*** Everyone interested in electric flight will want to know that the E-Spyder electric-powered ultralight is poised to enter the marketplace. *** A few days ago Tom Peghiny invited me out to Woodstock, CT, about three hours drive from my house, to fly the latest prototype (v. 3) of the venerable FlightStar ultralight. *** I had to pass since I was prepping for a family visit to Germany. *** Checking in from Hamburg, I found a post on his website from my pal and LSA colleague Dan Johnson, who scooped me on the following info: *** The E-Spyder will be marketed by Yuneec, which bought the rights to produce the design from Tom and continues development on several other projects: the graceful E430 S-LSA which has won several prizes already; E-PAC power backpack for paragliders; and electric motor systems for a variety of aviation applications.
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Part 103 Enthusiasm Continues; Welcome E-Spyder!
Part 103 continues to step from the shadow of Light-Sport Aircraft. We’ve had aviation’s simplest rule (worldwide!) for 27 years and with few exceptions, most of those years saw Part 103 producers laboring in near-obscurity. *** Now, however, a new flurry of activity has developed at the beautiful intersection of genuinely lightweight aircraft with electric power. The very latest to roll into the spotlight is Flightstar‘s E-Spyder, which took its first flight today. E-power from Yuneec in China meets an all-American airframe. The accompanying photos show what a clean matchup these components achieve. *** Flightstar mounted the twin lithium polymer battery packs on either side of the design’s robust main fuselage tube. Electric motors are more user-friendly in nearly every way, but you have some new learning to do. For example, experts advise never allowing lithium polymer batters to drain completely. Fortunately, the Yuneec controlling hardware provides warning systems to help you manage this task.
Envelope Pushers
Two aircraft are getting lots of buzz lately for their advancement of aviation technology. *** First up is the electrified Cri-Cri, which looks like a toy but is in fact an important joint electric R&D project of EADS Innovation, Aero Composites Saintonge and the Green Cri-Cri Association. *** The four-engine Cri-Cri originally debuted as a gas-engine powered, homebuilt acrobatic stunt plane many years ago. EADS modified the Hobbit-sized twin to serve as testbed project for developing electrical propulsion systems on helicopters, drones and other aviation platforms for the future. *** The original stunt plane had two piston mills, maxing out around 30 total horsepower. The all-electric Cri-Cri replaces those with four brushless electric motors. *** The “go-gas” comes from LiPo, or Lithium polymer, batteries, all the rage in RC modeling circles for years for their comparatively high energy density. *** Brushless motors boast 80% or better efficiency, compared to the 20% or less of average internal combustion engines.
Sebring Day Two: Dynon SkyView
Friday attendance seemed lighter than last year. Blame Thunderstorm Morning! One downpour sent sheets of water an inch deep flowing across the exhibition tarmac. *** But nothing dampens sky-bound enthusiasts for long — before long, we drowned rats re-emerged and started aviating as the skies slowly cleared and sunlight finally popped out around 4 pm. *** Highlights of my day: *** * Robert Hamilton of Dynon Avionics took me through a quick tour of the new Skyview System avionics platform. Very impressive. *** Their number one seller: the FlightDEK-D180, closely followed by the original EFIS-D10A, which fits into 3 1/8″ hole — ideal for retrofitting a steam-gauge panel for a complete flight system or to backup a big-panel EFIS system. *** Safety feature: The D-10A has a 1-hour battery life. Even if you lose all electrical power in flight, you can have instruments for landing.
iCub, Meet Smart Cub
Those hard-working stalwarts at Legend, the number one U.S. producer of LSA, keep finding interesting things for folks like me to write about. • Trish Jackson is an Ohio native who flies Airbus freight carriers all over Europe. She learned flying from her mother at age 13 and still remembers a memorable quote mom made on a flight: “Look at these rivers. It’s like God carved them out with his finger.” *** Trish owned a vintage Cub at one point in her career, but a couple years ago felt the urge to own one again — a brand new one. She kicked some tires and lit some fires for a year or two, then took a Legend Cub demo flight. *** Last April she joined the annual Legend rite of spring gaggle — a trip I had the distinct pleasure of making in 2008 — to fly formation with a bunch of Legend Cubs from Sulphur Springs, TX to Lakeland, FL for the annual Sun ‘n Fun spring flyin.
