Dynon Avionics has arguably become the largest supplier of LSA avionics in the form of computer screen displays of engine monitoring and flight instruments. At AOPA 2009, they introduced their impressive new SkyView synthetic vision system. In this video at Sebring 2010, we look at one of the first installations of this big-screen setup in the Flight Design CTLS.
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Succeeding the Old Fashioned Way: Getting It Right
Media people (like me) flock to airshows looking for the new stories, new airplanes, new avionics, new company developments… whatever is new. Journalists pursue what’s new because they believe that’s what their customers readers want to read (or perhaps because it interests them as a writer). Nevertheless, sometimes the story is what’s not new. Aerotrek, importer of the A240 and A220 has not made major changes to the aircraft.
Why? Simple. The airplanes don’t need to change.*
Aerotrek’s planes are very well built, fly predictably and efficiently, handle nicely and perform near the top of the category at modest operation cost. They are simpler, not fancy carbon fiber, but rely on trusted construction methods using familiar materials. As important as any quality, Aerotreks are modestly priced, affordable to many budgets.
Not breaking new ground means getting familiar ways down pat, honing the building skills and techniques to a fine degree.
Sun ‘n Fun 2016 Debrief & Summary
The super-short summary of Sun ‘n Fun 2016: weather was beautiful; even the one night of rain gave way to a sunny day and all other days were as good as it gets. No accidents occurred to my awareness. Crowds were good if not record-setting. Airplanes were sold; I conservatively estimate about 30 sales of light aircraft, based on my inquiries. What’s not to love?
As with any such attempt to cover an event the size and breadth of Sun’n Fun, this article cannot include all deserving aircraft, with regrets to any not mentioned below. We also shot lots video that will follow as the editing can be done (photo).
This article is longer than I prefer but I have plenty to tell you and I was simply too engaged during the event to keep posting. So… let’s get going!
AIRPLANES (three-axis control) — Sun ‘n Fun drew all the wonderful light airplanes we love but a few were touting fresh news not previously reported.
Chinese Pilot Seeks to Fly for Fun
WEEKEND UPDATE — Next week I leave for my first visit to China, specifically to Anyang City, by train a couple hours south of Beijing where the seventh running of an annual airshow is planned. I have only a sketchy idea what to expect even though Shu Dong Li of the Aero Sport Association has briefed me as has my European counterpart (in our work for LAMA), Jan Fridrich. In the last year alone, Jan has made nine trips to China as the Czech government is assisting Chinese authorities in work to build personal aviation in that country.
At the invitation of Shu Dong and Anyang City officials I was asked to speak at the event and I will join several other Americans all invited for the occasion. I expect this will prove interesting. While no one expect China to suddenly explode with light aviation activity, various groups are vigorously pursuing the future of recreational flying and this country has accomplished a great deal in a short time.
LSA Off to Sun ‘n Fun — Excitement Building!
Super Petrel LS from Edra Aeronautica — As described in our earlier article, Edra Aeronautica was nearly done with their acceptance by FAA to be able to sell their handsome biwing Super Petrel LS in the U.S. as a Special (fully manufactured) Light-Sport Aircraft. The “almost” is gone now and Daytona Beach, Florida-based importer Brian Boucher of Florida Light Sport Aviation has the pink Special Airworthiness card in his LSA to prove it (photo). Brian’s business also represents the Flight Design CTLSi, so he has two distinctive Light-Sport models he can demonstrate. Florida Light Sport Aviation is based at the Spruce Creek Fly-in (just like ByDanJohnson.com!); he and wife Jean will be at Sun ‘n Fun in space LP-38 past the LSA Mall in Paradise City. Another Super Petrel LS will be available for examination in the LSA Mall as will his CTLSi. Brian is an airline pilot but enjoys Light-Sport Aircraft when he isn’t jetting around the globe.
