A brave new world of “sport pilot” approaches. Like all things new, it has plenty of allure and some uncertainty attached to it. Its promise is great, but no one, including FAA, can predict how it will turn out. In such times familiar and reliable aircraft become as comfortable as a well-worn helmet. Such standard bearers may not seem as exciting as a new machine, but you can count on them to behave with good manners. In aviation, no proof is better than years of field experience in the hands of many owners.
Into this hazy future flies one aircraft
that qualifies as a known
quantity. The RANS Inc. Airaile
S-12 and S-14 models have established
themselves as some of
ultralight aviation’s most popular aircraft.
RANS reports close to 1,000
Airailes sold (800-plus S-12s, more
than 100 S-14s, and about a dozen S-
12S models). This blows away every
RANS model line except the ubiquitous
S-6 Coyote series; however, even
the S-6 counts only a couple hundred
more deliveries.
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Phamous Phantom
Phantom ultralights continue to charm many pilots
The proposed sport pilot and light-sport aircraft rule changes have been
the focus of much discussion and anticipation over the last several
months, and good reasons for such unbridled attention are plentiful.
Under the proposed rule, you can obtain
an FAA sport pilot certificate in as
little as 20 hours and then carry a passenger
without having to become a flight
instructor. Many interesting aircraft will
become available for purchase either as
kits or ready-to-fly light-sport aircraft
(LSA), and these machines will be more “capable” in that they will be faster, better
equipped, more comfortable, and
more closely resemble conventional aircraft.
In many ways, they will outperform
the general aviation aircraft they may
come to replace.
Experts expect financing and insurance
to become more readily available.
And access to America’s 12,000 airports
should follow. You’ll be able to buy fully
built LSA that will qualify for commercial
operations like flight training or rental.
American Trikes – Sidebar 1
Contacts!
Here’s a directory of contact information for
the various companies mentioned in this
article.
• Airsports USA (New York):
phone 718/777-7000
e-mail fly4fun@flyforfun.net
• Antares Ltd. (Alaska):
phone 907/688-7001
e-mail asainc@customcpu.com
• Butterfly Wings by GibboGear (Florida):
phone 863/679-6383
e-mail gibbogear1@aol.com
• Concept Aviation (Tennessee):
phone 865/693-1284.
e-mail aaldon@aol.com
• J&J Ultralights (Florida):
phone 386/330-2007
e-mail jjultralight@aol.com
• Kemmeries Aviation (Arizona):
phone 623/566-8026
e-mail fly@kemmeriesaviation.com
• Lookout Mountain Flight Park (Georgia):
phone 706/398-3541
e-mail fly@hanglide.com
• North Wing Design (Washington):
phone 509/886-4605
e-mail trikes@northwing.com
• Personal Flight (Washington):
phone 509/682-6262
e-mail fly@personalflight.com
• Sabre Aircraft (Arizona):
phone 623/393-0234
e-mail sales@sabretrikes.com
• Skyboat/Paratrike (Texas):
phone 281/852-2228
e-mail ultmark2@phoenix.net
• Soaring Eagle (Texas):
contact was unsuccessful at press time
• TC’s Trikes (Tennessee):
phone 423/802-1193
e-mail tctrikes@mindspring.com
• Top Dog Ultralights (Colorado):
phone 970/749-4838
e-mail topdog@fone.net
• WeTTrike Inc. (Mississippi):
phone 601/947-9281
e-mail sales@wettrikeinc.com
Published in Experimenter Magazine
American Trikes
Made in the USA and Yankee friendly!
Many pilots and even some experts believe trikes are a European innovation. Indeed, producers across the Atlantic took the breed to new heights, yet the fact remains that the earliest commercial producers of weight-shift trikes were here in the United States. In the early 1980s trikes were primarily an American phenomenon.
In the early days, before ultralights
had been defined, hang gliders
added power and slowly evolved to
use wheeled carriages. The first
producers included brands that
transitioned from the hang gliding
world, such as Soarmaster, Bennett
Delta Wings, and Flight Designs (no
relation to the German producer of
the CT). All of these American names,
and a good many more, are now
gone.
Today, when you hear the word
trikes, you may think of Air Creation,
Cosmos, Pegasus, AirBorne, or other
companies from Great Britain,
Europe, or Australia. Most of the
development work in trikes has
seemed to come from imported
brands.
Sky Ranger
The Leading Trainer in French Flight Schools
To many observers, the Sky Ranger looks like a RANS Coyote. Based on general appearances, it appears the French light plane borrowed heavily from the popular model sold by the Kansas light plane kit leader. But, Sky Ranger importer Richard Helm bristles a bit when he hears that statement and retorts, “People compare the Sky Ranger to the RANS Coyote. They say it’s a knockoff, but the French designer didn’t take anything from the Coyote. It’s built completely different,” although he admits, “It does look a lot like the Coyote.”
