The American Legend Cub is… well, a legend in Special Light-Sport Aircraft. The iconic Cub look is well captured by this Texas company that has owned the #2 sales spot (#1 among American companies) since the first LSA flew in 2005. Legend has developed engine choices, offers floats, and even has a kit program.
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Latest and Greatest LSA from Oshkosh 2016
In a show as vast at EAA’s AirVenture Oshkosh, it is presumptuous to attempt covering everything of interest. What follows are some new aircraft I found in the categories I cover on this website. Other projects were certainly worthy of special note but with the goal of a fast dash through the latest and greatest, I’m keeping this one fairly lean. I’ll cover other developments in subsequent articles.
So, here’s three aircraft you haven’t seen before AirVenture 2016 plus a revised project involving an increasingly popular engine. I’ll start off with a famous guy checking out a famous engine to propel one of my favorite airplanes. We begin our quick review with Lockwood Aircraft‘s AirCam.
Of course, you know his face. When I once heard Harrison Ford speak, he said modestly (paraphrased), “I earn a living making faces.” I never thought of acting in such simple terms, but I accept such skills are part of the job.
Greg Koontz’s Crazy Flying Act in Titan Legend
Probably you’ve seen an act like this before. A crazy-acting farmer or a supposed drunk hops into a Piper Cub or similar aircraft after the regular pilot leaves it unattended for a few minutes. The crazy guy has no flying experience but somehow proceeds to start up the airplane and to take off in the most out-of-control manner imaginable. As he erratically careens around the sky, handling the aircraft wickedly out of control, he nearly impacts the ground over and over. The entire act takes place within a couple hundred feet of a hard-as-concrete surface.
Even though it’s only an act and even if the pilot is actually a gifted aviator, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment and fear that nutjob is going to whack the airplane into the ground right in front of the airshow crowd watching in fascination.
So, you may look at the act Greg Koontz performs and you might undervalue the skill involved.
Icon Downshifts, Softens Tough-Love Contract
On a conference call with aviation media, Icon Aircraft sought to mitigate blowback from the 40-page contract announced just before Sun ‘n Fun 2016. Plenty of people took them to task and several position holders reported dissatisfaction with some of the more burdensome aspects of the lengthy legal document.
“We [messed] that up,” CEO Kirk Hawkins told me at Aero 2016, adding that they would take action on it quickly. Since his comment in late April, the purchase agreement, meant to protect the company’s brand, intellectual property, and legal liability, was heavily revised. Cut from 40 to 11 pages, the new agreement removes a 30-year life limit on the airframe. Neither will Icon install cockpit audio and video recorders. Numerous other changes should encourage position holders to sign the dotted line.
Several aviation news outlets have faulted the company for continuing to take orders while production appeared stalled, for issuing a contract no one could love except lawyers, and for tightly controlling the journalist flight experience.
Invasion of the Titan; More LSA Go Big Power
In my many years in aviation, I’ve learned this about light aviation pilots: If 80-horsepower is good, then 100-horsepower is better, and even more is best of all. It explains why interest was so high when Rotax announced their new 915iS that will provide 135 horsepower. It also illustrates why the 180 horses of the Titan X-340 is succeeding in the Light-Sport Industry.
Interest from LSA producers started with CubCrafters adopting the engine several years ago. When that company’s boss, Jim Richmond, held a press conference at Sun ‘n Fun, the reception was somewhat cool. Of ten persons in the audience, only four of us were journalists. The other six (yes, 6!) people were from FAA. No wonder, perhaps, as ASTM standards at the time brought questions to mind regarding the use of such a powerful engine. Those standards have since been modified somewhat.
Indeed, the western producer instructed users that the engine could only be used at full power for takeoff or climbing, but otherwise had to be set to lower power.
American Legend’s Greg Koontz Truck Landing Show
In my years as a hang glider pilot — and for many friends who enjoy unpowered paragliders — the idea of what’s called a “top landing” is something of the holy grail. Such a feat can now be rather commonly achieved, especially by a slower flying paraglider, but is nonetheless quite thrilling to launch from a mountain and then land back on top of that mountain. This avoids the need to breakdown, drive back up, and set up for another launch but mainly it is just a terribly cool thing to do.
