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ISSUE 5 MAY 2011 |
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Lost
in France
By
Dan Grunloh, Editor, Light
Plane World |
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As
the flying season gets going in full
swing and pilots head out on
cross-country flights, there are two
tips I want to offer based on
hard-earned experience. First,
always be aware of your current
position in case the GPS screen goes
blank or your paper chart goes
overboard. Secondly, always have a
backup navigational aid. My
education came in 2005 while flying
in a map navigation contest in the
wheat-growing region of central
France, near Levroux. Read
more
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The
Courage to Soar
By
Arty Trost
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The
smell of freshly cut grass greets me
as I taxi for takeoff. I line up on
the runway and the sound of the
engine grows louder as I push the
throttle forward. I'm eager with
anticipation to be up in the air. I
don't have a specific destination in
mind; I just want to feel the wind
in my face and feel the joy of a
totally different perspective.
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As
the runway falls away beneath me, so
do all my daily distractions. Now
there is nothing but the flying and
the feeling of delight. Read
more
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Human-Powered
Helicopter Flies |
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A team
of graduate and undergrad students
at the University of Maryland's A.
James Clark School of Engineering
are claiming a world record for
the first human-powered helicopter
flight by a woman, occurring May
12 after several failed attempts
earlier that day and the day
before. |
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The
flight was only a few inches above
the floor at the school's the
Comcast Center in College Park,
Maryland, but it was clearly
airborne, as seen on a live
webcast. Read
more |
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Bensen
Days Gyroplane Fly-in 2011
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| Every
April for the past 38 years PRA
Chapter 26 (Sunstate Wing &
Rotor Club) has hosted an event
called Bensen Days at an airport
in Florida. It's named for Dr.
Igor Bensen who helped start the
homebuilt aircraft market, created
the Popular Rotorcraft Association
(PRA), and worked with the FAA to
create the experimental and Part
103 ultralight regulations. The
fly-in was held last month at
Wauchula Municipal Airport in
Wauchula, Florida, and included
the ever popular Cluster Cluck
competition. Read
more |
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FlyNano
Steals Show at Aero
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A
futuristic ultralight seaplane using
the latest in carbon-fiber
construction was one of the most
noticed and talked about aircraft at
the Aero 2011 show in
Friedrichshafen, Germany, Europe's
largest general aviation trade show.
It hadn't yet been flown.
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While most
designers are trying to optimize the
standard aircraft form, Finnish
aeronautical engineer Aki Suokas is
thinking out of the box with this
tiny box-wing ultralight that weighs
only 154 pounds with engine. Read
more
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PiperSport/SportCruiser
Fly-In Organized |
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Dick
Russ believes the greatest thing
about having a plane to fly is that
we get the opportunity to visit
places we might never have
considered. He has organized the
first PiperSport and SportCruiser
fly-in to be held in Branson,
Missouri, this coming June 3 to
5.
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A total
of 142 aircraft owners have been
invited to meet fellow pilots, talk
about PiperSports and SportCruisers,
go on a gourmet dinner cruise, as
well as see the great entertainment
that Branson has to offer. Read
more
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| Pipistrel
Taurus 4 Aims for GFC, Oshkosh
Prizes |
| An
eclectic electric, Pipistrel's new
twin-fuselage Taurus 4 was built
to win the Green Flight Challenge
in early July and EAA's Electric
Flight Prize at AirVenture. The
design is reminiscent of the P-82
Twin Mustang and SpaceShipTwo with
its two pods connected by a 5-foot
spar. Read
more |
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| Taurus
Electro G2 Pipistrel's Second
Entry in EAA Electric Flight Prize
Competition |
| One
of the aircraft AirVenture 2011
attendees can witness in action
during EAA's $60,000 Electric
Flight Prize competition is
Pipistrel's second entry - the
Taurus Electro Generation 2 (G2),
the first two-seat aircraft
powered by an electric engine to
fly in the world. |
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joins the company's four-place G-4
in the competition, which is
sponsored by Wicks Aircraft
Supply, Dynon Avionics, Aircraft
Spruce & Specialty, and
AeroLEDs. Read
more |
| AERO
2011: A Few Planes You May Have
Missed |
| AERO
2011 closed its four-day run on
Saturday, April 16, with an
attendance of 33,400 visitors. A
total of 630 exhibitors from 29
countries set an exhibition
record. Business jets, propeller
GA aircraft, light aircraft and
microlights, gliders, gyrocopters,
and helicopters filled the 11
exhibition halls for the 19th
edition of the Global Show for
General Aviation. Read
more |
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More
Than 170 Local Events Scheduled for
International Learn to Fly Day
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More
than 170 individual events are
scheduled for EAA's second annual
International Learn to Fly Day (ILTFD),
set for Saturday, May 21. Tens of
thousands of future aviators will
have the opportunity take that first
step toward discovering the fun,
freedom, and accomplishment of
flight at this aviation
community-wide effort. Read
more
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| Solo
Microlight Flight from UK to
Australia Underway |
| British
paraplegic pilot Dave Sykes is
flying through Egypt after the
second week of his planned
11,600-nautical-mile flight from
York, England, to Sydney,
Australia, already having flown
across France, Italy, and Greece.
The auxiliary fuel tank on his
100-hp P&M Aviation Quik gives
him a range of more than 500
miles. The trike has been modified
with a hand control for ground
steering as he does not have the
use of his legs. Read
more |
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Big
Ear Stereo Plugs Can Save Your
Hearing
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| Big
Ear Inc. manufactures
custom-molded in-the-ear stereo
plugs especially designed for
motor sports enthusiasts. A soft
inner acoustic material combined
with a hard outer shell provides
the maximum noise attenuation
available with a passive system.
