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ISSUE 12 NOVEMBER 2010
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Your
Adventure of the Year
By
Dan Grunloh, Editor, Light
Plane World |
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The
great thing about flying is that it
can be an adventure every time you
take off. This month, as in past
issues, EAA Light Plane World
features stories and news of
ordinary individuals who have found
their adventure in the light side of
aviation. Each and every year we
should try to find some new
experience in flying. With only a
month remaining in 2010, the time to
review the logbook is near. What was
your adventure of 2010? Read
more
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| Making
Safety a Chapter Event
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The winter months can be long and
tough on pilots who fly
open-cockpit aircraft. Flying
opportunities are often reduced
and the flying we do enjoy is
often solitary since not all of
our flying buddies want to fight
the weather and the reduced
daylight hours. That doesn't mean
that flying isn't on our mind. It
becomes a question of finding an
outlet for our "inner
flyer." Read
more
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| Balloon,
Paraglider Collision Analyzed |
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The
collision between a hot-air balloon
and a powered paraglider at the
Cottonwood, Arizona, airport on
October 16 captured the attention of
the aviation world and the general
public. The collision between two of
the slowest aircraft unfolded in
front of numerous cameras and
spectators at the Cottonwood Airfest.
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| Fortunately
the entangled craft descended
slowly enough so that injuries to
the occupants, though serious,
weren't fatal. Read
more |
| Taiwanese
Ultralight Pilots May Get More
Airspace |
| Ultralights
were first introduced to the
island of Taiwan in 1987, but the
government didn't create
regulations for them until 2004.
The vehicle limits are similar to
FAR 103 in the United States, but
restrictions and requirements are
much greater. |
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| Plans
are underway to establish for the
first time a dedicated airspace
corridor for ultralights which
will allow for a cross-country
flight of up to 41 kilometers or
25 miles. Read
more |
| If
Only It Were True: Dual
Instruction in Wheeled PPGs |
| Last
month, EAA Light Plane World
published a news story where the
CEO of Aerosports Connection (ASC)
suggested that dual training in
wheeled powered paragliders (PPGs)
was now legal. While we would all
love for that to be the case, in
our opinion it is not supported by
the facts. Read
more |
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| Wicks
Aircraft Selling Complete Mitchell
B-10 and U-2 Airframe Kits |
| Wicks
Aircaft Supply of Highland,
Illinois, has reached an agreement
with Richard Avalon at U.S.
Pacific, the home of Mitchell
Wing, to market complete airframe
kits for the B-10 and U-2 flying
wing designs by Don Mitchell. |
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| Both
are well established plans-built
designs from the early 1980s known
for their outstanding performance
and soaring potential. Read
more |
| Rod
Hightower Meets With EAA
Ultralight Council |
| The
EAA Ultralight Council headed by
Carla Larsh had a full day of
meetings on October 30 at the EAA
Aviation Center, including almost
two hours with EAA President Rod
Hightower. Each fall, the council
reviews EAA programs and
activities that pertain to
ultralights and light planes such
as EAA AirVenture Oshkosh,
ultralight chapters, publications,
and government affairs to name
just a few. |
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| The
council members came away from the
meeting with the feeling that Rod
wants to help us solve some of our
biggest problems. Read
more |
| New
Full Lotus Floats For Trike and
FAR103 Ultralights |
| Full
Lotus Mfg. has introduced a new
line of lightweight inflatable
floats. The new FL950 model is
designed for aircraft with a gross
weight of up to 1,050 pounds. The
floats weigh only 30 pounds
each. |
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hull has a more "rockered"
design than their traditional
floats; this rocker encourages the
float onto the step with little to
no input, making it ideal for
trike as well as ultralight
aircraft applications. Read
more |
| Crane
Migration Flyover Experience |
| It's
19°F and total darkness when
alarms go off at 6 a.m. for
pilots, volunteers, and spectators
hoping for a successful launch of
11 endangered whooping cranes and
three ultralights from the
Livingston County, Illinois,
stopover on their epic migration
to Florida. |
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| About
40 people including members of the
Heart-of-Illinois ultralight club
in Peoria, Illinois, gather before
dawn on a country road at a spot
designated for the flyover. Read
more |
| Are
You Flying Naked? |
| The
EAA WSC Trike and Powered
Parachute Insurance Plan is
administered by Falcon Insurance
Agency Inc. In the insurance
industry, when someone decides not
to buy insurance, or go
self-insured, that's usually
referred to as going naked. The
purpose of this short article is
to touch on some of the reasons,
and how the EAA WSC Trike and
Powered Parachute Insurance Plan
might be a good alternative to
going naked. People sometimes take
their clothes off, but I'm not
going there. Why do people
sometimes choose not to at least
explore insurance for flying their
weight-shift-control trike or
powered parachute? Here are a few
reasons I've run into. Read
more |
Rotax
Releases Manual Revisions
Rotax has released revisions
for the following manuals: 912
Line Maintenance Manual -Edition
2, Revision 1; 914 Line
Maintenance Manual -Edition 2,
Revision 1; 2 Stroke Operator's
Manual -Edition 2, Revision 0. Click
here to see all manuals
available for download. Rotax also
released a revision to Service
Letter SL-912-013 / 914-011 /
2ST-007, which lists all Rotax
Aircraft engines that have been
reported stolen. To see the
service letter, click
here. |
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The
Best Summer Vacation a Teen Could
Ever Experience
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For as
long as I can remember, my dreams
have been in the sky. For the
longest part of my life, the dream
felt like it was so far from
reaching that it was unobtainable.
