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ISSUE 4 APRIL 2011 |
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Tornado
Strikes Airport, Misses 1,000
Airplanes
By
Dan Grunloh, Editor, Light
Plane World |
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I
felt fairly safe at Lakeland-Linder
airport when the thunderstorm and
tornado ripped through the fly-in. I
was in a rental car facing into the
wind on the lee side of some large
campers. Some of my friends weren't
so fortunate, and had the storm come
a few minutes earlier, I could have
been in a real mess myself. As it
was, I only lost a camping tent. The
rain was so heavy at times the
visibility was less than 50 feet. No
person could have stood upright in
the open during its peak. Read
more
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Past,
Present, and Future of Paradise City
By Dave Piper
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Dave
Piper, chairman of the Ultralight
and Light Plane area at Sun 'n Fun
known as Paradise City, answered
questions in this Light Plane World
interview conducted after the end of
the fly-in. The photo shows Dave
exactly as you might encounter him
during Sun 'n Fun: in his buggy with
a radio close at hand. He is the
person called whenever there is a
problem. He says he doesn't solve
problems but simply points people in
the right direction. Read
more
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Plans
and Kits for Cloudster Ultralight
Available |
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Jeff
Erekson of Simplex Aeroplanes in
Manchester, Connecticut, announced
he will distribute plans and kits
for the Cloudster ultralight, one of
three planes designed by Scott Land
in the late '90s. The design uses
conventional gear with three-axis
controls.
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The
pilot's legs go up the side of the
fuselage to the rudder pedals,
making it a true open cockpit flying
machine. Major components of the
plane are all wood with metal
struts, and the wing construction is
similar to the Mini-Max. Read
more
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Salute
to Quicksilver at AirVenture
Oshkosh 2011 |
| Attention
Quicksilver owners. Since the very
earliest days of ultralight flying
the Quicksilver has been the most
popular choice for affordable,
fun, wind-in-the-face flying. In
recognition of its popularity, the
2011 theme for down on the Farm in
the ultralight/light plane area
will be "Salute to the
Quicksilver." If you own a
Quicksilver and have considered
bringing it to EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh, this is the year to do
it. Read
more |
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ULPower
Aero Engines Appoints U.S.
Distributor |
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ULPower
Aero Engines of Belgium has
announced the appointment of
ULPower North America LLC as its
exclusive distributor for sales
and service in the United States
and Canada. |
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company manufactures a line of
direct-drive, air-cooled,
horizontally opposed,
fuel-injected engines ranging from
97 to 130 hp intended for use in
light aircraft and rotorcraft.
Robert Helms, based in Lake Ozark,
Missouri, will distribute the
engines through dealers and
through manufacturers with
firewall-forward packages. Read
more |
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Renegade
Light Sport LLC Developing Flight
Simulator |
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Christopher
"Doc" Bailey of Renegade
Light Sport in Lee's Summit,
Missouri, displayed the prototype
of a low-cost two-axis full-motion
flight simulator at his booth for
the Lycoming O-233 powered Falcon
light-sport aircraft (LSA) at the
2011 Sun 'n Fun International
Fly-In & Expo. |
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| The
full-motion chair works with any
preexisting flight simulator
software and is expected to be
priced at an amazingly low $3000.
It's powered entirely by gravity
through the weight of the pilot
and could be just the thing for
small flight schools. Read
more |
| Belite
Dual Gauges and New Water
Detection Technology |
| Belite
Electronics of Wichita, Kansas,
has introduced new dual gauges in
its line of lightweight
solid-state digital aircraft
instruments. Combining two
functions in a single instrument
weighing only 1/2 ounce saves even
more weight and space than the
company's single-function
gauges. |
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| Belite
also announced a new patent
pending technology for the
detection of water in fuel lines
with an electronic device the size
of a postage stamp. Read
more and see the video |
| Sun
'n Fun 2011 Ultralight and
Light-Sport Awards |
| The
judging of aircraft at the 2011
Sun 'n Fun International Fly-In
& Expo was extended one
additional day to allow for the
time lost during Thursday's storm.
