From dawn to dusk, we hear how electric propulsion is going to save the Earth. Whatever your belief about the hazards of fossil fuel, electric propulsion is coming. When is another matter.
Air taxi ventures based on multicopter designs are drinking up funds by the tens or hundreds millions of dollars, probably billions by now. I don’t have a shred of doubt that these will lead to genuine changes in transportation… but I would not hold my breath until such services become common. I suspect it will be many years yet.
However, today, electric propulsion for ultralight aircraft works quite well, especially when it serves a purpose. For soaring pilots, power is about getting to altitude where they can explore ridge, thermal, or wave lift. Those who love such flying, like me, seek out the best machine that might deliver that capability. Ultralight Design’s Ego trike can.
High-Tech Composite
Anyone who knows hang glider wings will admire both the construction and substantially higher performance of what’s called a rigid wing — more common hang gliders are called flex wings.
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Aero ’23 Day 3 — AVI Aircraft Impresses Aero with One Major Upgrade and One All-New Design
I found much to discover at Aero Friedrichshafen 2023 but in one exhibit space I found two wonderful surprises. Both are from AVI Aircraft.
One was easy to pick out as new. The other initially fooled me. In the Aero event I missed last year due to Covid (and the prior two years that were cancelled due to government Covid restrictions), AVI developers have been busy.
New from AVI Aircraft
Dracula immediately caught my eye as it did for many Aero attendees. It was new. It was charming. It was sleek. And it still folds up small like its older sibling, Swan. More on that below. Yet Dracula distracted me from Swan, which I thought I already knew. The older model has also been brilliantly renewed.
In addition to dashing lines, especially for a Part 103 ultralight, AVI Aircraft models are affordable. I am aware that word means something different to every pilot, yet in 2023 a ready-to-fly aircraft that looks like Swan in the low $30,000s* may appeal to wide range of budgets.
Sun ‘n Fun 2023, Day 2 — Newest Special LSA Is Actually the Oldest: Junkers A50 Junior
In a splendid professional presentation, Waco Aircraft unveiled their newest vintage-style aircraft. Well, that’s close to factual. In truth, Junkers Aircraft is its own company, but as it shares common ownership, it’s OK to group these two vintage designs together, partly as they are both 100% built-in-America designs.
In Battle Creek, Michigan a European businessman, Dieter Morszeck, has invested more than $30 million to create a modern airplane factory capable of producing such complex yet handsome designs as the Waco biplane. For 2023, that facility has a new occupant, Junkers Aircraft. Both are owned by Dieter and this man is serious about aviation.
Mr. Morszeck made his money in the luggage business. His brand, Rimowa, is known widely for its corrugated exterior, leaving an earlier Junkers aircraft built similarly to be dubbed the “flying suitcase.” This is a delicious bit of serendipity because now his former luggage business can be expressed in an airplane… one that draws people’s attention wherever it shows up.
A Tale of Two CTLSs — AeroJones Reaches a New Benchmark for LSA
Sun ‘n Fun 2023 means spring and helps kick off a season of recreational flying. As the year progresses and Oshkosh arrives, we have our fingers crossed for FAA to issue the Mosaic Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM). At AirVenture 2022, we were promised the draft proposal by August of this year.
The following month FAA’s Sport Pilot / Light-Sport Aircraft regulation will celebrate its 19th birthday. That means LSA will turn 20 years old in 2024 and by the end of the year we should have Mosaic.
It has been a fast and furious twenty years!
In those two decades, LSA have arrived and flown in nearly every country on Earth.
A few years ago, I evaluated total worldwide market size — see this article or this chart — for LSA or LSA-like aircraft and found more than 66,000 aircraft worldwide. Eight years later, that number may be 80,000 aircraft although I made no attempt to repeat that time-consuming global survey*.
6 Mosaic High Wing Light-Sport Aircraft — FAA’s Coming Rule Will Create “mLSA” Sector
Darkest before dawn? I hear growing concern about FAA’s new Mosaic regulation and what it will or won’t do. An increasing number of comments I hear are variations of these words — “FAA is never going to get this done, and if they do, it will be a crappy rule.”
Why so glum?
Maybe pilots are frustrated because FAA has delayed the release of Mosaic. This also happened almost 20 years ago with the Sport Pilot / Light-Sport Aircraft regulation. SP/LSA was anticipated for more than three years after the first announcement.
However, Mosaic is coming and this time we know more about it than most regulations. Why? Because FAA must involve ASTM committee members along the way. (More on this? See at end.*)
Earlier FAA rule writers did not reveal their work as broadly. Yet FAA is sufficiently pleased with industry consensus standards, ASTM’s work, that they will use it on the next generation of GA aircraft (think: Cessna, Cirrus, etc.).
