My computer dictionary says Calypso is “A sea nymph who delayed Odysseus on her island for 7 years.” It is also the name of one of Saturn’s moons, a flower, and a West Indian musical style. Any of these meanings infer a pleasant experience, a sensation sure to be duplicated by the ultralight amphibious Kalypso (spelled with a “K”) with its Krücker-designed floats.
I don’t know if the Kalypso is enough to keep you stuck on an island for 7 years, but I found her to be a most desirable ultralight.
Take It Home with You
Trikes are highly mobile aircraft. One reason they became so popular in Europe and even here in the roomier US of A is that they break down easily. You can carry a trike in a pickup truck – with the right hardware added to properly support chassis and wing. Or you can use a small trailer and carry the wing on your car or truck.
Search Results for : Part 103
Not finding exactly what you expected? Try our advanced search option.
Select a manufacturer to go straight to all our content about that manufacturer.
Select an aircraft model to go straight to all our content about that model.
SportStar for American Pilots
They’re already lining up out front though the party isn’t sure to happen. I’m writing about the FAA’s Light-Sport Aircraft proposal and those aircraft that intend to cash in on the new opportunity if the proposal becomes the law of the land.
Should ultralight pilots embrace this proposal? Or is it merely another niche of aviation that won’t substantially change how many ultralight pilots operate their aircraft?
Many true-to-the-breed ultralight designs are already kit-built, N-numbered aircraft flown by pilots with an FAA certificate. Lots of others prefer the light-handed Part 103 rule.
Light-Sport Aircraft, while potentially more capable, are going to carry much higher price tags and more government involvement. However, the kit business isn’t going to disappear nor are genuine Part 103 ultralights. (The last statement is the beginning of another story but I can easily demonstrate how Part 103 aircraft will remain an important part of the market.)
Still, the Light-Sport Aircraft proposal has considerable energy and may become law during 2003.
Simple, But Efficient – The TC Trike
The itch returned. In truth it never left, says TC’s Trikes owner TC Blyth.
“I was a hang glider pilot 20 years ago and when the time was right, I wanted to jump back in,” says Blyth.
But instead of returning to hang gliding, trikes are the machines Blyth chose to reinvigorate his flying. A Chattanooga, Tennessee native, Blyth’s familiarity with tailless delta wings stimulated him to get involved with trikes.
After his earlier time enjoying hang gliding, family and work responsibilities “interfered” with this enjoyment for many years. Many ultralight enthusiasts can understand this situation. In the interim Blyth took up fishing, but he says, “Stumbling around among rocks in moving water had hazards, too. You can trip and fall, and drown.” While he enjoyed fishing, he figured the risks of flying weren’t overwhelming and he itched to fly again.
Blyth started by representing Sabre Aircraft and reports selling many trikes for the Southwestern company.
South Africa’s Aerotrike Goes First Class
First came the Aerotrike. Travelling all the way from South Africa where Rainbow Aircraft manufactures it, the Aerotrike looked to be – and is – a very sturdy trike that could stand the rigors of flight instruction. However, some thought it lacked the finesse of the finest European trikes.
Designed by Mike Blyth, the Aerotrike was built precisely for the purpose of flight training. For years, Blyth had used other brands of trikes in his flight school. However, he found they wore out prematurely. This is never a good thing to a school trying to fund itself by teaching many students.
The Aerotrike’s Scout and Safari models proved to be durable flying machines. Former American representative Rob Rollison fitted his Aerotrike with a reliable HKS 4-stroke engine and proceeded to fly a lengthy 2,000-mile journey around Mexico. Not everyone would tackle such a venture, but Rollison says the HKS and his sturdy Aerotrike gave him the confidence to simply fly and enjoy.
Sky Raider Goes Tandem
Part-Time 2-Seater
Like the Kolb FireStar II, the Sky Raider II has a second seat for occasional use – but not for flight instruction. After flying with 165-pound Grant Rappe – a long-time Sky Raider pilot – as my volunteer rear seat passenger, I feel that two big fellows won’t fit. And even with small rear-seat occupants, you probably won’t want to fly for too long. Nonetheless, if you want a ride-along jump seat for occasional use, but you truly prefer single-seat handling and you don’t want to pay a bundle extra for the second seat and dual controls, the Sky Raider II might be for you.
Admittedly you have other choices in this vein. French trike maker Air Création addressed it with their Buggy. Here’s a 2-seat aircraft, which the manufacturer says is mainly intended for single-place operation. The New Kolb Aircraft Company has two models that can do this (the FireStar II and Slingshot II) and of course, the very similar Rocky Mountain Wings Ridge Runner Model II also works much like a Sky Raider II.
