Ukrainian airframe producer Aeros has risen from complete obscurity in the early 1990s (after the Berlin Wall fell) to wide recognition in recreational aviation. Although powered ultralight and light-sport aircraft enthusiasts may not immediately know the brand, hang glider pilots around the world are very aware of the name. The current reigning world champion hang glider pilot is Oleg Bondarchuck, a Ukrainian pilot who works with Aeros.
This young company emerging from the former Soviet mantel also makes an ultralight sailplane plus two powered aircraft. Aeros produces the Sky Ranger 3-axis airplane (under agreement with its French designer), and it has designed and markets its own trike. The company also supplies trike wings for other producers like Antares. By any normal measurements, Aeros is a versatile company.
Many ultralight and LSA pilots probably know the Aeros Velocity trike, and may recall its earlier name, Venture. In those days, it was sold by Sabre Aircraft alongside the trikes that Arizona company made here in America.
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Have it your way…CH-601 XL or XLi
The strongest interest in readyto-
fly special light-sport aircraft
(S-LSA) to date has come
from pilots operating Cessna, Piper,
Mooney, and other general aviation
(GA) aircraft. It is estimated that more
than 100,000 currently certificated pilots
are looking at their prospects for
maintaining an up-to-date second- or
third-class FAA medical and considering
the LSA option. Many are concluding
that LSA are worthy airplanes
and recognize that downsizing to an
LSA two-seater can meet their flying
goals, a fact that has driven a good
share of LSA sales thus far.
Thousands of those pilots have private
or higher certificates with instrument
ratings. They’re accustomed to
having a full panel and want one even
if flying in instrument meteorological
conditions (IMC) isn’t in their plans. In
fact, flashy dual-screen plus electronic
information and navigation panel
layouts have proven quite popular in
many S-LSA, even though they add tens
of thousands of dollars in cost.
Float-Flying the M-Squared Sprint 1000
“Air in your hair!
Space on your face! A breeze on your knees!” A former colleague of mine used to repeat this short mantra to illustrate the joy of open-cockpit flying. It was catchy and engaging and his customers liked it.
With 15 Light-Sport Aircraft now possessing their FAA Special Light-Sport Aircraft (SLSA) airworthiness certificates, not a single one is open cockpit, though the IndUS Thorpedo, Legend Cub, and Tecnam Sierra can enjoy partially open cockpits.
Special Light-Sport Aircraft will eventually add more of this genre of light aircraft but one of the beauties of FAA’s new regulation is that it does not eliminate two previous categories: Amateur-built 51% kits or Part 103-compliant ultralights.
With 21¼4 years left before operators of 2-seat 496-pound empty weight ultralight exempt trainers must register in FAA’s new Light-Sport Aircraft category, and with 41¼4 years left while these machines can be used for compensated training flights, the segment still has lots of life remaining.
LSA Market Shares Based on FAA Registry
Lots of people want to know…customers, insurance companies, dealers, membership organizations, and, of course, all the manufacturers and importers. We all like to keep score. While I believe FAA data has some delay in reporting, it is a reputable source of info. Here’s what their registrations show through the end of March, 2007. *** Flight Design remains #1 at 21% — #2 American Legend remains the largest U.S. producer with 13% of all registrations. These two are followed by #3 Evektor at 8% — #4 TL Ultralights (StingSport) at 7% — #5 Tecnam at 6% — #6 Fantasy Air at 6% — #7 AMD (CH-601) at 5% — #8 LSA America (Skyboy) at 4% — #9 CubCrafters at 4% — and #10 Jabiru at 3% of all SLSA registrations. These aircraft account for 552 aircraft or 77% of 719 registered SLSA airplanes.
Just Aircraft’s Highlander
If you’re familiar with Avid Flyer or Kitfox aircraft, you know at least something about Just Aircraft’s Highlander. Its pedigree “path” is somewhat meandering but leads to an excellent flying machine born of a rich American airplane design heritage.
Dean Wilson was the originator of this now-proven design shape. The first departure from Wilson’s Avid Aircraft company was Dan Denney, who went on to offer the Kitfox. Denney’s prowess as a marketer brought international fame to the Kitfox and, over the years, the sale of nearly 3,000 aircraft. At one time Denney Aerocraft was among the country’s largest suppliers of kit-built aircraft. What had been an ultralight design evolved into a successful 2-seat homebuilt, but that wasn’t the end of the evolution behind Wilson’s original creation. Denney sold his company to Phil Reid, who renamed the Idaho company SkyStar.
A Well-Evolved History
Another break-off from Avid Aircraft and Denney Aerocraft was Flying K Enterprises, which introduced the single-seat Sky Raider.
