Those hard-working stalwarts at Legend, the number one U.S. producer of LSA, keep finding interesting things for folks like me to write about. • Trish Jackson is an Ohio native who flies Airbus freight carriers all over Europe. She learned flying from her mother at age 13 and still remembers a memorable quote mom made on a flight: “Look at these rivers. It’s like God carved them out with his finger.” *** Trish owned a vintage Cub at one point in her career, but a couple years ago felt the urge to own one again — a brand new one. She kicked some tires and lit some fires for a year or two, then took a Legend Cub demo flight. *** Last April she joined the annual Legend rite of spring gaggle — a trip I had the distinct pleasure of making in 2008 — to fly formation with a bunch of Legend Cubs from Sulphur Springs, TX to Lakeland, FL for the annual Sun ‘n Fun spring flyin.
Landing a Seaplane on Water… with Wheels Down!
Landing on water with your wheels down is a confirmed aviation no-no. Land planes that try it often get flipped over upside down, when escaping the cabin becomes a real concern. Every seaplane pilot I know has a mantra he or she repeats, “I’m landing on water so the wheels must be up.” Most simply don’t want to make this mistake. You can land a seaplane or floatplane on land with the wheels up. The penalty is not as great (and you’ll certainly stop fast). But you violate the wheels-into-water rule at your peril. *** Some airplanes, like the new CTLS on amphib floats, or FPNA’s Capetown, or SeaRey have a light-alert system to help you and some manufacturers offer an audio alarm. Others use mirrors or have other warning systems. *** So why would someone land a SeaMax in water with the wheels down?
New Flight Design Offerings — Summer 2010
Flight Design has maintained their substantial lead in market share partly through a strategy of steady innovation. The German company and its U.S. partners regularly develop new products and introduce them with pizzazz. The company’s press conference and exhibit space at Oshkosh 2010 revealed this methodology. *** AirVenture visitors got to examine the CTLS Lite on amphibious floats. CTLS Lite — unveiled at a significantly-reduced price and dramatically-reduced empty weight — was introduced only three months earlier at Sun ‘n Fun. By Oshkosh 2010, that new model sat atop amphib floats that have already recorded a number of flights from water and land. *** The floats are from Clamar and were developed in concert with Flight Design distributor Airtime Aviation of Tulsa, Oklahoma, arguably the nation’s largest dealer of LSA. “The Clamar floats match the structure and the feel of the Flight Design planes,” said Tom Peghiny, president of importer Flight Design USA.
‘Net Surfin’ for LSA News
Knocking around the ‘Net looking for signs that Light Sport is alive and well… *** Michael Combs is nearing the end of his 19,000 mile odyssey — what a vision. Latest word from PR dude Dave Gustafson is that the Flight for the Human Spirit in a Remos GX has made it to my old west coast stompin’ grounds. Five jewels of the left coast — San Diego, Burbank, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and San Jose — were on the itinerary for one magical flight day over one of the most beautiful stretches of coastal landscape in the world. God speed Michael, 18,000 miles and 45 states and you’re nearly done. • Imagine the human experience he’s having, flying all summer, meeting all the great people he’s met. I’m jealous, I admit it. • BTW, pilots are encouraged to fly along for any portion of Michael’s Flight.
LSA Sales Continue Slowly; Change Among Leaders
While most of the LSA industry — as with most of aviation — endures unprecedented slow sales, at least two companies are showing reasonably good 2010 performances. *** Washington-based CubCrafters is the clear market leader for the first seven months of 2010, with 27 new registrations. We repeat, as always, that FAA registrations do not equal sales; individual company statistics may be different. Following CubCrafters is CSA’s PiperSport with 18 new registrations and Flight Design with an even dozen. *** All the Big Six companies remain the same — in their rank for the entire LSA fleet — though some shifting occurred: Flight Design; American Legend; CubCrafters (moving from 4th to 3rd ranked); Tecnam (3rd to 4th); Czech Sport Aircraft (builder of the PiperSport, 6th to 5th); and Remos (5th to 6th). These Big Six all have more than 100 registered airplanes in FAA’s database, though they are trailed by only a few airplanes by Jabiru USA and Evektor.
Sport Pilots: Fly to the Bahamas in Your LSA!
