates reported, “including longest over-water flight (30.8 kilometers); furthest distance in a 24-hour period (330 kilometers); and fastest speed between waypoints (177 kilometers per hour ground speed).”
Barrie reported he and his team battled strong winds and rain as well as below zero morning temperatures to achieve the record.
Warp Speed! — Designer Alberto Porto Says, “Make It So” with Risen SuperVeloce
Most of us would be mighty pleased to sit comfortably and gaze upon our pace-setting aircraft. As reported recently, Alberto Porto, head of Porto Aviation, flew to a higher altitude and managed to squeak past the 400 kilometer per hour (true airspeed) barrier in his supersleek Risen powered by the turbocharged Rotax 914 engine.
Most of us, however, are not Alberto. Apparently, this man does not care to sit idly and admire his past achievements.
When you’ve already designed what may be the fastest LSA-type aircraft in the world, what do you do next?
Shorten Risen’s wing span, install a more powerful engine and go even faster. Duh!
Original Risen wingspan: 29.5 feet — Risen SuperVeloce wingspan: 26.9 feet. How much difference results when span loses 31 inches and power increases 40%? Speed demons want to know.
Can LSA Fly So Fast?
The speed olympics are going on in Europe where authorities do not restrict the velocity of what they call “ultralights” or “microlights.” In the USA, very similar models are called Light-Sport Aircraft, except LSA are trapped by that darn 120 knot speed limit.
Going the Distance on Battery Power — Record Attempt Reveals the State of Art in Electric Propulsion
Does Alpha have the tiny little motor that could?
Article updated 6/22/21 —DJ
That sounds like an old childhood story (“The Little Engine that Could…”) but here we are in the new millennia with electric cars, huge wind farms, vast solar collector projects, biofuels, and more. Subsidies are pouring in to electric projects around the globe. Hundreds of developers building “urban air transport” multicopters are raising millions of dollars.
Will human-flown conventional aircraft join the electric parade? One company has pursued the electric dream further than most.
This story is about a group in Australia that aimed to set a new world record, one of a rather different sort.
In this case the team plans a “record attempt flying a Pipistrel Alpha Electro plane,” Australia and USA Pipistrel dealer Michael Coates wrote. “[The flight] will start at Parafield Airport at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday June 19, 2021.” Total distance, Michael added, will be 1,150 kilometers, which “will shatter the previous record of 750 kilometers flown in September 2020 in Germany.”
This project hopes to break the previous distance by more than 50 percent.
Rotax 915iS Proves a Winner — “Best Powertrain Concept in the Light-Sport Aviation Industry”
How does modern-day Rotax relate to the Wright Brothers? Here’s a trivia test for light aviation enthusiasts.
Answer: Both started out in the bicycle business.
A little over a year ago, the engine builder from Gunskirchen, Austria celebrated their 100th anniversary. Check this article that contains a link to a beautifully-presented history of the company. It also describes how the company got its name.
In production for more than 30 years, Rotax’s 9-series engine design was a significant departure from earlier aircraft engines.
The 9-series is physically smaller, uses liquid cooling, an electronic control unit, and a gearbox to change engine revolutions from 5,000 rpm to slower speeds that work for props. The 912 enjoys a much better power-to-weight ratio than familiar models such as Lycoming’s O-233. That veteran engine produces 100 horsepower (at 2300 rpm; higher power is available at increased revolutions) using 233 cubic inches of cylinder displacement.
Family Flying Adventure… AirCam Enthusiasts Flock to Gorgeous Jekyll Island, Georgia.
“Winds are going to be rather sporty,” observed AirCam developer, Phil Lockwood, as he and Robert Meyer and the AirCam team finalized arrangements for another fly-out, this one to Jekyll Island (09J).
The single runway near the resort island had a crosswind forecast for arrival day. When it comes from the east, air tumbles down over a tree line to disturb a smooth approach. The air was indeed “sporty.”
I’m an AirCam enthusiast even though I don’t own one. I earned my multi-engine rating in an AirCam some years ago and I’ll take any opportunity to fly one.
Numbering 300 AirCams
(…that’s 600 Rotax engines!)
Many of you know the story by now. AirCam was first developed to fly National Geographic photographers trying to document nature in Namibia. From what I can tell the entire country appears to be one enormous, dense jungle. Where ya gonna land?
Phil to the rescue.
LSA Update — Finland’s ATOL Avion… Ekolot Topaz Wins Another… Fresh SW-51 Video… New FAA Reg Update Video
Summer is fast approaching and for much of the northern hemisphere, that means seaplane flying. For all pilots, covid fear is dissipating and summer skies beckon.
In this LSA Update…
Learn about the return of Finland’s wood-and-composite LSA seaplane, now rebadged as Avion from new supplier Scandinavian Seaplanes (updated 6/15/21)
Check out another award for Ekolot’s handsome and deluxe Topaz
See a very fresh video of the impressive ScaleWings SW-51 in flight
Watch a video version of our recent FAA regulation update on Mosaic
As the globe slowly emerges from the dark cloud that was Covid, the light aviation industry is doing admirably to move forward with developments and improvements.
Come along for the read — check out these stories.
Atol is Back …with Avion
According to main man Anssi Rekula, “Finland is a true [paradise] of seaplane flying with 188,000 lakes, 45,000 miles of river and 4,000 miles of seafront.” That is surprisingly similar to the United States even though America is 29 times larger by area.
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