Boathull Corsario Arrives in America
Brazilian Amphibious Beauty
Most Americans
are unaware of the Corsario. Importer Steven Cohen is out to change that. He and his partner, Phil Klein, are marketing this handsome amphibian, which they import from Brazil. Not a brand-new design, this is the MK5 model – it’s been through four previous iterations.
The Corsario comes from a South American company called Microleve founded in 1982, back near the beginning of the ultralight era. The company proudly states, “Aside from being the first ultralight manufacturer in Brazil, the quality of our products has made Microleve the biggest seller of ultralight aircraft in Latin America.”
In 23 years of operation, Microleve claims to have delivered more than 1,400 ultralight aircraft, including almost 20 different models, named as MX1, MX2, ML200, ML300, ML300M, ML300MF, ML400, ML400T, ML450, ML500T, CORSARIO MK1, MK2, MK3, MK4, and MK5. As you might surmise by reviewing this list, the Brazilian company has taken several of their models through a series of refinements and the Corsario is no exception.
Beaver RX-550
Perhaps the most famous ultralight to come out of Canada is the Beaver. With a reported 2,200 units flying since the early 1980s, this is one of the most successful light aircraft ever. However, due to missteps by companies that previously manufactured the brand, this popular ultralight was nearly lost from the ultralight aviation landscape. Were it not for the Aircraft Sales and Parts (ASAP) company and the Holomis family, you might not have this choice today.
Originally the Beaver RX-550 came from a company called Spectrum Aircraft. A company reorganization left the ultralight in the hands of a company named Beaver RX Enterprises. Both these business names disappeared and today the ASAP brand carries the Beaver into the sky.
In 1993, a couple years after our last report on the Beaver1, the old company closed its doors and effectively stranded thousands of Beaver ultralight owners and all the dealerships that sold them.
Sky Skooter Makes Two SLSA for IndUS
Dallas, Texas-based IndUS Aviation earned their second SLSA model approval with certification of the T-11 Sky Skooter. Powered by the four cylinder, 85-hp Jabiru 2200, Sky Skooter becomes the lighter sibling to the potent Thorpedo, which uses the 120-hp Jabiru 3300 on the same airframe. Compared to IndUS’s T-211 with the Continental O-200 engine, the smaller Jabiru saves 100 pounds. Fuel burn is stated as 4 gph at economy cruise. At the design’s birth in 1944, Sky Skooter was designed around a 50-hp Franklin engine. With the lighter engine, the 2006 Sky Skooter tips the scales at a modest “645 pounds empty,” commented Ram Pattisapu, owner of IndUS. That is less than most Light-Sport Aircraft and brings pleasant handling as I found in a short flight in the prototype Sky Skooter. I find it refreshing to see a company use a smaller powerplant and simpler aircraft. But I ask the same question as with the Skykits Savannah ADV: Is Sky Skooter a “new” model for our SLSA List?
Swoopy Nexaer LS1 Takes to the Air
On October 16th, Nexaer took a first flight in their new LS1, an LSA designed precisely for Sport Pilot. Lifting off at Meadow Lake Airport in Peyton, Colorado, test pilot Bill VonDane followed a conservative test plan of crow hopping just a few feet above the runway, setting back down on the far end. Nexaer boss Paul Klahn plans to show the new model in the LSA area of AOPA Expo in Palm Springs Nov. 9-11. *** LS1 grosses at 1,320 lbs., has a 750-lb. empty weight (depending on options), 27 gallons of fuel, and each seat is a generous 21 inches wide. Nexaer says engine choices include two Jabiru models, Rotax 912, Continental O-200, or Lycoming O-235 (though the latter may cut useful load). LS1 is described as a “no-flap design for…reduced pilot workload.” Dual full controls are available, but standard left-seat-only controls produce an interior more closely resembling an automobile.
Flight Design CT2K
A Bold Yet Efficient Euro-Designed Light-Sport Aircraft
Flightstar imports the CT2K in anticipation of the light-sport aircraft rule.
As FAA’s proposed light-sport aircraft
rule looms ever closer, one
of the first aircraft that will likely
fit the field and be recognized by American
pilots is Germany’s CT. For the U.S.
market, and with a nod to the new millennium,
producer Flight Designs has
renamed the model as the CT2K.
“CT” stands for Composite Twoseater.
It is certainly not alone in being
“white, glass, and built overseas,” a
theme that emerged at EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2002. But the design was a
leader in the move from tube-and-rag
ultralights to the modern microlights of
Europe. And it distinguishes itself in a
number of ways that we’ll explore in
this review.
My experiences flying the CT on two
occasions were both with Europeanbased
check pilots. The most recent
opportunity was with Allistair Wilson,
formerly a major with the Royal Irish
Regiment in Northern Ireland.
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