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ISSUE 8 JULY 2010
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AirVenture
Bound
By
Dan Grunloh, Editor, Light
Plane World |
| In
a little more than a week from
now, about 100,000 people will be
traveling to EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2010. More than 10 percent
will fly there in their own
aircraft, and I plan to be among
that lucky group. As editor of Light
Plane World, I deliberately
chose the first of five possible
answers in this month’s poll to
express my sentiments about the
event.
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especially lucky because I happen
to live about 300 miles from
Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This turns out
to be just the right distance for
a one-day adventure flight in an
ultralight or light plane to the
greatest fly-in in the world. A
shorter distance wouldn’t be as
much of a challenge, and I couldn’t
make it in one day if the distance
was much greater. In a time when a
successful flight completely
around the world by a pair of
light-sport aircraft barely makes
the national news, my little
one-day excursion is hardly worth
mentioning. Read
more
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Welcome
to EAA AirVenture Down on the Farm
- Top 10 List
By Timm Bogenhagen, EAA
staff
 EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh is almost here.
Like many of you, I'm starting to
get really excited for the
convention. I love the event and
all the many different things it
offers for us aviation-minded
folks. As the staff liaison to the
ultralight/light plane area, I
have the privilege of working with
a great group of volunteers. We
all benefit from the volunteers,
who are the heart and soul of EAA
and who make the convention happen
with their many hours of service.
The following list highlights some
of the activities that make the
ultralight/light plane area a
must-see experience at EAA
AirVenture. Read
more
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New
Astra 103 Trike - and Solo Fixed
Wing
 Allistair
Wilson, the creator of the Astra
line of trikes, has begun
test-flying a new single-seat
trike design called the Astra 103.
The news was revealed on the trike
enthusiast website Trikepilot
Social by Spencer Foreman, who
provided the photo for this
report. In an interview, Allistair
says, “The Astra 103 is designed
to be a stable
cross-country-capable trike. It is
not a nanolight trike with a
hang-glider wing. It is a real
trike wing designed to be safe and
stable in turbulence. I have flown
it in 15-mph turbulent wind
conditions, and it behaves just
like the larger Astra two-seat
trikes. It is a fun trike to
fly." Read
more |
Maverick
S-LSA Flying Dune Buggy Coming to
AirVenture
 The
I-Tec Maverick Sport flying car is
coming to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
2010. It will begin the 1,300-mile
trip from Florida to AirVenture on
July 19, spending about a week
both driving and flying. The
Maverick Sport is a two-seat
version of the original concept
aircraft and was specifically
designed to meet the light-sport
aircraft definition. It has
recently passed inspection for
ASTM compliance and is believed to
be the first commercially
available special light-sport
aircraft (S-LSA) flying car. Read
more
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Trikefest
2010 - An AirVenture-Bound
Stopover
 About
six years ago, Illinois trike
pilot Curt Shoaf noticed that
quite a few trikes (and fixed wing
airplanes) were stopping at
Cushing Field (0C8), southwest of
Chicago, on their way to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh. Curt proposed
a trike fly-in for the weekend
prior to AirVenture. It became an
instant success, and this year the
6th Annual Trikefest will take
place July 23, 24, and 25.
Everyone is welcome. Read
more |
Kentland
Indiana Airport Threatened by Wind
Turbine Development
 Many
small airports around the United
States are under threat from land
development, the economic
slowdown, and the desire to
increase tax revenues. The airport
at Kentland, Indiana, population
1,700, is threatened by all of
those. The Lafayette Journal and
Courier reports that an effort is
underway to close the airport to
make room for wind turbine
development, "but [the] town
says no way." Read
more |
Quicksilver
Strut Fitting Safety
Recommendation
 On
April 8, 2010, the pilot of
N439MM, a strut-braced Quicksilver
Sport 2S, initiated a turn to land
at an airport in Canton, Texas,
when he heard a pop and lost
vertical control of the aircraft.
The pilot indicated he still had
directional control. He tried to
deploy a BRS parachute, but it
didn't fully deploy. Seconds later
he impacted some trees; the
aircraft took out a 6-inch-thick
branch and fell through the limbs
to the ground. The pilot seat was
within inches of the ground. Read
more |
Door
Opens for Use of Rotax 503 in E-LSA
Kits
Eric Tucker, technical
director at Kodiak Research Ltd.,
has announced that the 50-hp Rotax
503 has been found to be compliant
with the ASTM standards for use in
special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA).