Big Ear stereo plugs were
originally conceived for
motorcycle riders but can be
incorporated into many existing
aviation systems as a direct
replacement for the standard ear
cups. They can be used to provide
audio communications with any type
of helmet or flying head gear. Read
more |
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CAFE
Symposium Celebrates the 'Dawn of
Electric Flight'
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The CAFE
Electric Aircraft Symposium last
weekend was packed with so many new
airplanes and concepts that it was
like seeing 30 college lectures in
two days, as the information came
fast and furious.
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In the
opening remarks, CAFE President Dr.
Brien Seeley dubbed the 2011 event
"the dawn of electric
flight," citing that there has
been "exponential growth"
since the first symposium in 2007. Experimenter
Editor Pat Panzera was there to see
it all and filed a two-part report
that covers both the cool new planes
that are competing in the Green
Flight Challenge and promising new
technologies that will reach far
beyond aviation. Read
Part 1 | Read
Part 2
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Living
With a Flight Design CTLS - Two-Plus
Years Down the Road
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On
August 20, 2008, my wife, Nancy, and
I went to Sebring, Florida (SEF),
and took possession of a new Flight
Design CTLS (N840KN). This was our
first new airplane, and it replaced
a beloved and oft-flown 1967 Piper
Cherokee PA-28-140. We found that
these are two very different
machines, but they both fulfilled
our basic requirement: a
comfortable, affordable,
cross-country antigravity machine.
Nancy and I have flown the CTLS a
total of 360 hours, including three
trips to San Diego, California, from
our home in Pensacola, Florida. Read
more
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How
to Tie Down Your Airplane
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The
storm and tornado that struck the
2011 Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In
& Expo demonstrated a strange
phenomenon I've witnessed in the
wake of other storms at other
fly-ins in the past. While no plane
is going to withstand a close
encounter with a tornado, it's not
unusual to see some ultralights or
light planes survive while heavier
aircraft with the same wing area are
totally destroyed. One of the
reasons is fairly simple. Read
more
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Radio
Communications at Uncontrolled
Airports
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Flying
at a busy uncontrolled airport,
particularly one with intensive
flight training, requires precise
communication and constant
situational awareness. The former so
that you're instantly clearly
understood, the latter because
you'll encounter many who have no
awareness of the situation. Some
will be inexperienced primary
students who are either ignorant or
mentally overloaded, or both.
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It's
incumbent on certificated pilots to
behave so as not to cause,
contribute to, or to increase their
confusion. Read
more
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| Videos
from the light plane world |
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Krucker
Cygnet Cruises Indian Ocean
Those of us in the northern U.S. and
Canada are still waiting for
consistently warm weather. Our dream
is the reality of one Krucker Cygnet
amphibious trike that cruised the
emerald green waters off the
Seychelles near Madagascar.
Watch
the video
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Rans
S7-S Dead Stick Ridge Soaring
Every aircraft is a glider at some
point, even the ones designed to fly
with engines. This RANS, in trained
hands, works its way along an Idaho
ridge, using ridge lift to fly
without the assistance of fossil
fuels.
Watch
the video
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| 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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Bensen
Days Fly-in 2011
Gyroplane pilots "spin
their wings" at the annual
fly-in held April 6 to 10, 2011,
in honor of gyroplane designer Dr.
Igor Bensen, who was the first to
offer a gyroplane in kit form and
among one of the first to do so in
all forms of sport aviation. View
the gallery
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Engines
Q. What effect does old gas
have on my engine?
A.
Letting fuel sit for weeks
without using it will cause it to
go bad. Even if gas does not go
bad, it will often lose its octane
with time. Read
more
Powered
Parachute
Q. What traffic pattern should I
fly at airports?
A.
Different traffic patterns at the
same airport may be established
for heavy aircraft, GA aircraft,
gliders, and light-sport aircraft
(LSA) operations. The largest
factor in determining the proper
traffic pattern is airspeed. Slow
aircraft do not mix well with fast
aircraft. Read
more
Weight
Shift Trikes
Q. What is a whip
stall-tuck-tumble?
A
WSC aircraft can get to a
high pitch attitude by flying
outside its limitations or flying
in extreme/severe turbulence. If
the wing gets to such a high pitch
attitude and the AOA is high
enough that the tips stall, a whip
stall occurs. Read
more
Fixed-Wing
Airplane
Q. Why do students practice steep
turns?
A.
The objective of the maneuver is
to develop the smoothness,
coordination, orientation,
division of attention, and control
techniques necessary for the
execution of maximum performance
turns when the airplane is near
its performance limits. Smoothness
of control use, coordination, and
accuracy of execution are the
important features of this
maneuver. Read
more
Rotorcraft
Q. Both gyroplanes and
helicopters are rotorcraft; how
are they different? A.
A fundamental difference between
helicopters and gyroplanes is that
in powered flight, a gyroplane
rotor system operates in
autorotation. This means the rotor
spins freely as a result of air
flowing up through the blades,
rather than using engine power to
turn the blades and draw air from
above. Read
more |
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The
Skycycle - Everyman's Motorcycle
of the Air?
Experimenter, July 1996
 Fifty
years after it was conceived,
Carlson Aircraft built a
full-scale replica of the
single-place Piper PA-8 that was
first developed at the end of
World War II but never produced.
It was thought at the time it
might become the motorcycle of the
air. Read
the article
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| Q. Have
you ever been lost while flying?
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