On September 1, 2004, when the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released the long-anticipated Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft regulations, a new aviation segment called light sport aircraft (LSA) was created. Some saw LSA as a bridge between ultralights and general aviation aircraft, but are LSA so different from ultralights? The answer is a mixed yes and no.
Yes, many aircraft look different in that the extra weight they may possess allows them to have full composite fuselages, a panel full of instruments even including fancy glass cockpit hardware, plus they can be delivered ready to fly even as 2-seaters. That’s different than our ultralight trainers or our amateur-built recreational aircraft that resemble those trainers. Prices for these light sport aircraft have pushed them beyond the budgets of many pilots.
On the other hand, these aircraft needn’t be all that different from ultralights. The new rule doesn’t require that they weigh the maximum 1,320 pounds.
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Sleek Design Is Workhorse; Remos G-3 “Trainer”
Rob Rollison imports the gorgeous Remos G-3. [2007 UPDATE: The new importer is Remos USA. Call: Toll Free: 888-838-9879] He is working closely with German designer Lorenz Kreitmayr to certify G-3 as a Special Light-Sport Aircraft. Early sales will be to sophisticated buyers that see the sleek machine as a personal aircraft with impressive performance. But at the Sebring Expo 2006, I met a German instructor who sees it differently. Josef Sporer somewhat hesitantly bought a G-3 to see if it would work in his flight school. After an astounding 20,000 landings and 3,500 hours on one aircraft, he is so convinced of the aircraft’s sturdiness for instructional use that he’s added a second one. So while the Remos aircraft looks like a dream, and boasts good gliding and cruising performance, it qualifies quite well as a trainer, too. Built since 1997, more than 164 are flying around the world.
LSA Euro-Factory Tour: Evektor, Czech Republic
On the same field in the southeastern Czech Republic as used by Czech Aircraft Works is Evektor, builder of the #3-selling SportStar. Coincidence? Not at all. This region, including nearby Slovak Republic and Poland, forms an aviation-intensive region that has attracted many companies. CZAW occupies buildings used in the Soviet era by Let Aircraft, a major producer of transport aircraft. In newer quarters on the opposite side of the airport is Evektor. *** Beside producing the first SLSA in America, Evektor is an engineering and design powerhouse. Of their several hundred employees, the company has nearly 200 engineers doing work for the aircraft and auto industries (which helped their success at being first to meet ASTM standards). Evektor builds an all-metal airplane using many components subcontracted to businesses in the area then assembling them into the beautifully finished LSA we see here in the U.S. According to Evektor America, more SportStars are in use in U.S.
Czech SportCruiser, Custom-Designed for Americans
Czech Aircraft Works (CZAW) began life in the newly
freed Czech Republic not long after the history-making
fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Tapping a wellspring
of aeronautical training and experience that became
available when the Soviets pulled out of the former
Czechoslovakia, American owner Chip Erwin started
CZAW in 1992. Using the highly trained but lowcost
labor force available, Erwin manufactured parts
for and assembled the CH 601 and CH 701 designs of
Chris Heintz’s Zenair Ltd. The young company found
a solid market in Europe for fully built CH 601s and
CH 701s. Each year it grew in size and built ever more
of the all-metal designs.
As CZAW increased its production
capability, it began to explore designs
of its own. It found success first with
its Czech Floats; many American
aircraft are fitted with this all-metal
amphibious system. Three years ago,
CZAW partnered with Sport Aircraft
Works (SAW) of Palm City, Florida,
led by Danny and Zaneta Defelici,
to pursue the development, sales,
and marketing of light-sport aircraft
(LSA).
CT 2006…Second Generation Light-Sport Aircraft
In the 15 months since the first two special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA) were introduced
at the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In in Lakeland, Florida, a wave of S-LSA have taken to the
sky. The number delivered to customers is approaching 500 aircraft — and climbing as
quickly as factories can produce and deliver them. The years ahead should see a sharply
increasing number of LSA flying in America.
The good news for pilots is we won’t
just have more LSA, we’ll have better
ones as designers modify and improve
aircraft based on customer input and
service history. That’s one of the benefi
ts of consensus standards versus
type certification-manufacturers
can cram more features into the airplanes
and factories may refine production
techniques without undergoing
costly recertification. The best
news is we don’t have to wait. “New
and improved” LSA are here now.
The 2006 CT
Because of its distinctive profile, the
Flight Design CT is one of the most
recognized S-LSA flying.