At age 13, I was introduced to
ultralights and it changed my life.
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Ultralights
seemed like something that I could
get myself into without having to
wait until I had the income to
afford flying in "real"
planes. Read
more
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Marble
Canyon Adventure October 2010
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We
recently bought a used RV and wanted
to get one trip in before the
winter. We spent five weeks working
on the RV, getting it ready to go to
Marble Canyon, Arizona, over the
Columbus Day weekend.
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We had a
few problems including a forced
landing in the trike at a spot 12
miles from the nearest road just
before dark. We had no emergency
kit, not even a flashlight, and the
cell phone was useless. Read
more
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Fulfilling
a Life Long Dream
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I've
always loved airplanes and dreamed
of being able to fly. When I was a
kid, I ran around with my arms
spread wide imagining myself flying.
The aging, grey-headed guy in my
mirror told me it was time to do
something about old dreams. So I
attended EAA AirVenture Oshkosh for
the first time in 2005. I was
overwhelmed. I knew Oshkosh was a
big air show, but I had no idea how
big. Read
more
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From
the EAA Light Plane Community and
Facebook
The message forums at
Oshkosh365 are alive with
activity. Here are the latest
discussions!
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| Videos
from the light plane world |
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Quicksilver
GT-400 Ultralight
In honor of the news that
there will be a Top Gun 2, watch
this summertime frolic in a
Quicksilver GT-400. Featuring
multiple camera angles and the
music of the Kenny Loggins classic
from the film, the images make
even the cornfields of Iowa seem
like "The Danger
Zone." View
the video
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Midwest
LSA Expo 2010, Mount Vernon,
Illinois
A nice interview with
Mount Vernon airport manager Chris
Collins about the Midwest LSA Expo
2010 interspersed with images of
what was seen on the ground and in
the air. View
the video |
| Submit
light plane videos that you just
had to watch again; and probably
forwarded to your friends. Send
them to LightPlaneWorld@EAA.org. |
| Featured
Photo Gallery |
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Midwest
LSA EXPO 2010
This month's gallery is a
sample of the more than 30
different models of light sport
aircraft displayed at the 2nd
annual Midwest
LSA Expo in Mt. Vernon,
Illinois, September 23-25, 2010.
The event is intended to expand on
the very successful U.S.
Sport Aviation Expo held early
each year in Sebring, Florida. View
the gallery
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Engines
Q. What's the function of
the engine oil system?
Answer
Powered
Parachute
Q. How can I
minimize the chances of wing
lockout? Answer
Weight
Shift Trikes
Q. What do you call
the part of the trike that the
pilot and passenger sit in?
Answer
Fixed-Wing
Airplane
Q. Why
do airplanes have trim systems?
Answer
Rotorcraft
Q. What are the
pedals on the floor of the
helicopter control for?
Answer |
AeroVee
Engine and AeroInjector - Sport
Pilot Power
John Monnett discusses the
AeroVee Engine and AeroInjector;
Power for the Sport Pilot. Hosted by
Charlie Becker. The webinar does
have some audio issues. View
the webinar
To
find out more about upcoming EAA
Webinars and to register, visit the webinars
page. |
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Getting
High in a Mitchell Wing
EAA Ultralight,
December 1983
 In
1983 Dick Rowley flew a Mitchell
Wing U-2 powered by a 35-hp Cuyuna
engine to a world record altitude
of 25,300 feet. He had primary and
backup oxygen, and the carburetor
was equipped with an adjustable
needle valve. He took advantage of
wave lift from the Rocky
Mountains. An experienced glider
and airplane pilot, Rowley said he
learned to fly the Mitchell Wing
by telephone. Read
the article
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| Q. Do
you fly or have you flown model
airplanes?
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