Antares qualifies as the first 51%-rule trike kit.
These days, hangar talk in the sport flying community seems to be focused on the FAA’s not-yet-final sport pilot rule [we have labeled it SportPlanes™—Ed]. If you are thinking of building a new airplane, you will want to know the rules that may affect your use of it.
As we wait a year or two for SportPlanes™ to prove its worth to the flying crowd, some things remain as they were. Aviation’s simplest rule defining aircraft and pilots, FAR Part 103 (ultralights) will not change. In presentation sessions, FAA officials worked to convince enthusiasts that the agency has no plans to alter this rule. Therefore, you may still fly one of the single-seat ultralights that qualify.
Long Live 51%
For many KITPLANES® readers, a primary interest is the amateur-built regulation commonly referred to as the 51% rule. As the magazine’s annual December-through-February three-part directory shows, pilots are fortunate to have hundreds of choices among attractive aircraft of every description.
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Turbines for Ultralights?
Just when FAA officials believe they have it figured out, individual actions can introduce new questions. I’m referring to the light-sport aircraft category of new rulemaking proposed by the aviation agency.
Consider the turbine engine. Why, you may ask, is turbine power the subject for a column that focuses on the lightest and slowest aircraft? The answer is that turbine engines are actually being used on the these aircraft, and they may be the right power for the use intended.
Turbine Tug
For two decades, hang gliders have been towed aloft by specially built ultralights. Aircraft like Bobby Bailey’s Dragonfly have succeeded at launching hang glider pilots who live in flat areas like Florida. They don’t need mountains. Just give them a Rotax engine and they’ll take to the skies in swarms.
Witness the spring ritual of dual hang gliding competitions in central Florida. Each year as the Sun ‘n Fun fly-in ends, pilots converge from all over the world.
Antares MA-32 on Floats
A Trip to Alaska Unearthed a Hotbed of Ultralight Activity.
Alaska’s facts are amazing. Most everyone knows that the sun stays up incredibly late-in the northern oil fields of Prudhoe Bay it doesn’t set for three months! But did you also know the daily tidal change amounts to a whopping 38 feet?
More on point for an aviation magazine, Alaska boasts the highest concentration of pilots anywhere in the U.S. and probably the world. While the lower 48 states contain about one pilot in 500 among the general population, Alaska has one in 47. Even more astonishing is airplane ownership. One out of every 53 residents owns an airplane. In the contiguous United States, that figure is closer to one in 1400.
In Alaska, nobody complains about airplane noise. No wonder-with a physical size about half of the contiguous U.S., the state has only 13 highways, three of which are gravel.
The Vista A-20 Cruiser & Varlet
Eastern European designers deliver nimble machines
UPDATE–November 2008: According to FPNA, an American company with a business relationship to A-20 producer Aeroprakt, the A-20 has been discontinued. Please contact FPNA for more information (contact info at end of article).
As the new millennium got underway,
visitors to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2000 examined
a new aircraft from a
Ukrainian company called Aeroprakt
Ltd. Named the A-22 Valor, the unique
side-by-side two-seat aircraft had a distinctive
cabin largely covered in clear
plastic. It was displayed by John Hunter
and his company, Spectrum Aircraft.
The Valor has turned out to be only
the first in a fleet of light aircraft that
have materialized before American eyes.
In 2001, another Aeroprakt model appeared
on Spectrum’s display space-the
A-20 Vista Cruiser, one of a series of A-20
models.
John Hunter became well
known in the light plane
world while working
for Phil Lockwood,
designer of the much-admired Air Cam.
Aeros Venture from Sabre
Only a little more than 10 years ago, the wall fell in Berlin, Germany and Communism collapsed in the USSR. Before these momentous events, few Americans knew anything about the Ukraine (which was part of the USSR) and even those who did were largely unaware of its ability to produce aircraft.
Yet by the mid-1990s, some Americans became aware of a Ukrainian company named Aeros. One man became an importer of their hang glider line. G.W. Meadows and his Thermal Riding Vehicles business sold so many hang gliders from the former Soviet satellite that the American market leader, Wills Wing, had to drop prices to remain competitive with the lower cost hang gliders from eastern Europe.
In this article I’ll review the Venture, the newest Aeros model for the American ultralight market. But this new Aeros ultralight follows the Aeros Antares (once known as Graffiti), reviewed in the December 1997 issue of Ultralight Flying!
Aeroprakt’s A-20 Vista Cruiser
UPDATE–November 2008: According to FPNA, an American company with a business relationship to A-20 producer Aeroprakt, the A-20 has been discontinued. Please contact FPNA for more information (contact info at end of article).
Two summers ago Americans saw a new aircraft from a Ukrainian company called Aeroprakt as U.S. importer Spectrum Aircraft brought in the A-22 Valor. It would be only the first in a fleet of new microlights.
Later another model from Aeroprakt appeared. In fact, the Vista series comprises 5 models, all variations on a basic theme that is nothing like the Valor. At present, the Ukraine enterprise has no less than nine models including the Valor, Vista, Cruiser, V-STOL, V-SS, Vulcan, Vulcan-SS, Victor single engine, Victor twin, and Viking. Four of this series are twin-engine aircraft, none are alike, and one is a 4-seater. By any measurement, this is quite an accomplishment from a company less than 10 years old and rising from the ashes of the failed Communist empire.
Super Magnum
The Super Magnum packs an 80-horse four-stroke Verner Some general aviation pilots are put off by ultralights; for others they’re great fun.
If you’re the type who likes the idea of ultralight flight but you don’t trust the common two-stroke engines, then Sport Flight’s Super Magnum kit-built aircraft with the Verner engine may be what you’re looking for.
JOIN THE FAMILY
For nearly a decade, Sport Flight Aviation has produced the Talon XP two-seater and the Magnum single-seater. In 1998 the company added the Super Magnum, a one-place airplane that features a substantial 80-horsepower engine from the Czech Republic.
The Verner SVS-1400 engine was brought to the United States by Milan Stavenik in the mid-1990s. Milan lost his life in an accident unrelated to the Verner, but development of the engine has continued under Sport Flight Aviation owner Roger Bitton.
In addition to the Verner, the new HKS 700E, imported from Japan by Hpower, is enjoying a good reception.
Gull flying in a new millenium
It is Mark’s design philosophy to make the most efficient aircraft he can, one that will use the least fuel. He defines himself as “a minimalist,” and this sentiment is carried throughout this beautifully optimized aircraft.
To me, Mark appears to have grown increasingly comfortable in his role within ultralight aviation. Relaxed and confident, he knows he has created a superior flying machine.
He also smiles a lot more these days in my opinion, thanks to a wonderful woman named Leslie who accompanied him to AirVenture 2000 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Married a year and a half ago, the two complement each other and make a good team.
No more tight squeezes
Perhaps it was this new personal relationship that motivated Mark to pay more attention to creature comforts. Notably, the Gull 2000 is wider than the previous single-seat or tandem two-seat Thunder Gull aircraft. Considering Mark is a lean and healthy vegetarian, his concern for broader pilots is no doubt appreciated.
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