The first time I ever saw Lazair fly — a fly-in at the Tullahoma Airport, as I recall — a then-young Peter Corley flew the lightweight aircraft as though he was the pilot of a military fighter of the day. He pushed the sleek machine with the whining engines as he looped and rolled the machine with such apparent ease. At this early time of development for these aircraft, such maneuvers in what we called an ultralight were very unusual.
To say either Peter or Lazair was unusual proved something of an understatement. Lazair was, and remains, one of the most unorthodox aircraft of any kind. Several reasons stand out to define its uniqueness.
These differences included: an inverted-V tail, said to be the most efficient tail planform; twin engines (the tiniest ones imaginable); an aluminum structure not based solely on round tubing; and see-through wing and tail coverings. All that is just the overview.
Search Results for : MG 21
Not finding exactly what you expected? Try our advanced search option.
Select a manufacturer to go straight to all our content about that manufacturer.
Select an aircraft model to go straight to all our content about that model.
Virtual Sun ‘n Fun 2020 — 5 Light Aircraft You Might Have Seen in Lakeland
While I continue to worry about the cash crunch faced by two of my favorite shows, I am still driven to provide content as if those shows had occurred this year and not been postponed to 2021.
Of course, I refer to Aero Friedrichshafen and Sun ‘n Fun, the latter my focus for this post.
Here I will relate five aircraft you might have seen in Lakeland last week …before it was bumped to early May, but which is now off until April 2021.
I admit I secretly hoped for good news in these sad cancellations that might allow me to attend both events in 2021. I had to pick one over the other in 2020 as they were exactly opposite one another. Unfortunately for my schedule, the year-long postponement didn’t change anything. Sun ‘n Fun 2021 will be 13-18 of April while Aero 2021 is planned for 14-17 April.
Ultralight April 2020 — Fifth in the Vintage Series: Kolb Firestar
Amazingly enough, here in 2020, we have noticeably returned to our roots in very light aircraft. Almost 40 years after Mike Sacrey and his team at FAA created the still-incredible Part 103, one leading brand from those days is not only still in business and thriving, but they are largely building similar aircraft to four decades back.
The man you saw on the lead photo is the famed Dick Rahill, a one-man flying machine flying his machine at Sun ‘n Fun more capably than any robot. Over and over, Dick would blast off in the bright yellow Firestar that seemed attached to him. He’d make one quick pattern from the turf runway in Paradise City at Sun ‘n Fun only to land, jump right back in the takeoff line, and repeat. Launch, circle, land, repeat… over and over. It seemed like every other airplane taking off was Dick and his FireStar.
Ultralight April 2020 — Fourth in the Vintage Series: Hiperlight SNS 8 Biplane
As we continue with this fourth in a series of ten about very affordable light aircraft from earlier times, we stress again that all the aircraft presented in this series still have some essential qualities that warranted their inclusion.
First, these are all aircraft with which Videoman Dave and I are personally familiar. I have flown all but one on the list and I believe Dave has flown all of them. So, we come to the series with real experiences in these flying machines. It has been a while for many of them, but assuming maintenance is good (see the important message at the end), this can be reasonable for many pilots to consider. However, as with any used aircraft, the buyer must be aware. Neither Dave nor I can comment on any one particular aircraft.
Second, and with the maintenance message firmly planted in your mind, all the models in this Vintage Ultralight series still have parts available from current-day producers.
Virtual Press Conference — Flight Design Has a Fresh News on CT2020, F2, & More
As everyone on the planet knows by now, aviation has nary an airshow in sight. Even AirVenture Oshkosh — still planned at this writing — is hedging their bets amid the uncertainty, saying they will make additional decisions in the weeks ahead. Most of us who love (and rely on) these aviation events certainly hope OSH’20 can go on as planned. It will be wonderful to get back into a familiar routine.
Meanwhile, I have been producing more content here on ByDanJohnson.com so everyone sheltering-in-place can at least fantasy fly their favorite flying machine. I will also continue with the “Virtual Aero” or “Virtual Sun ‘n Fun” articles. In fact, next up after this one will be a post about new aircraft you would have seen in Lakeland, Florida in May …before Sun ‘n Fun regretfully* called it off until 2021.
One company, Flight Design ga, offered a “virtual press conference.” The company said, “As all airshows are postponed, we chose this way to inform you regarding the current developments at Flight Design.
