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AirBorne’s Edge X Wizard Trike
For years now, the boys from “down under” at AirBorne Australia, led by co-owner Russell Duncan, have been coming to America. The ultralight they have been showing is the deluxe Edge Executive model. It’s a beauty, but the company lacked a simpler, lower-cost model. No more!
In April of last year, Duncan and crew debuted what they call the Edge X Wizard model. The “Edge X” series refers to the new trike carriage, above which you can have the double-surface Edge wing, making the Executive trike, or you can select the new single-surface Wizard wing. It is this new offering that is the focus of this pilot’s report.
Smoothly finished in all-white powder coating, and lacking the nose pod and aft fairing, the new Edge X trike carriage looks light and basic. At only $11,700 fully assembled, it should find a market in the USA, I feel. (The figure is complete in every way except for an import shipping charge, which U.S.
CGS Pulls Out the Stops
… to keep the Hawk Ultra Light
Genuine ultralights still
have a place. These
aircraft|excuse me,
ultralight vehicles,
the least-FAA-regulated
flying machines,
will not be sent to aircraft boneyards
despite what some light-sport aircraft
skeptics may think. The Hawk Ultra
is proof positive CGS Aviation loves
ultralights and wants you to have fun
in the air.
No matter the pros and cons of
the sport pilot/light-sport aircraft (SP/
LSA) rule, operating a Part 103 ultralight
remains simpler than earning a
sport pilot certificate and buying an
LSA. No certificate, no medical, and
no registration is needed (though, it is
recommended that folks register with
one of the three associations supporting
ultralights-EAA, the United States
Ultralight Association (USUA), and Aero
Sports Connection (ASC). Additionally,
an ultralight can be fully factory built
without FAA inspections. The list of 103
privileges goes on, and the Hawk Ultra
qualifies for all of them.
One-Oh-Three Interest Soars
I don’t know about the “build it
and they will come” premise when
it comes to baseball fields, but I fervently
believe that if enough customers
want a product, someone will supply
it.
TC’s Trikes and North Wing Team Up on Coyote
Two years ago, I flew and reported on the only model TC’s Trikes offered. Though their line had little depth, the Tennessee company built their own wing and chassis. Many trike chassis builders purchase wings from other sources, much like happens universally in powered parachutes. TC’s Trikes did it all based particularly on their needs as an active flight school operation.
In today’s light aircraft world, a wider product line addresses more pilots, which makes a more viable business. Given the pace of refinements, it can be tough to keep up. Yet TC’s Trikes had a track record in the East, selling more than 100 trikes of their own and other brands. Pairing up with another company, if the fit was right, could be smart business.
A match was found between TC’s Trikes and Washington state-based North Wing Design. TC’s Trikes had something North Wing lacked – a presence in the Eastern USA.
AMD’s CH-601 XL Goes Ballistic
For years BRS Parachutes sold emergency systems to ultralight pilots. Then along came Cirrus Design, who installed the CAPS (Cirrus Airframe Parachute System) on their SR-20 and SR-22 models as standard equipment. It was a bold and unproven tactic, but today, the SR-22 is the best selling general aviation aircraft in the world. Did the parachute help that success? “Absolutely,” says Cirrus president, Alan Klapmeier. Light-Sport Aircraft producers commonly offer parachute systems: Flight Design CT uses a BRS 1350 HS as standard equipment; TL’s StingSport comes with Galaxy. *** Now Aircraft Manufacturing and Development (AMD) has added the BRS to a long list of available safety features: Amsafe seat belt airbags, lightning protection (on the IFR certified CH-601 XLi model), Tetra foam seat cushions (to absorb “G” loads on hard touchdowns), and a FAR 33 certified aircraft engine, the Continental 0-200.
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.
The Lil’ Breezy B-Model
Open-Cockpit 2-seater
ust when you felt as though Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) was the only segment of aviation getting any press, along comes a flying machine that harks back to the early days of ultralighting but with a distinctive fuselage construction and composite wings.
Just when it seemed like every new LSA had to be enclosed, four-stroke-powered, fast, and have leather seats, along comes a new open-cockpit, mile-a-minute airplane that can easily carry two people on the power of a 50-hp Rotax 503. The leather is on your flight jacket.
The Lil’ Breezy B can weigh 350 pounds empty, fly at 60 mph, and sell for $12,500 (for all parts plus engine/prop but not your assembly labor). In my experience that sounds like an ultralight. Born in the new millennium, the Lil’ Breezy B is a modern ultralight.
Before we go fly, let’s examine the machine and talk to its developer, Jack Harper.
What To Do?
Some buyers are unsure how to weigh the decision between ultralight and the new light-sport aircraft. While Heldeberg Designs works on their statement of compliance to new ASTM consensus design standards, here’s some advice to Blue Heron owners from Heldeberg Designs:
“Single-seat, FAA Part 103-compliant aircraft (e.g., the Spirit 103) will have to do nothing. Part 103 will continue on in its current form.
“Older 2-seat ultralights will have to transition from the current exemption-based coverage granted by EAA, ASC, and USUA, to Light- Sport [Aircraft]. These aircraft will have to be inspected in order to receive an N-number as an Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft (ELSA). This will apply to all 2-place powered parachutes that were purchased before the new rule became effective, and provides for a 2-year transition period. This process will require owners to register their aircraft with FAA, and then have them inspected by an LSA Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR) in order to be qualified as an ELSA aircraft.
Modern Age Blue Heron PPC
Here we are
in the spring of 2006 wondering about the future of ultralights in an age seemingly gone crazy about Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft (SP/LSA). For powered parachute manufacturer Heldeberg Designs, the answer is easy. They’ve been preparing for the LSA program for a long time. How will they fare?
Today, we have a great divide* between ultralight pilots on one side and LSA enthusiasts on the other. The ultralight pilots see rather modest benefit to becoming Sport Pilots flying ultralights converted to Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft (ELSA). One major downside is that most such aircraft will have to settle a sales tax bill (states become aware of the aircraft when owners obtain their N-numbers). Other limitations include not flying over 10,000 feet or being required to perform an annual condition inspection. And this is by no means a complete gripes list.
The LSA contingent responds, “That ship has sailed. SP/LSA is here.
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.
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