Yes! You can build and fly a “real” airplane for the cost of a new SUV.
Contrary to popular opinion,
airplanes don’t have to be outrageously
expensive-at least not
all of them. The Sport Pilot/Light-Sport
Aircraft initiative is one program that
promises to lower the cost of ready-to-fly
aircraft. But many of these Special LSAs
and Experimental LSAs will be priced
well more than $40,000 and can run
upwards of $85,000.
One way to get airborne for less
than $40K is to choose an ultralight,
powered parachute or weight-shift
trike. But if you want something more
conventional, more comfortable or
larger, you’re likely to find what you
want in the world of kit aircraft. After
all these years, building an Experimental/
Amateur-Built airplane still qualifies
as one of the least expensive ways
to get a get a great airplane into the air
on a reasonable budget.
Our $40K benchmark is designed
to narrow the field for builders on a
budget-and that benchmark means
a completed, ready-for-flight airplane.
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The Lazarus Machine
Back finally from 12 days at Oshkosh and the DC-3 fly-in that preceded it, I’m cranking out images and stories gathered there but couldn’t wait to get this one to you. *** Below is a condensation of my column that will run in the November issue. It involves an airplane that caught everybody’s eye when it debuted a few years back, but languished from lack of development and promotion and seemed on its way to obscurity. *** It was called the Phantom then, when T&T Aviation brought it to America from its native Hungary. *** Cruising into the big Lycoming display at Oshkosh in search of the new 115 hp, IO-233-LSA, I was once again gobsmacked by the low-riding, beautiful Falcon LS — the name T&T certified it under back in 2008 — as number 82 on the current list of 109. *** In the interim, Renegade Light Sport and its principal go-to guy Chris “Doc” Bailey have just bought out T&T’s interest in the LSA.
Oshkosh Day 3
<> Jan Fridrich , head of Europe’s LAMA, just sent me some intriguing stats from his comprehensive data crunching of S-LSA (or overseas equivalents) official registrations up to now. *** Europe continues to lead overall numbers with just under 1850 total. The U.S. tally is now over 1200. *** Sales have been light for the majority of the 70+ suppliers but there has been some shifting of position in the ranks. The top ten U.S. sellers to date are: *** Flight Design (CTLS, MC) 316 *** American Legend (Piper Cub models) 156 *** CubCrafters (Piper Cub models) 136 *** Tecnam (P2008, several others) 133 *** Czech Sport Aircraft (SportCruiser) 126 *** Remos (Remos GX) 121 *** Jabiru (J-230, -250 etc.) 96 *** Evektor (SportStar Max) 91 *** TL Ultralight (Sting S4, Sirius) 73 *** AMD (Zodiac models) 72 *** You may be interested in how the numbers fall for country of origin of all 3-axis S-LSA registered aircraft: The U.S.
Breezer Aircraft and the New Breezer II
Close to Perfect
It usually takes more than one
try to get something right. To
get close to a perfect aircraft
usually takes many iterations, but
Breezer Aircraft has come very close
to producing a wonderful light sport
aircraft with their Breezer II.
We’ve seen the Breezer before when
the U.S. importer brought the thennew
model to AirVenture Oshkosh
’05. I flew it that year and recently
got the chance to fly the Breezer II.
While many of the good qualities
found in the earlier model were
retained, some nice improvements
have been made. But it isn’t the airplane
that is the real story. As experienced
airplane buyers know, it is
often the company behind the airplane
that is the main story.
Breezer’s Brief Design History
The design history is brief because the Breezer
is a new aircraft, not seen before ’05 except during
its early development. That older, original Breezer
was produced under agreement by Comco-Ikarus,
the same folks that make one of Germany’s bestselling
ultralights (a different class than American
ultralights), the C-42.
Global LSA in Paris… Tennessee, That Is
In the endless tree-covered rolling terrain of northwestern Tennessee resides a Canadian manufacturer of Italian aircraft. Welcome to Skykits, producer of two models of Savannah, a STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) design from ICP of Italy plus a newer variation of ICP’s Vimana, which Skykits calls Rampage. *** Starting out in his native Canada, Eric Giles found a willing Tennessee community offering incentives if he set up shop at the local airport. Housed in a new facility (photos), Skykits ranks in the top 20 producers that generate about 90% of all SLSA registered to date. *** After ASTM-certifying four models Skykits offers three today: Savannah VG with vortex generators replacing earlier fixed leading edge slots; Savannah VGW, the VG’s larger brother done in wide body form (“47 inches plus bubble doors”); and Rampage with electrically-deployable leading edge slats mated to Fowler flaps.