Ultralight April 2020 — Third in the Vintage Series: Fisher FP-202 Koala
When Fisher was still located where it began, in North Dakota, I paid a visit to the factory. It may have been the tidiest wood shop I have ever seen.
I had just written an article about kit-builder assembly manuals so I was keen to see examples of Fisher Flying Products full-size plans. That always sounded like a marketing term yet I knew it meant exactly what they called it.
Darlene Hansen showed me a neatly-organized series of boxes full of long tubes of paper. She took one out, for the fuselage of the Koala as it turned out (see nearby image). She went to one end of a long, flat table and briskly unfurled the tube of paper while hanging on to the loose edge. It rolled and rolled …and rolled, until a sheet about four feet wide and 20 feet long covered the work table.
You literally take the tiny wood pieces Fisher ships to you as part of the kit and lay them directly on the paper as shown.
Ultralight April 2020 — Second in the Vintage Series: CGS Hawk
Way back when, long before the birth of the Light-Sport Aircraft segment (in 2004), lots of us flew ultralights. They were barely more than powered hang gliders — except one.
Before 1982 these lightest-of-all aircraft were required to be foot-launchable. It’s true. I once staggered into the air partly carrying, partly dragging a Quicksilver. I got airborne thanks to a generous 15 mph headwind that provided about three quarters of the speed I needed for… um, you can’t call it “rotation,” but to get enough lift that I could sit down.
Yes, “sit down.” You didn’t think I ran for take off while sitting comfortably belted into a secure seat did you? Nope, that Quicksilver had a literal swing seat and a special rear axle that allowed a full stride of your legs.
OK, that requirement proved futile and FAA later dropped it, but one guy in particular drove that older requirement into the annals of history.
FAA’s Proposed Regulation (MOSAIC) — LAMA’s Spring 2020 Update Report
In recent months many light aviation enthusiasts have been asking about progress on FAA’s proposed rewrite of the Light-Sport Aircraft regulations. Following a lengthy teleconference in 2019, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association is pleased to provide a further update for the agency’s work on MOSAIC, or Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification. Here is our earlier article on this subject.
This update is one of a continuing series. As time passes and FAA progresses toward its goal — of issuing a NPRM, Notice of Proposed Rule Making — LAMA requests a teleconference or in-person visit to learn the rule writers’ latest concepts and language decisions.
This progress reports identifies new discoveries and clarifies previous statements that may now be better understood.
Some Key Messages
FAA is moving forward on the rulemaking project yet everything remains in progress while the agency gathers internal assessments. What follows is as accurate as possible at this time but changes will occur.
Virtual Aero Friedrichshafen — Zlin Aviation’s New Norden Sportplane
Had not both shows been cancelled or postponed, I would be gearing up for Sun ‘n Fun and Aero Friedrichshafen. The important spring events were due to start in less than a week.
Now, Aero is put off until 2021 and Sun ‘n Fun is about three weeks away from a Lakeland city-imposed final decision date (on April 17) regarding the new planned date of May 5-10, 2020. (I’m keeping my hopes up that our friends at that event will be able to launch their spring celebration of flight.)
To help all of us through the next few weeks, I will be posting virtual airshow material — that is, I’ll write about aircraft you would have seen had you been able to attend the show. Companies work very hard to get new products ready for these big spring events. To not lose momentum as governments around the world impose all manner of rules, I’ll take the shows online… hence, “Virtual.”
Why “Norden?”
“The plane is just the sum of my experience in this sector,” wrote Zlin Aviation developer Pasquale Russo.
Sun ‘n Fun 2020 Has Been Rescheduled in Wake of Coronavirus Mess
Update: April 2020 — Faced with a difficult decision and under enormous pressure, Sun ‘n Fun organizers changed plans and have now rescheduled the event for April 13-18, 2021.
Relax, folks. We’re not going anywhere fast. Across all industries, shows and events have been “falling like dominos,” as publisher Ben Sclair put it when I called to discuss Sun ‘n Fun 2020. I knew Ben would be watching very closely as his company produces the daily show paper.
Yesterday, the Twelve Hours of Sebring — attended by 150,000 race fans — “delayed” their event, although in an extraordinarily deft move on their part, Sebring Raceway already rescheduled for November. This is impressive planning on short notice that reportedly came only after interacting with other scheduled racing events to find an open place on the calendar.
Later yesterday both the giant Florida theme parks Disney and Universal announced they will close Sunday through the end of the month.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 31
- 32
- 33
- 34
- 35
- …
- 94
- Next Page »