South African Star
Not long ago, Americans couldn’t buy products from South Africa because of that country’s apartheid policies. Our government employed economic sanctions that kept South African aviation developments off our radar. However, as their ultralight producers did business with Europe, the Southern Hemisphere country kept up with ultralight aviation despite the sanctions imposed by the United States.
One South African ultralight product is the Aquilla, a sturdy trike from Solo Wings in South Africa.
If the name Aquilla sounds vaguely familiar and a bit Italian to you, go to the head of the class. You’d be right on both counts. Aquila – spelled with one “l” – is a constellation in the Northern Hemisphere and the Milky Way. Exactly how a star in the northern skies inspired someone in South Africa I don’t know. Aquila is also a city of central Italy northeast of Rome.
Nonetheless, Solo Wings owner Aidan De Gersigny, who has been involved with hang gliding since the late 1970s, says Aquilla means “Eagle” in Latin, a name he used for a hang glider he sold 15 years ago.
North Wing Prepares the Apache Sport
Trike and trike wing manufacturer North Wing Design has debuted a new trike called the Apache Sport. Developed for the proposed Light-Sport Aircraft category, this new 2-seater can also be operated as an ultralight trainer qualifying under the training exemption to FAR Part 103.
Barely a year after the new millennia dawned, North Wing Design introduced their first new 2-seat trike to the ultralight community – the original Apache. In the last year of the old century, the Washington-based company offered their first trike – the single-seat Maverick with its distinctive strutted wing.
Prior to these developments, North Wing Design was a trike wing supplier. For many years, small manufacturers of trike carriages have been buying wings from North Wing because they handle and perform handsomely. In a still-earlier role, the company was a savior to owners of certain brands of hang gliders whose manufacturers had left the business.
North Wing came to the aid of these stranded owners.
Slipstream Industries’ Simple Scepter
To many observers, SlipStream Industries is a different ultralight company. As they exhibit in the ultralight areas of big airshows, we know their heart is in the right place (as far as Ultralight Flying! readers are concerned anyway). But they also make twin-engine aircraft.
One way SlipStream distinguishes itself among all light aviation enterprises is by offering not one, but two twin-engine aircraft. The line-up includes the SkyBlaster, which was recently renamed Gemini Twin to differentiate the name from SkyQuest, SlipStream’s other twin. Gemini Twin is a rare fore-and-aft arrangement using two 50-hp Rotax 503 engines. Certainly it is the only one with this configuration in the ultralight field and it draws some analogy to the famous Cessna Sky Master. Hence its closely related former name.
Before the SkyBlaster/Gemini Twin, SlipStream developed and still sells another twin, the SkyQuest. Like its sibling, this twin aft engine pusher design uses the ultralight-standard 50-hp Rotax 503 dual carb as powerplants.
Hawk (at 20 years)
The nation is focused on the celebration of 100 years of powered flight, thanks to efforts by a couple of Ohio brothers in 1903. But ultralight aviation has its own bigger-than-life hero from yesteryear and he’s also from Ohio.
Chuck Slusarczyk needs no introduction because almost everyone involved with ultralight aviation for any length of time knows the jolly designer of the Hawk series of ultralights.
Chuck first flew gliders just as did Orville and Wilbur Wright. Like the famous Wrights, he ignored those who said he couldn’t do what he hoped to do – in Chuck’s case, bring to market an ultralight that broke new ground in several important ways. For one, you had no chance to foot-launch it.For those who became ultralight enthusiasts more recently, the rule in the early 1980s – before passage of FAR Part 103 – was that ultralights had to be foot-launchable. When Slusarczyk first introduced the Hawk, a demonstration of foot-launching was required; since the Hawk was fully enclosed, the pilot could not provide the demonstration, if asked.
Light Sport Aircraft – What you may fly!
The FAA’s new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) has been released. With a 90- day comment period underway, the proposed pilot certificate and aircraft categories are on the minds of all light-aircraft producers and anyone who flies for fun. The flying machines that will fit under the proposed new aircraft categories will be called light-sport aircraft, and in this article we’ll take a look at what’s currently available|and what the future may hold.
“The FAA’s new rule is destined to globalize the light aviation industry.”
The promise is great for Americans. When the new sport pilot/light-sport aircraft NPRM changes are finalized and implemented, we will enter a new era in light aviation. People who have wanted a light aircraft to fly for fun but who didn’t have the time or skill to build it will be able to buy a ready-to-fly airplane. And, they’ll be able to learn to fly in less time and at less expense than the cost of acquiring a private pilot certificate.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 39
- 40
- 41
- 42
- 43
- …
- 52
- Next Page »