It’s a first… the acceptance of Sport Pilots into another country. I don’t refer to acceptance of Light-Sport Aircraft in other nations; that’s already happening in a dozen countries with 30 more studying the method of certification. When the Islands of the Bahamas said it would accept Sport Pilot certificate holders to pilot their LSA to the Bahamas, that was a first in another country recognizing the pilot side of FAA’s 2004 regulatory innovation. *** Thanks go to EAA for stimulating discussion and for staffers Randy Hansen and David Oord, both of whom work in EAA’s government relations office. *** At the 2010 Oshkosh event Deputy Permanent Secretary for the Bahamas’ Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, Charles Albury, told EAA AirVenture Today writer Jeb Burnside, “We felt this was another area to expand because of the growth of sport pilots in the United States.” Government and Advocacy Specialist Oord said, “We look forward to similar recognition of the sport pilot certificate by our international neighbors.” In celebration of the latest changes to Bahamian rules, EAA, the Ministry and Florida-based EAA chapters are organizing a sport-pilot fly-out to the Bahamas, planned for the near future.
Oshkosh First Day
Oshkosh has been deluged with a record downpour the last few days, which complicated arrivals because of the soggified grass fields…where most of the planes park and campers do their camping thing. *** Many airplanes were turned away over the weekend but nothing deters the Airventure show, which must go on. *** Several things already buzz, then out to the field for me to discover more and get things rolling (I got here late last night from the wonderful DC-3 Fly-In 4 hours south of here – half of the flying DC-3s in America, 35 total, turned up to be admired by thousands of visitors – a wonderful show.) *** Back to Oshkosh and LSA-centric events: *** <> If two flying cars aren’t enough – the Terrafugia Transition and I-TEC Maverick I’ve reported on in the past- here’s another one: the Caravella. It’s an intriguing work in progress and they’re exhibiting at the show.
The Lazarus Machine
Back finally from 12 days at Oshkosh and the DC-3 fly-in that preceded it, I’m cranking out images and stories gathered there but couldn’t wait to get this one to you. *** Below is a condensation of my column that will run in the November issue. It involves an airplane that caught everybody’s eye when it debuted a few years back, but languished from lack of development and promotion and seemed on its way to obscurity. *** It was called the Phantom then, when T&T Aviation brought it to America from its native Hungary. *** Cruising into the big Lycoming display at Oshkosh in search of the new 115 hp, IO-233-LSA, I was once again gobsmacked by the low-riding, beautiful Falcon LS — the name T&T certified it under back in 2008 — as number 82 on the current list of 109. *** In the interim, Renegade Light Sport and its principal go-to guy Chris “Doc” Bailey have just bought out T&T’s interest in the LSA.
Light-Sport Flying Car Frenzy
Call them “flying cars, flying motorcycles, flying dune buggies,” or “roadable aircraft.”
Regardless of the correct term, a growing wave of these car-to-airplane machines are in various stages of development and most will be at AirVenture 2010.
One of the newest entries is a kit with the lowest projected price among the group; all others are fully built and carry larger price tags. Check out the Caravellair, a three-wheel motorcycle adaptation portrayed on their website. They are predicting a kit for $50,000 but they need investment to get to finish development and get to market.
The better funded Terrafugia effort is leading the sector and recently basked in the warmth of media spotlights after winning a weight exemption from FAA. Their PR success may be boosting the fortunes of the others.
We’ve written about two four-wheelers: Transition — which first flew in March 2010 and is presently undergoing further flight and roadway trials — and Maverick — a cool dune buggie-esque configuration that looks like a hoot to drive on the ground; it is reportedly on the verge of winning SLSA approval and is likely to be the first of these projects to win an airworthiness certificate.
Breezer a Hit with German Prime Minister
Politicians take actions that are often viewed negatively by small business owners, which term basically defines nearly every LSA producer. But sometimes government leaders do good things; this may be one of those stories. Even while EASA (the European equivalent to FAA) talks about job-killing regulations, perhaps the cottage industry of Light-Sport Aircraft discovered a new friend in high places. *** Breezer Aircraft makes a handsome and impressive all-metal airplane in the north of Germany. The design has been around a decade but new management took over in 2006 and they’ve been forging ahead. Among other positive developments, Breezer recently moved to a new airfield and they were surprised and pleased when a German state official showed up to helped commemorate the event. “Schleswig Holstein (the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany) Prime Minister Carstensen opened our airfield,” boasted Breezer officials. “This is already pretty remarkable.
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