Impressions of a Light Sport Aircraft

By ANN Correspondent Aleta Vinas

I haven't flown in so long. I barely remember what an airplane looks like. I have to attend air shows to remind myself. Time or money, I never seem to have both at the same time.

Two years after its implementation, I finally realized the Sport Pilot Certificate could return me, and others like me, to the skies. I don't need to go out and spend money for my medical. I bring in my drivers license, get some dual to be sure I'm not going to ball up the LSA and it’s back into the wild blue yonder.

If you're thinking of light sport aircraft, the LSA Expo held in Sebring, Florida, January 11 through 14 is a good place to start to check out the various aircraft. There's weight shift, powered parachutes, fixed wing LSA and more. The manufacturers are ecstatic to answer your questions.

My thought process on what kind of LSA I'd be interested in led me into the trike and powered parachute areas. I could already fly something enclosed; why not try being out in the open? I'm not so much interested in going from point A to point B.; I just want to do some tooling around.

Living in Florida, the weather shouldn't be a factor with choosing an open vehicle... but just in case, I still have some winter gear from being a New Yorker.

My first stop was Skytoys Virginia Ltd. for powered parachutes. Ray and his wife were kind enough to offer me an intro flight. Unfortunately, the wind and my schedule were not in sync (sort of like that time and money thing) and I was unable to obtain a ride. I do hope I get to take them up on the offer at another time.

I had better luck with Apollo North America and Tampa Bay Aero Sport, which is located in Zephyr Hills, FL. They had a couple of trikes out on display, one being used extensively for the demo flights. (Trikes are officially known as weight-shift-control aircraft... but "trikes" is easier to say, and a holdover from what they were known as before the sport pilot rule.)

My pilot was Larry Mednick. The demo plane was a Delta Jet, with a speed wing, and Rotax 912 engine. Taxiing is done with nose wheel steering using rudder-like pedals. I can imagine getting used to not using the pedals while flying.

A high-performance climb out to the tune of 600 FPM followed a takeoff run of about 150 feet. We headed out of the pattern for some maneuvers. Surprisingly, the winds didn't affect the ride in the trike. I've been bumped around worse in 152s and commercial aircraft.

Mr. Mednick gave me the opportunity to try some turns; since I was sitting in the rear seat I used the wires to perform the turns. Using the wires reminded me of a car without power steering. This was only because I was using the wires and not the control bar. The trike was very stable in turns as well as other stages of flight. We performed some stalls, only there was no stall, just a sort of “mush” that you hear about.

What about the fun factor? Trikes rock. The view down is unparalleled; except for directly down, you can see at all. Up, of course, you have the wing in the way, which you have with all high wing aircraft. The noise is minimal with the helmet, though an intercom is mandatory to communicate with your passengers.

Being right up there in the open was a new experience which was definitely worth repeating.

Being a fairly small female I certainly asked about the strength factor in getting the trike flight ready. Sean Scott of Tampa Bay Aero Sport told me “They’re all relatively simple, some are more time consuming than others. There’s a lot of patience involved with some of the wings.” Strength is not a factor.

Apollo models have different options for wings and engines, so you can mix and match to your needs. It's possible to fit one in a garage, but having a hangar would be most convenient. Prices can range from $22K to $55K for a new Apollo depending on wing, engine, body choice and options. Not pocket change... but a cheaper way to get back to flying than even a Cessna 152.

The "not-fun" part was finding out that lessons were $120 per hour, or $110 per hour, if you buy in five-hour blocks. So even though I may be licensed, I'm still looking at a few hundred to start flying again. I guess I might start working some overtime.

FMI: www.tampabayaerosport.com