Aircraft Design Holy Grail…& Arion’s Lightning
A standard measuring stick for aircraft design is the ratio of minimum speed to maximum speed. Powerful jets like the Blue Angels’ F/A-18 (along with a government credit card to fuel them) can perform in airshows from 120 mph to 700 mph, almost a 6:1 ratio. But for airplanes you and I can afford, a ratio greater than 3:1 is good with 4:1 being the holy grail. In my experience, a 4:1 ratio is rare; a LSA that stalls at 40 knots and tops out at 120 knots represents only 3:1. *** Recently I flew the Arion Aircraft Lightning. Yielding a fine experience with quick yet stable handling, short takeoffs and easy landings plus mild stalls, Lightning also proved a handsome performer. Nick Otterback reports flying Lightning to better than 200 mph and I held around 40 mph in slow flight. Even assuming instrument error at slow speeds, that’s still well beyond the 4:1 ratio.
An Introduction to Light-Sport Aircraft
Sport pilot and light-sport aircraft,
what’s it all about?
If you’ve ever thought about
learning to fly, returning to
flying, or resuming flying lessons
that you started years ago,
congratulations; your timing is
just about perfect! This rule provides
new opportunities for you as well as
anyone who has dreamed of owning
an aircraft.
This article will summarize how
SP/LSA affects you. We’ll keep it simple;
when you’re ready for more,
EAA offers many ways to become
more informed (see “For More
Information”). Like many activities,
flying has its own language with
abbreviations, acronyms, forms, and
numbers to make discussing it faster.
Veteran pilots throw this lingo around
casually and often baffle those who
aren’t involved. We’ll avoid such jargon
in this article, and we’ll only use
abbreviations after we’ve explained
them.
Let’s Get Started!
SP/LSA has two basic components:
“Sport pilot” refers to a new pilot
certificate you can earn (the FAA calls
them certificates as opposed to licenses);
“Light-sport aircraft (LSA)” refers
to a new category of aircraft.
U.S. Leading Manufacturer of LSA Remains a Legend
With the delivery of their 88th Legend Cub, the Sulphur Springs, Texas-based company handily confirmed its well-out-in-front leadership among American companies building SLSA. If fact, among the entire fleet, Legend is a solid number two behind Flight Design and its CT, a good margin ahead of next-best producers Fantasy Air, TL Ultralight, Evektor, Tecnam, and AMD (according to the best info I have). Other U.S. built LSA companies include IndUS, RANS, Jabiru USA, CubCrafters, Skykits, Just Aircraft, Luscombe, Prestige, Delta Jet (trike), and Infinity (PPC). Seventeen models — a shade over a third — of 48 currently approved are either “Made in the USA” or foreign designs built in the U.S. *** All-American Legend recently listed their many achievements in less than two years since the first SLSA approvals including: Jabiru (or Continental) power, floats, glass cockpit, special paint schemes…all in addition to many Piper J-3 improvements, such as a wider cockpit, doors on both sides, and fly from either seat capability.
Composite Two-seater (CT)
In the fall of ’01, I wrote in Ultralight Flying!, “The CT is the tip of an iceberg, in my opinion.” When I flew that first CT in the USA, few Yankees had seen the aircraft. I felt the German design represented the beginning of a flow of European aircraft coming to America. What a difference a couple of years make!
Thanks to adept and steady promotion, Americans may best identify the coming breed of proposed Light-Sport Aircraft by pointing to the Flight Design CT2K. While this means no disrespect to trikes, tube-and-rag ultralights, or powered parachutes, the CT’s unusual, smoothly-contoured shape is now well known to many Americans. Though the brand is fabricated in the Ukraine and assembled in Germany, it crosses the Atlantic as a prototypical candidate for FAA’s proposed Light-Sport Aircraft category.
Rollison Light Sport Aircraft imported the first U.S.-based CT I flew. The design is now brought in by Flightstar Sportplanes and HPower HKS engine honcho Tom Peghiny.
Flight Design Surveys Sport Pilots; Offers Prizes
I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day holiday. Over this long weekend Randee and I headed to Boston for the EAA Sport Pilot Tour on Sept. 9th. At that event, visitors can complete a survey. Not only is it a chance to tell the leading seller of LSA what type of aircraft you want, but you can win some handsome prizes. Winners will be randomly chosen from those who participate in the survey. Your odds are very good to win First Prize which is a Garmin 396 worth $2,395. Second prize is a King Schools Sport Pilot Training Course and third prize is a Composiclean composite aircraft cleaning supply set. Taking the survey costs you nothing and you don’t have to go to Boston. Just click here and complete 9 multiple choice questions. (You can also add a comment.) *** But, you must act soon.
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