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ISSUE 10 OCTOBER 2011 |
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Delightfully
Surprised by the FAA
By
Dan Grunloh, Editor, Light
Plane World |
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Friends
have advised me there is a pretty
good chance the FAA will make that
small change in the regulations
related to sport pilot instruction
that has been requested. The simple
problem has been obvious for several
years, but nothing was done. So
finally the EAA and others submitted
a joint petition earlier this year.
My continued skepticism can be
credited to the fact that my
aviation roots are in the ultralight
community. Read
more
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Response
to Subpart K Sport Pilot
Instructor Petition
By Helen Woods |
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The
following comment was posted to the
Regulations.gov website in response
to the petition submitted by EAA,
AOPA, GAMA, and NAFI to allow for
sport pilot instruction to count
toward higher ratings. - I am
the chief flight instructor of
Chesapeake Sport Pilot, the largest
light-sport flight school in the
country. While most of our staff is
certificated under subpart H, we
employ one sport pilot instructor,
and he is one of the finest
instructors on our staff. Read
more
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e-Go
Appeals to the Inner Pilot |
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If
Sigmund Freud were to build a fast,
fun aircraft, he might have called
it the e-Go. In 2007 Gioto Castelli
and Tony Bishop entered and won a
Light Aircraft Association design
contest to produce cheap,
easy-to-build, and state-of-the-art
aircraft that fit into the United
Kingdom's new Single Seat
De-regulated Rules (SSDR) category.
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E-Go
went for state-of-the-art and now
its single-seat composite canard
pusher prototype, which also fits
experimental, LSA, and ELA
standards, is nearing completion
with an expected first flight next
spring. Read
more
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Klaus
Ohlmann Sets New Solar Records
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Klaus
Ohlmann, a 59-year-old soaring
record holder, set new records in
September 2011 with a solar-powered
sailplane, the icaré 2. The
aircraft can charge its batteries on
the ground with solar energy and
then take off and climb about 400
fpm.
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Level
flight is possible without needing
to drain the batteries by using the
wing-mounted solar panels. The
motor, batteries, and solar cells
weigh the same as a Rotax 503 with
10 gallons of fuel. Read
more
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Unclaimed
Ultralight Found in Ohio
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Has your
purple and green Quicksilver
ultralight gone missing? One has
been found abandoned in a field near
Elyria, Ohio. After discovering it,
the landowner contacted the Lorain
County sheriff who said there have
been no reports of stolen aircraft
or missing persons.
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The
ultralight was even left in the
field for a week in the hope that
its owner might return to claim it.
Local ultralight enthusiasts have no
clue to its origin. It will be held
for six months and then most likely
auctioned. Read the news report and
see the video at The
Morning Journal.
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| 2011
Ultralight-led Whooping Crane
Migration Begins |
| The
11th whooping crane migration led
by weight-shift trikes began on
October 9 with a typical balky
start by the juvenile birds. Some
of them liked their pen too much
and didn't want to begin the
1,285-mile flight from central
Wisconsin to their winter home in
Florida. Six of the birds in the
class of 2011 had to be trucked to
the first stopover to get them
away from the White River Marsh
site before hunting season opened.