Paris Green Air Show
A couple days ago I promised to follow up on the Paris Green Air Show so here we go. *** The show is held (2010 is the 2nd year) at the Musee Air + Despace, at Le Bourget airport, the field where Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis and where the huge Paris Air Show takes place every other year (next up in 2011). *** It’s mission statement is implicit from the phrase on the evocative splash drawing: “L’aviation du futur”. It took a bit of digging and some web translations to find out more about the show that Gizmag first posted about the other day. *** The explosion of imaginative designs and concepts at the show is staggering: very much like the first years of aviation after 1903. Dirigibles large and small, including man-powered balloons; aircraft engines with zero CO2 emissions; aircraft powered by electric, solar and hydrogen fuel cell engines; noise and pollution reducing sustainable development concepts for airports, runways and aircraft “villages.” All in all, quite a hoot; I’d love to go to the next one.
Flying Car Weight Bump; Electric Motorglider!
After taking a few days off to boat around Lake George, NY and shoot the Red Bull Air Race in New York City, it’s time to catch up on what’s been happening. *** The Transition “Roadable Aircraft” (I can’t help but prefer the chummier “flying car”) just got a weight exemption nod from FAA for an additional 110 pounds of MTOW (max takeoff weight). That nudges the vehicle up to 1,430 pounds. *** Terrafugia‘s request for the bump is meant to provide “…the structure and equipment necessary for compliance with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) which are not found in other Light Sport Aircraft.” *** They’re talking about things such as airbags, energy absorbing crumple zone and protective safety cage. *** Interestingly, Transition’s maker Terrafugia initially asked for an MTOW of 1,474 pounds. FAA in effect said “You can have what we gave the amphib makers, but no more.” *** This evokes the ultralight days, when the original 150 lb.
Predator Powered Parachute… & Immersion Training
Another one managed to slip by my radar. I follow LSA closer than most yet I can barely keep track of all the approvals. No wonder I frequently get calls asking me to unravel the puzzle of LSA makes and models. *** Better late than never, welcome the Predator powered parachute to our SLSA List of 108 models from 72 still-active companies (at least five have left the business). Scott Hughes is the original designer & creator of the Predator. *** New CEO Fredrick Scheffel wrote, “On April 22, 2009, SkyTrails LSA (Predator Powered Parachute LLC) purchased the rights to manufacture the Predator along with the tooling & inventory from Hughes Aero.” SkyTrails LSA moved into the hangar facilities where Hughes Aero had been building the Predator for the past four years. Scheffel further noted, “SkyTrails Ranch, Inc., is a long standing name in powered parachute training, sales, and service that [has now] expanded into powered parachute manufacturing.” *** National powered parachute expert, Roy Beisswenger confirmed the Predator as a Special LSA, “SkyTrails LSA is manufacturing ELSA & SLSA aircraft at the airport in Wharton, Texas.” *** Learning to fly a powered parachute can be challenging.
Learn Airplanes and Engines at Jabiru’s Jamboree
I am not aware of any other airplane company on Earth that builds both airframes and powerplants. Jabiru does. The Australian company has been doing this for years and has supplied approximately 2,000 airframes and more than 6,000 engines to the light aircraft market, according to Jabiru USA boss, Pete Krotje. That’s cool, but if you want to learn more about each, where do you go? One place — this coming weekend — is the Jabiru Jamboree. *** On Friday June 11, 2010, open house and factory tours start at 1 PM with an engine maintenance session at 3 PM followed by a cook-out at 5 PM. On Saturday, the day is full of seminars on Jabiru engines and airframes in the morning with avionics, firewall-forward issues (wiring, cooling), and engine tuning in the afternoon. On Sunday, Jabiru plans, “Wheels up for a Jabiru Adventure to Patti’s 1880’s Settlement at Grand Rivers, Kentucky.” Sound like fun?
PiperSport Taps Into Social Media
If you’ve checked into Facebook since January you may know that PiperSport has its own page that you can become a fan of (I am, along with 9,200 others so far!) *** What you probably don’t know is there’s a fascinating video interview that chronicles why and how Piper decided to add social media such as Facebook and YouTube to its marketing strategy for the already-popular LSA. *** Very very interesting, and likely a sign of future marketing efforts from ad-cash-starved LSA makers. *** To date, the only other company I know that has a Facebook presence is Gobosh, and they’ve been there for some time. *** I won’t reprise the entire video clip (it’s well worth watching), but here are some of the highlights: *** Back in January, Piper’s content creators were tasked with making a video for the imminent launch of the PiperSport (the rebadged, “Piperized” CZAW SportCruiser). They also had to set up a Twitter feed, YouTube channel and the Facebook fan page.
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