Still, landing a hang glider or paraglider back on top of the mountain is reasonably straightforward compared to landing an airplane atop a moving truck. Sure, you may have seen it done at airshows and perhaps you marveled at the skill involved. Yet I’m guessing that virtually no one reading this article has ever attempted the feat much less done so repeatedly … and, by the way, at an airshow with lots of people watching and cameras recording everything.
SuperSTOL Gets Superpower with Titan’s 180 Horses
Article updated 2/16/16 — In a freshly-edited video (see at end), Just Aircraft key fellows Gary Schmidt and Troy Townsend provide extra comments and we add additional footage of SuperSTOL climbing strongly with the Titan.
Even before Continental Motors took over the former ECi, that company’s Titan engine has been turning heads. CubCrafters was first to this party, installing the 180-horsepower engine on their Cubalike LSA, demonstrating very short takeoff rolls before climbing steeply. Since then, quite a few other producers have embraced the potent engine and more are coming. This development is sufficiently interesting that I am at work on an article about three “divisions” of powerplants for LSA, light kits, and ultralights.
However, all other users of the Titan are unlike Just Aircraft’s SuperSTOL, which itself has turned many a head at airshow demonstrations. SuperSTOL was able to rivet pilots’ attention when it performed with the 100-horsepower Rotax 912, so imagine the neck-snapping twists that will occur when people get a chance to see how this moveable-slats airplane on tall, telescoping gear performs with 180 horses doing the pulling.
Pssst! Want a Deal? How About Merlin PSA?
Are you intrigued by an affordable yet well-performing single-seat Personal Sport Aircraft? In a time when so many claim light aircraft have simply become too expensive, one aircraft is coming to challenge that belief. Some rather grudgingly acknowledge that, yes, you can buy a low-cost aircraft but that it won’t satisfy your desires … that it will have an open cockpit, or is too slow, or uses an engine you don’t know, or that it lacks the right instruments, or it will be a weight shift aircraft or a powered parachute … or something that disqualifies it for them.
Well, even our friends at Flying magazine — thanks to popular writer Pia Bergqvist, who also covered such aircraft as Quicksilver‘s wide-open Sport 2 SE — gave recent prominent coverage to what importer/developer Chip Erwin is doing with his Merlin PSA.
Does the name Chip Erwin ring a bell?
American Legend Running On All (3?) Cylinders
We see and hear a continuing focus on electric airplanes including here at one of your (I hope) favorite websites. We’ll continue to hear more about electric but the whirring motors are not the only innovation in powerplants. In true, another project with a completely different sound may be more meaningful in the short term and that statement is even more true outside the United States.
As our Sun ‘n Fun 2015 video shows, we have been following Superior Air Parts new Gemini Diesel 100 engine. The latest news in this development is a launch installation on an American Legend Aircraft Company airframe shown at AirVenture Oshkosh 2015 just three months after its debut. The two companies, both from Texas, parlayed their close proximity to one another to get the install done in a short time.
Recently Legend announced they would start making the diesel available to customers.
Transcontinental Gyroplane Record Underway Now
As I write this, an intrepid gyro pilot is “out on the course” as we used to say when I flew in hang gliding competitions. By the time you read this, he may be all the way home. What a great effort! I hope Paul earns a world record but either way, I feel certain he enjoyed the experience.
“Paul Salmon is currently crossing the country in a record attempt in a Magni M22,” said Greg Gremminger, importer for the Italian Magni Gyro line of aircraft. “He is trying to set the record for a gyroplane to cross the country in both directions.”
Greg added that Paul is on pace to set the record time, back and forth, in just four days. “This attempt is in the 500 kilogram + (1,100 pound) gyroplane category,” added Greg. “There are no records established for this category. The under 500 kilogram category gyro record is currently about 14 days.
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