Meet the Silent family of sleek trikes
Most trikes (powered hang gliders) use fiberglass only for nose pods and wheelpants. The Silent brand of trikes from Germany is an exception as these machines use composite materials for much of the trike carriage or chassis. The Silent family includes four models, two of which are still in production.
Although the Silent trikes are well known to Germans and other Europeans, it took Australian light aviation pioneer Bill Moyes to introduce the stunning Silent Racer to American skies. I first came across this unusual machine at Florida’s Wallaby Ranch before the Sun ’n Fun airshow three years ago.
But I’ve had other contact with developer Helmut Grossklaus as he has, not once, but twice been saved by the same BRS parachute installed in his aircraft. I collected info about this in my role at BRS. Neither accident was the fault of the equipment but of flying circumstances.
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Germany’s Award-Winning Remos G-3 Mirage
“White, composite, and from overseas”…was a theme
of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 in the ultralight/lightplane
area. I’ve already congratulated Experimenter
Editor Mary Jones and Art Director Pierre Kotze on the
October issue’s beautiful layout of the aircraft from
afar, which may become near and dear to Yankee pilots.
This month,
I’d like to introduce
you
to one of the
new flock of white, composite,
and overseas aircraft—Remos Aircraft’s
G-3 Mirage.
For the second EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh in a row, I was delighted to
fly with Allistair Wilson, an Irishman
now residing in the United States.
Like last year, he is working with Rob
Rollison and the Rollison Light Sport
Aircraft Inc., based in Bloomfield, Indiana.
Last year, Allistair and I flew
in the Flight Designs CT. This year it
was the Remos G-3. Both are white,
composite, and from overseas. The
trend is real!
The Factory and People
In addition to flying with Allistair
at AirVenture, I also chanced to meet
the G-3 Mirage designer, Lorenz Kreitmayr,
at a French ultralight show
called Blois (the town it’s near).
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.
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.
First to Achieve Light-Sport Aircraft Status?
Discounting coordination qualities, steep turns, well, all turns went very well in the GT 500; it is very precise in handling. You can always point the plane where you wish.
Many pilots, especially those trained in general aviation aircraft, love the yoke. I much prefer a joystick. This is personal preference, but you can’t fault the execution of the yoke arrangement in the GT 500. Like all components, it’s very well done.
Since I’d just flown the Flight Design CT before the
GT 500, comparisons were easy. Handling in the composite CT aircraft was much more fluid (though that may not suit everyone). The CT could also fly nearly as slowly over the fields as the GT 500, showing the possibilities in new aircraft designs.
The GT 500 behaved very properly at speed. Cruising at 90 mph indicated, the design felt very solid and gave every assurance. However, at 4,200 rpm and 50 to 55 mph, I experienced almost a continuous shudder that seemed to come from the tail.
Proven Design; Ison Aircraft’s Eros
The pretty blue Eros with bright yellow stars on it is no ordinary ultralight. On second thought, “ordinary” and “Eros” aren’t words that go together. Of those aircraft designed by Wayne Ison and his former TEAM team, this model is the hottest of the fleet. I believe I’ve flown all Ison designs that were put into manufacture and Eros is one of my favorites. (In truth, it’s a tossup between the Max-103, Air-Bike, and the Eros.)
The Legend of Davy Lee
For this month’s pilot report, I got the chance to fly a special Eros, a Grand Champion at Sun ‘n Fun ’98 in the Lightplane Class. It belongs to owner/builder/pilot Davy Lee Cooper and it represents my second review of an Eros.
Cooper’s Eros is Rotax 503-powered as was the earlier Eros I flew, but both are derived from the Eros-preceding V-MAX with a Half VW engine. Without a doubt the Rotax 503 is more energetic, yielding better climb rates and somewhat faster speeds.
Cosmos Phase III
One of the first trikes I flew was a Cosmos, way back in 1984. It was a trendsetter then and was one stoutly built trike capable of real functions. The reason I flew and owned a Cosmos in those early ultralight days was due to its capability as a tug for hang gliders. I’ve been involved with hang gliding for many more years than powered ultralights so when the two dovetailed in the Cosmos Tug, I was pleased to the point of purchase. Maybe you’ll also be so moved.
Today’s Cosmos Phase III trike is vastly better than that ’84 model. But it retains the brand familiarity (albeit with different ownership) and functionality while increasing the state of the art to a highly refined point.
In the 18 years since that first Cosmos experience, I’ve flown all Cosmos entries except the Echo. This new Phase III appeared in many ways to be the French company’s finest work.
Aquilair’s Comfortable 2-Seater
French manufacturer Aquilair wants you to get in the “swing” of triking with their 2-seat trike, the Swing. The trike’s sporty name identifies what the French company calls their “chariot” (chassis or carriage). The name may also derive from the company’s unique fold-down system.
Most trikes pivot at the base of the mast (the component connecting occupants and engine to wing) or at a mid-mast point about engine height. Aquilair pivots the mast under the front seat – or the only seat in the case of their single-place model, the Kid. Placing the pivot point this far forward allows the company to offer easier lifting of the wing into position without using weighty and costly gas struts. The result is a simpler, lighter package that accomplishes the goal of letting one person erect the trike from its transport state.
The feature is driven, I was told, by the 90-pound female owner of Aquilair.
Simple, But Efficient – The TC Trike
The itch returned. In truth it never left, says TC’s Trikes owner TC Blyth.
“I was a hang glider pilot 20 years ago and when the time was right, I wanted to jump back in,” says Blyth.
But instead of returning to hang gliding, trikes are the machines Blyth chose to reinvigorate his flying. A Chattanooga, Tennessee native, Blyth’s familiarity with tailless delta wings stimulated him to get involved with trikes.
After his earlier time enjoying hang gliding, family and work responsibilities “interfered” with this enjoyment for many years. Many ultralight enthusiasts can understand this situation. In the interim Blyth took up fishing, but he says, “Stumbling around among rocks in moving water had hazards, too. You can trip and fall, and drown.” While he enjoyed fishing, he figured the risks of flying weren’t overwhelming and he itched to fly again.
Blyth started by representing Sabre Aircraft and reports selling many trikes for the Southwestern company.
South Africa’s Aerotrike Goes First Class
First came the Aerotrike. Travelling all the way from South Africa where Rainbow Aircraft manufactures it, the Aerotrike looked to be – and is – a very sturdy trike that could stand the rigors of flight instruction. However, some thought it lacked the finesse of the finest European trikes.
Designed by Mike Blyth, the Aerotrike was built precisely for the purpose of flight training. For years, Blyth had used other brands of trikes in his flight school. However, he found they wore out prematurely. This is never a good thing to a school trying to fund itself by teaching many students.
The Aerotrike’s Scout and Safari models proved to be durable flying machines. Former American representative Rob Rollison fitted his Aerotrike with a reliable HKS 4-stroke engine and proceeded to fly a lengthy 2,000-mile journey around Mexico. Not everyone would tackle such a venture, but Rollison says the HKS and his sturdy Aerotrike gave him the confidence to simply fly and enjoy.
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