Give a Yankee welcome to the Sky
Ranger. The French-designed
ultralight is typical of a trend I
think we’ll be seeing with increasing
frequency—imported light planes from
Europe. Sky Ranger is built in the
Ukraine by Aeros, Ltd. I visited this
factory with Phil Lockwood of
Lockwood Aviation in the spring of
2001. Once built by Synairgy in France,
Sky Ranger production moved to this
former eastern-block country in 1997.
Europe Embraces Light-Sport Aircraft
Many excellent aircraft may be headed our way
Parlez-vous Française? Sprechen Sie Deutsche? Parlate Italiano? Fortunately, to understand European recreational aircraft you don’t need to speak French, German, or Italian. Yet the light-sport aircraft (LSA) that may interest you could come from countries where the mother tongue isn’t English.
Welcome to the globalized
world of light-sport
aircraft where the workers
who built your plane may speak
Polish, Russian, Hungarian, or
Latvian in addition to French,
German, or Italian.
Though many intriguing
ultralights come from Europe and
Americans have seen a few of these,
many are a complete surprise to
Yankee pilots. That will change.
Last year after EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2002 ended, I traveled to
Blois (pronounced Blwah), France, a
town about 200 kilometers south of
Paris. There I attended the 22nd
salon (or air show) that organizers
present at this location each year in
late summer. Let’s take a walk
around the salon at Blois.
Honoring Mike Sacrey
Note to readers — This article first appeared in EAA Sport Pilot magazine. The layout is unusual because of magazine formatting, but all the text and photo information is as it originally appears… —DJ
AND LEARNING THE HISTORY OF FAR PART 103
Not long after takeoff, the airline captain’s deep voice transmitted the following: “Ah… Los Angeles Center, I see hang gliders not far off my wing. They aren’t in our airspace, but I’m surprised to see these guys up here.”
Thus began the impetus to create
Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) Part
103. Of course, the rule had no name
at the outset, but one FAA official saw
the future.
Honoring the foresight of this
man, EAA recently inducted W.
Michael “Mike” Sacrey into the EAA
Ultralight Hall of Fame during
ceremonies on November 2, 2001, at
EAA headquarters in Oshkosh,
Wisconsin.
Mike holds an airline transport pilot
(ATP) rating with numerous sign-offs
for a variety of jets and multiengine
seaplanes.
Hawks and their History
A look at CGS Aviation and its Roots
The Hawk and Chuck. Chuck
and the CGS Hawk. They are
absolutely intertwined. While
Chuck has a wife, Pixie (aka Nancy),
and family—four sons (Chuck Jr.,
David, Ted, and Don)—he has
another family in his aircraft.
Going Way Back
Our story this month takes us back
in time. EAA recently celebrated the
induction of Michael Sacrey into the
Ultralight Hall of Fame. He was
present near the beginning of the
movement. But even before
ultralights were officially recognized
as a segment of aviation, Chuck was
doing essentially what he is doing
today—selling flying machines.
In the early days, Chuck built
hang gliders, with names like the
Swooper, Spitfire, and Falcon (models
I through VII). While hang gliding
was most popular on the West Coast
and many major hang glider
manufacturers were located there,
hang gliding was also popular along
the dunes of the Great Lakes, and
Chuck’s operation was one of the
biggest in the eastern part of the
country.
An Escapade Just for You
Engineering design is usually an evolutionary process. While occasionally a breakthrough idea comes to market, most development in aviation is a result of small steps. The Escapade is a good example.
Once Flying K Enterprises (now Sky Raider LLC) offered their Sky Raider. The single-seater had much in common with the immensely popular SkyStar Aircraft Kitfox. In fact, when SkyStar offered their Kitfox Lite single-seater, Flying K built the welded fuselage for them.
Then came the Sky Raider II with a tight back seat that could be used for an occasional ride though not instruction as no controls were installed in the rear. The new Summit offered by Just Aircraft late last year was a variation on the Sky Raider II theme.
Company leadership changes as do their designs and the path from Flying K to Just Aircraft is convoluted; other business names are involved. By example, Rocky Mountain Wings, run by former Flying K partner Stace Schrader, offers their very similar Ridge Runner.
Gemini Powered Parachutes Come From Experience
According to the new Ultralight Flying! “Ultralight and Microlight Buyer’s Guide,” 24 companies are building powered parachutes in 2003. That figure doesn’t include recently announced foreign competitors and doesn’t count all that may follow. How does a new company stand out in such a crowd?
Gemini Industries boss Randy Snead is a well-known personality among powered parachute enthusiasts. He was the main technical person with Buckeye Industries, working with FAA personnel for months in pursuit of Primary Category certification. In blazing that new trail, Snead earned a reputation as being serious and knowledgeable.
His business enterprise is new to the scene, but given Snead’s long experience in this segment of light aviation, Gemini Industries should prosper. I see the company surviving any industry shakeout as the Indiana company keeps its overhead low and offers reliable products at low prices with reasonable delivery times. Gemini Industries isn’t flamboyant like some powered parachute producers and that’s exactly why Gemini’s formula should work.
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