Should Your Out-Back, Off-Airport “Sky Jeep” Go Electric? Here’s One Answer…
Zenith’s headline read: “All-electric Zenith ‘Sky Jeep’ completes first flight, with plans to transport doctors and medical supplies in remote areas of the world.” Several aviation publishers jumped on the news* from light kit-built market leader, Zenith Aircraft.
I’m curious what you think of (1) electric propulsion on any aircraft and (2) electric power for an aircraft used, let’s say, for exploring. If you have an opinion and care to share it, use the comment feature.
To date, most electric-propulsion entries have been sleeker designs. Pipistrel has been a leader in this class; they got their start building sailplanes and motorgliders and never lost their preference for clean, smooth shapes. Many others also participated (nearby images).
Bye Aerospace’s eFlyer continues its long path toward the market. This development company based its aircraft on Arion’s Lightning airframe, a smart choice as Lightning is so smoothly constructed. This article describes what was then called Sun Flyer.
Cross Country Delivery of AeroJones CTLS Light-Sport Aircraft Represents a “First” in China
American and European pilots can plan a trip across the continent with surprising ease and with great support from air traffic controllers, airport operators, and businesses that serve aviation. No one stops you to ask what you’re doing. You probably question why I even bother to write this because it’s so well understood.
Yes, those of us in countries where private aviation is well-established take for granted the privilege of flying cross country. In fact, it’s one of the great joys we love to experience. It’s a fantastic way to see the country. That’s simply doesn’t happen in China. …Or, it didn’t. Things are changing and one company has forged ahead despite the challenges.
This story involves a Taiwanese-origin, China-based company called AeroJones and involves the delivery of one of their CTLS aircraft to a customer. In the USA, this would never be news. In China, it most definitely is!
AeroJones’ Great Aerial Trek
After purchasing the rights, AeroJones builds the Flight Design CTLS for the Asia-Pacific market.
Aeroprakt and Aeros Continue Manufacturing Despite Senseless Destruction in Ukraine
The following story is one that moved me and might affect you similarly. I consider all recreational aviators anywhere in the world as fellow flying enthusiasts. Maybe you do, too? Whatever we fly, pilots share a love of aviation, regardless of what language we speak or what currency we spend.
I am flooded with admiration for those airplane producers in Ukraine who have courageously continued even as bombs fall and missiles fly. I have visited three Ukraine producers (some years ago) and I can only try to imagine what they are experiencing today.
In this article I want to shine a light on courageous efforts by regular Ukraine citizens to continue making aircraft that bring satisfaction to pilots in America and many other countries.
Aero Hang Gliders
and Nanotrikes
As you’ll hear in the first video below, I was told a compelling story about workers in Kyiv-based Aeros going to their factory pre-dawn, entering quietly, working with reduced lighting to be less conspicuous, and locking themselves in for the workday.
WUFI… A Different Sort of Aviation Event — On October 8 & 9, Thousands of Ultralight Enthusiasts Take to the Sky
While those of us in Florida hangared our aircraft and hunkered down for Hurricane Ian, elsewhere in the world, many pilots were preparing their airplanes and gearing up for one of the biggest aviation events you’ll never see.
This weekend perhaps thousands of light, sport, recreational aircraft owners will take their ultralights (or other light aircraft) into the sky for a kind of “virtual” airshow, except it isn’t computer simulators. It is only virtual in the sense that nearly all aviators will help create an “airshow” without seeing another aircraft. “Analog” might be a better term than virtual.
The innovative concept makes WUFI (on Facebook) about as different from Oshkosh as you can get yet it generates its own high level of enthusiasm.
Note to recreational pilots: YOU can join the action and be part of the world’s largest airshow …largest by virtue of it being spread all over the planet on one weekend!
Midwest LSA Expo Wrap-Up — Metrics Reveal the Strength of These “Sector-Specific Shows”
Sun ‘n Fun does it. EAA AirVenture Oshkosh did it. Why not the smaller, sector-specific shows? Indeed, why not? I refer to reporting of show statistics when the event concludes. In modern vernacular, these are “metrics.”
The likable and longtime manager of the Mt. Vernon, Illinois municipal airport, Chris Collins, has been forwarding some “metrics” from this year’s 14th annual event. Whatever you choose to call the numbers from an event, they provide useful information on how the show performed.
One comment measurement is the number of airplanes sold or the quantity of interested pilots who expressed real interest. Trying to get hard information is like nailing Jello to a wall. We get tidbits and potential but hard facts are hard to assemble. A genuinely interested person ready to make a deal could experience problems right after the event. Some (understandably) need to check with their spouse; that sometimes alters a decision.
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