Also, additional late entries
arrived Friday after the weather
cleared. Sun
'n Fun judging headquarters,
located west of the antique
aircraft parking, had so much
standing water it was said they
could have judged the seaplanes
right there on the field. |
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Ultralight entries were helped by
the fact that many of them could
arrive by trailer. Congratulations
to the winners! Read
more |
| Flight
Design Hand Controls Now in
Production |
| Flight
Design CEO Matthias Betsch
announced that a new hand control
system for disabled pilots has
completed testing and entered
production. A kit consisting of
parts and instructions for
retrofitting to an in-service
Flight Designs CT aircraft has
been donated to Able Flight, a
nonprofit corporation that helps
disabled pilots achieve their
dreams of flight. The complete
system retails for approximately
$4,000. Read
more |
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The
Ringtail Ultralight
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Lucky
Stars III is my eighth original
ultralight design, but my first with
a tractor engine. It was a worthy
challenge, significantly different
from my previous designs, and
included a couple fun and
interesting experiments.
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Fabricated
almost entirely from 2024-T3
aluminum, it was completed and first
flown in January of 2011. I used the
efficient, high-aspect-ratio wings
off my previous plane, so I only had
to make a new fuselage and tail. Read
more
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Older
But Not Bolder Pilot
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I'm
quite certain that anyone who has
been around flying for even a short
time has heard the adage,
"There are old pilots and bold
pilots, but no old, bold
pilots." While I never plan to
be a bold and old pilot, I do fit
the profile of an old pilot, not
because of experience but rather
because of "advanced"
years. Like many of you out there, I
got my private pilot certificate (PPC)
very young. Read
more
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Sight
Unseen - Beating Bad Visibility on
Base
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Two
kinds of factors can create risk if
a base leg is carelessly flown with
a lack of situational awareness.
These are environmental factors and
aircraft design factors, and they
can cause obstructions to vision on
the part of departing aircraft. In
teaching students it is generally
recommended that the base leg be
turned 45 degrees off the landing
runway numbers at an altitude no
lower than 300 feet below pattern
altitude. Read
more
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From
the EAA Light Plane Community
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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Take
your dog flying - Andrew
Corsetti and Poochini in a Drifter. View
the video
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Thunderstorm
at Sun 'n Fun 2011 by
GrassrootsNews.tv. View
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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Ultralight
and Light Planes of Sun 'n Fun
2011
Sunny views of airplanes from
the light side of the Sun 'n Fun
Fly-In taken mostly after the
recovery from the storm that
passed through on Thursday, March
31. View
the gallery
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Engines
Q. How does a reed valve
work on a two-cycle engine?
Answer
Powered
Parachute
Q. Should my normal approach to
landing be made power off or power
on? Answer
Weight
Shift Trikes
Q. What seating
position should I maintain while
turning? Answer
Fixed-Wing
Airplane
Q. What
is meant by ballooning on landing?
Answer
Powered
Paraglider
Q. Can I sew my own wing?
Answer |
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Roger
Chase's Hornet - a Two-Time
Champion
Experimenter, November 1995
 Roger
Chase built the first Hornet
production kit from U.S. Light
Aircraft and won the Grand
Champion Ultralight award at Sun
'n Fun and Oshkosh in 1995. His
success was based on the
experience of building or
assisting in the construction of
63 Challenger ultralight kits from
1983 to 1995. Read
the article
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Troubleshooting Skills Need
Improvement? Watch This Webinar!
Maintenance expert and EAA
Sport Aviation columnist Mike
Busch (A&P/IA) explains why
troubleshooting is primarily the
responsibility of the aircraft
owner, not the mechanic. He offers
several examples of real-world
troubleshooting experiences, then
illustrates what they all have in
common: fault isolation, data
analysis, developing theories of
fault, testing those theories, and
finally identifying the culprit.
Wednesday,
May 4: Troubleshooting
Basics (Savvy #12) with Mike Busch
Wednesday,
May 11: EAA's
Flight Plan - Converting Young Eagles to Pilots
with Brian O'Lena
Tuesday,
May 17: Flying
With the iPad: Apps, Accessories and Tips &
Tricks with Bret Koebbe
Wednesday,
June 1: Troubleshooting
Engine Problems (Savvy #13) with Mike Busch
All
webinars begin at 7 p.m. CST. 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. How
do you tie down your airplane?
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