Sonex Aircraft’s Y-tailed Waiex
Pedal to the Metal
The Y-Tail Waiex combines unusual style with refreshing speed.
The airlines may be suffering and
Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) has yet to
coalesce into a coherent industry
segment, but Sonex Ltd. is having a fine run
of business. During my visit on a beautiful
fall day in Oshkosh, Sonex said it was ready
to break ground on a new hangar, the third
building of what has become the Sonex
campus on Wittman Field. At press time, it
was nearly complete.
Sonex is clearly ready for LSA, but
the company has built its enterprise on
delivering kits to the Experimental/ Amateur-
Built community. Steadily selling kits
keeps Sonex in good business shape while
LSA comes into focus. This company is well
positioned for whatever future recreational
flying holds.
$22,260. That calculates to an amazing $148
per mph.
Most of us don’t think in terms of
dollars per mph-and the comparison
with the RV-9 ignores the fact that
the RV is larger, heavier and, as a result,
more cross-country capable-but it
certainly proves that the Monnett machine
won’t take too much of your money for the
speed it can deliver.
New Flight Design Offerings — Summer 2010
Flight Design has maintained their substantial lead in market share partly through a strategy of steady innovation. The German company and its U.S. partners regularly develop new products and introduce them with pizzazz. The company’s press conference and exhibit space at Oshkosh 2010 revealed this methodology. *** AirVenture visitors got to examine the CTLS Lite on amphibious floats. CTLS Lite — unveiled at a significantly-reduced price and dramatically-reduced empty weight — was introduced only three months earlier at Sun ‘n Fun. By Oshkosh 2010, that new model sat atop amphib floats that have already recorded a number of flights from water and land. *** The floats are from Clamar and were developed in concert with Flight Design distributor Airtime Aviation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, arguably the nation’s largest dealer of LSA. “The Clamar floats match the structure and the feel of the Flight Design planes,” said Tom Peghiny, president of importer Flight Design USA.
‘Net Surfin’ for LSA News
Knocking around the ‘Net looking for signs that Light Sport is alive and well… *** Michael Combs is nearing the end of his 19,000 mile odyssey — what a vision. Latest word from PR dude Dave Gustafson is that the Flight for the Human Spirit in a Remos GX has made it to my old west coast stompin’ grounds. Five jewels of the left coast — San Diego, Burbank, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Jose — were on the itinerary for one magical flight day over one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal landscape in the world. God speed Michael, 18,000 miles and 45 states and you’re nearly done. • Imagine the human experience he’s having, flying all summer, meeting all the great people he’s met. I’m jealous, I admit it. • BTW, pilots are encouraged to fly along for any portion of Michael’s Flight.
Oshkosh Day 5
The Sleeping Giant Wakes… Big news from China: IndUS Aviation threw a big lunch bash today at Oshkosh to break word of its exciting new program to shift production of all its Thorpedo LSA to China, as part of a unique collaboration with the country’s government and private industry to begin to grow Chinese General Aviation. *** The program will launch this fall at the new LuYangHU General Aviation Development Zone in Weinan, China. There is currently no GA permitted in the country. This will be the first — carefully studied and controlled, to be sure — attempt to bring private aviation to Chinese citizens: a fascinating period in history, and one that, with this partnership, aims to open the country wide to sales of light sport aircraft from all over the world. *** Indus will build LSA for its domestic market as well as worldwide — including Chinese citizens.
Oshkosh Day 2
Recovering from the mud soup floods that crippled arrivals a few days ago (so many airplanes typically park on the grass), things began to dry out enough yesterday to bring robust opening day attendance, helped in large part by the beautiful weather. Humidity was manageable, temps were in the mid-80s. *** A great start for EAA (which reportedly draws 45% of its yearly revenue from Airventure), with lots to see and talk about. *** Highlights: *** Yuneec, (which seriously needs to update its website), is the Chinese electric aircraft company that blew open the hangar doors of everybody’s electric flight dreams last year with the debut of the beautiful E-430 all-electric S-LSA. They’ve guarded some tasty secrets since, which came to light yesterday. *** I spent a half hour with Managing Director Clive Coote to get updated, here are some highlights (more details down the road, and in my electric flight article which will run in a P&P issue this fall).
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