Read
more |
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| Wounded
Iraq Veteran Receives Scholarship |
| Sergeant
Chris Gschwendtner couldn't
respond to rescuers after a rocket
attack in Baghdad in 2008 and was
diagnosed with traumatic brain
injury (TBI) that ended his
chances for a transfer into an
Army flight training program. Back
in the states as a member of the
Army Reserve, he earned a sport
pilot certificate at his own
expense and has now won an Able
Flight Career Training Scholarship
that will enable him to pursue a
career in aircraft maintenance. Read
more |
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| Flight
Design Makes CT Law Enforcement
Light-Sport Aircraft |
| On
August 24, 2011, Sergeant David
Williams (captain, retired) of the
Tulare County Sheriff's Department
in California traveled to Flight
Design USA headquarters in
Woodstock, Connecticut, to pick up
the new CTLE. He and Lieutenant
Marsh Carter accepted the keys
from Flight Design USA President
Tom Peghiny and flew the plane
back to California. |
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| The
CTLE features a gimbal-mounted
camera on a pod under the wing
that transmits to a screen inside
the cockpit. The interior has a
special keyboard to control the
dedicated equipment and video
recorder. Read
more |
| Zenith
and UL Power Announce Firewall
Forward Kit |
| Zenith
Aircraft Company and UL Power
North America LLC announced the
availability of complete firewall
forward kits for the CH 650 kit
aircraft. The firewall forward
package includes the direct-drive,
air-cooled, UL350iS aircraft
engine. The 130-hp powerplant is a
horizontally opposed,
four-cylinder, four-stroke engine
with FADEC. |
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| The
full firewall forward kit includes
everything builders need to
install the engine in their Zenith
airframe, including engine mount,
oil cooler, fuel pumps, propeller
and spinner, and fiberglass cowl. Read
more |
| Kolb
Aircraft Company Launches New
Website |
| Bryan
Melborn, owner of the Kolb
Aircraft Company located at
Labhart Field (3KY2) in London,
Kentucky, recently announced the
launch of the new, official Kolb
Aircraft website. The website
blends company history,
facilities, local geography, and
company-related news with helpful
information such as links to Kolb
builders' websites and frequently
asked questions. |
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| Started
over 30 years ago by Homer Kolb,
the company is one of the oldest
kit manufacturers of experimental
light aircraft in the world. Read
more |
| New
Soaring Trike From North Wing |
| North
Wing, manufacturer of weight-shift
trikes and wings for trikes and
hang gliding, has announced a new
lightweight soaring trike will
soon be available. The trike is
lighter and more streamlined than
the North Wing ATF trike and is
powered by a four-stroke Bailey
engine. The trike can fly with the
North Wing Stratus XP wing, your
hang glider wing, or a paraglider
wing designed for power. Visit
their website for more
information, or call 509-886-4605. |
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| Build
Your Own Aircraft - EAA SportAir
Workshops Can Show You How! |
| Take
hold of your dream of building
your own aircraft! Learn the
skills and techniques required at
EAA SportAir Workshops. These
two-day workshops take place all
over the U.S. and cover a variety
of aircraft-building topics. You
could master the basics of
aircraft sheet metal, discover how
to weld, figure out how to fabric
cover airplanes, gain confidence
with composites, excel in
electrical systems - and
more! |
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| You'll
receive hands-on training and
guidance from the experts at EAA.
We provide the facility and all
the tools and materials, so the
only thing you need to show up
with is a desire to learn! To find
a workshop near you, or to
register for a workshop, click
here. |
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Travel
Delights in a Challenger E-LSA
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"Harlan
traffic. Silver Challenger
experimental about 10 miles to the
southeast. Inbound. Request travel
advisories." Pause. Nothing.
Silence. Radio and headphones
working? Should be charged okay.
Maybe FBO unattended. Hmm, no
horizon for most of three days in
swirling dust. Heat rising from
plowed fields painfully tortured my
500-pound light-sport aircraft
(LSA).
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And me,
well, close to 900 pounds including
me, luggage, maps, and a quarter
tank of fuel: truly a helpless
butterfly in a fierce wind. Read
more
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Flying
in the Thunder Over the Valley Air
Show
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Mike
Geddry Sr., CEO and curator of the
Santa Maria Museum of Flight, Santa
Maria, California, said that he
would like me to fly in the August
2011 Thunder Over the Valley Air
Show with my experimental gyroplane.