No features or characteristics
were found that would make the
engine unsafe, provided it's
installed, operated, and
maintained properly. Only engines
with serial number 6479168 and
higher are ASTM compliant. Engines
made prior to the testing aren't
applicable, and the compliance
statement isn't retroactive. Read
more |
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Barry
Maggio's Rendezvous with Lady
Liberty
 Private
pilot Barry Maggio was happy. His
intricate plan to photograph the
Statue of Liberty on the Hudson
River near downtown New York from
the seat of his own aircraft had
gone perfectly. The new video
camera was working great as was
the mount fabricated from a
conventional camera tripod. It was
barely 7:30 a.m., and he was now
500 feet above the Hudson River
approaching the George Washington
Bridge. His predawn takeoff two
hours earlier from the Ellington,
Connecticut, airport had paid off
because traffic in the low-level
visual flight rules corridor was
light that Memorial Day holiday
morning. However, Barry was
already in trouble and didn't know
it. Read
more
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Flight
of the Light Eagles
 It
was a late afternoon at the end of
the summer of 1991 when Carlo
"Batman" Andreini and
Corrado "Colonel" Borrelli
approached me during the preflight
of my trike at the Dovera Country
Club near Milan in the north of
Italy. They were with no doubt the
best trike pilots at the place, with
the exception of the instructor of
the local flying school, Alberto
Frigerio, the man who taught us all.
"We have been watching
you," Batman said, "and we
have seen that you can fly steady
and consistently. We think you are
the right guy for what we have in
mind." Their dream was to
create the first Italian trike
formation flight unit, and they had
already decided on the name: the
Light Eagles. I was thrilled and
flattered. Read
more
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Slow
'n Low to AirVenture 2009
 Last
year for 10 days, my regular flying
buddy, Quinn Falk, and I flew our
little airplanes all the way to EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh - the big awesome
weeklong air show and convention.
It's 1,260 miles each way, and it
took us about 54 hours to make the
trip. Because Quinn's Skyraider II
only carries about 12 usable gallons
of fuel, we had to stop about every
100 miles or so to fill up. It was
quite the adventure. Read
more
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Aborted Takeoffs
 How
many of us had the experience of
having the instructor pull the power
on takeoff just after rotation; or
pulled the carb heat on when we
started our takeoff roll during a
hot day; or even shut off one of the
ignitions, causing the engine to
suddenly lose power on takeoff roll?
I'll venture to say that 95 percent
or more of the pilots flying today
have never had that experience.
Skills learned from such an exercise
can be lifesaving if the need should
arise to abort a takeoff. Read
more
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EAA
Radio Goes 'Down on the Farm'
 The
Ultralight Area will again have its
own special day during AirVenture
from EAA Radio. Join On The Fly
host J-Mont-G at the Ultralight Barn
on Thursday, July 29, at 1300/1800
UTC as he talks to the many
interesting folks in the light
aircraft world. EAA Radio can be
heard on the field on AM1210, 93.3
FM, on the Web and on most mobile
phone platforms at EAARadio.net.
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Engines
Q. I haven’t
flown for four months, and my gas
is at least that old. I use auto
gas with premixed two-cycle oil.
Is it safe to fly with this
gas? Answer
Powered
Parachute
Q. I’m thinking
about flying a powered parachute (PPC).
Should I be worried about the wing
blowing over after
touchdown? Answer
Weight
Shift Trikes
Q. Why is a
weight-shift-control (WSC)
aircraft called a “flex wing”?
Answer
Fixed-Wing
Airplane
Q. What orientation
should a bolt be installed? Answer
Powered
Paraglider
Q. What is the advantage
of electric start? Answer |
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 From
Tulsa to Oshkosh in a Weedhopper
November, 2000
EAA Experimenter
In
2000, Weedhopper pilot Stephen
Mock and two friends flying Tierra
and Beaver ultralights departed
from Tulsa, Oklahoma, on a flight
to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. They
were followed by a ground crew of
family and friends in vehicles
pulling their trailers for the
return trip. Due to mechanical
problems, only the Weedhopper
completed the entire trip by air. Read
the article
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| Q. Are
you planning to attend EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2010?
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