Fly/Drive Concept Introduces Flying by LSA
This last weekend I did something I’ve never done before. It worked much better than I expected and I want to pass along the idea for others to consider. It won’t always work but it could help introduce more people to the pleasure of flying. Four friends and I took a trip from my home near Daytona Beach, Florida to the Florida Keys with a stay in Marathon Key plus ground and aerial tours of Key West. This trip was some time in planning; I referred to it as a fly/drive vacation. We used the long weekend trip to celebrate a special birthday. You can likely interpret what “fly/drive” means quite easily but let me put some detail to the story.
For the flight I used a four-partner-owned Flight Design CTLSi so the first step was to schedule the plane with the owners. No problem as we were leaving Friday and would return Monday.
Blue Skies Over the Bluest Water Imaginable
On the Fourth Bahamas Fly Out in January 2014, a group of four Light-Sport Aircraft and one Cessna 172 made the short hop to Bimini Island of the Bahamas from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It may only be 50 nautical miles but at a cruising altitude of 3,000-5,500 feet you definitely fly out of sight of land … yes, thousands of miles of ocean and no land to be seen from the cockpit. Do I have your attention yet? Even the ever-dependable Rotax 912 that powered all four LSA seems to run rough shortly after land disappears behind you. A pilot briefing from a Bahamas flying expert gave all pilots the preparation to deal with a problem en route but an actual emergency would be a major dilemma for those on board.
Fortunately no such challenges arose. Experts were also on hand to help pilots file the international flight plans that have become much more complicated since 9/11.
LSA Air; Jabiru Service; MGL XTreme; 90th Birthday
Cool It! — Scott Severen of US Aviation — the central Texas general aviation dynamo — is a man on a mission. He showed an AMT FlyCool installation (video) on a Flight Design CTLS at Sun ‘n Fun that was a surprisingly clean installation considering he brought all the air conditioning parts in his airline luggage. By AOPA’s fall Summit, he had refined it considerably (photo). Now the installation features a handsome louvered right side baggage door that brings fresh air in and exhausts warmer air. The panel switches are permanent and in the warm Texas sunshine, the system had great appeal. It adds surprisingly little weight (22 pounds); cost varies by installation but is much less expensive than old style air conditioning systems for airplanes. One downside is a loss of some luggage capacity but for example, a flight school wouldn’t care. Their students could chill instead of sweating through their flying lesson.
Summer’s Coming; Cool It, Fellow Pilots!
Across the northern U.S. states and across much of Europe it was a lousy, cold, snowy winter. It seemed everyone I spoke to at Aero in Friedrichshafen, Germany complained about the crappy winter and their laments mirrored those from America’s northlands. However, the weather appears to be going directly from winter to summer. It was warm in Slovenia when we visited Pipistrel and it’s now getting hot across much of the USA. That’s great, perhaps, as it foretells an active flying season. However, as the weather warms, it can get mighty hot in the cockpit and not only because you’re on short final on a gusty day in a responsive LSA.
US Aviation previewed their integration of the AMT FlyCool air conditioning system in the Flight Design CTLS at Sun ‘n Fun 2013. The Dallas-area, Texas company partnered with FlyCool to develop an installation for the Flight Design CTLS.
LSA Industry On Life Support…ummm…Nah.
In a recent article from Flying Magazine, an editor volunteered his opinion that the Light Sport industry is on life support. There are so many good arguments to refute such a sky-is-falling assessment, it kind of makes you wonder why a respected journalist would go out of his way to attract a lot of heat in the first place … but that’s another story.
Dan Johnson makes a ton of solid rebuttal remarks in this article and in a video he did with UltralightFlyer.com — check those out.
Meanwhile, here’s a magnificent retort to the LSA-is-dead silliness: Airtime Aviation out of Tulsa, OK. Owners Tom Gutmann and his son Tom Jr. just delivered their Number 100 Flight Design airplane, a new CTLSi with a fuel injected Rotax 912 iS engine.
At Sebring I saw a bunch of installations of the new engine: it’s really catching on.
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