I agreed without really thinking
about it. Then I thought, what could
a homebuilt gyroplane do in an air
show that would be interesting? I
felt it was an opportunity and vowed
to make the best of it. At the very
least it would make a good story for
hangar flying. Read
more
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From
the EAA Light Plane Community
Here are the latest discussions
from our online communities:
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| Videos
from the light plane world |
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Close
Formation Flight
A pair of Evektor Eurostars
enjoy formation flying over Cheshire
in northwest England.
Watch
the video
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Trike
Flight Simulator With Paul Hamilton
Paul Hamilton introduces a new
trike flight simulator developed at
his training facility in Carson
City, Nevada, that is used to
supplement flight training when the
wind kicks up too high to fly.
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 Galleries |
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Midwest
Crophoppers at Tommy's Airpark
2011
EAA Ultralight Chapter 88,
known as the Midwest Ultralight
Crophoppers, had excellent weather
for their Fall Fly-In at Tommy's
Airpark (9LL5) near Springfield,
Illinois, except for some 25-mph
headwinds late Saturday for those
returning home to the north. There
was a wide variety of light
planes and plenty of fun at the
event. View
the gallery
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Engines
Q. Why do some planes
have a fuel strainer or fuel
sumps?
A. After
leaving the fuel tank and before
it enters the carburetor, the fuel
passes through a strainer which
removes any moisture and other
sediments in the system. Since
these contaminants are heavier
than fuel, they settle in a sump
at the bottom of the strainer
assembly. A sump is a low point in
a fuel system and/or fuel tank.
The fuel system may contain a
sump, fuel strainer, and fuel tank
drains, which may be collocated. Read
more
Powered
Parachute
Q. What's the stability of a
powered parachute?
A. A
stable aircraft is one that will
routinely return to its original
attitude after it has been
disturbed from this condition.
Usually this means returning to
straight and level flight after
encountering turbulence that
disrupts a normal flight path. Read
more
Weight
Shift Trikes
Q. I want to learn more about
trikes. What do you suggest?
A. The
FAA publishes Weight-Shift Control
Aircraft Flying Handbook,
FAA-H-8083-5. This handbook is an
excellent reference for students
and pilots flying weight shift
aircraft. Read
more
Fixed-Wing
Airplane
Q. What's the function of
flaps?
A. Flaps
work primarily by changing the
camber of the airfoil since
deflection adds aft camber. Flap
deflection doesn't increase the
critical (stall) angle of attack,
and in some cases flap deflection
actually decreases the critical
angle of attack. Read
more
Rotorcraft
Q. What's collective pitch
control? A. The
control for changing the pitch of
all the rotor blades in the main
rotor system equally and
simultaneously, and consequently,
the amount of lift or thrust being
generated. Read
more rotorcraft questions and
answers |
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Super
Drifter XL
Experimenter, February 2000
 The
Drifter has been produced in many
forms since it evolved from Klaus
Hill's Hummer 30 years ago. The
Super Drifter XL is a Rotax
912-powered "hot rod"
and workhorse that retains the
original open-cockpit fun of
ultralight flying. Read about Roy
Pinner, Dennis Franklin, and
others along the timeline of the
Drifter evolution. The Super
Drifter XL is still available
today from Lockwood Aviation. Read
the article
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Gifts, Donations, Taxes, and Your Chapter
This webinar will teach you how to manage the tax and recordkeeping
requirements when your chapter receives (or is contemplating receiving)
cash, aircraft, partially completed kits, tools, or other donations.
Patti Arthur will walk you through the basic rules, forms,
acknowledgement letters, and recordkeeping requirements for accepting
donations to your chapter.
All
webinars begin at 7 p.m. CDT
unless otherwise noted. To
find out more about upcoming EAA webinars and to register, visit
the webinars
page.
EAA
gratefully acknowledges the
support of Aircraft
Spruce and Specialty Co. for
its generous sponsorship of the
webinar programs.
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| Q. What
is your response to the EAA, AOPA,
GAMA, and NAFI petition to allow
flight training by sport pilot
instructors to count toward higher
ratings?
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