Lightly Attended, The Event None-The-Less Shows Promise
Sebring, Florida, has
just finished hosting the first Sport Pilot-Centric public event
dedicated solely to that (hopefully) burgeoning market.
Well-organized and laid-out, the event appears to have a lot going
for it… if people start attending in better numbers than
were seen at the inaugural outing.
The Sebring airport is located in Central Florida… close
to nowhere (several hours from any of the major Florida airports
and major thoroughfares) but not so far out of the way that it kept
the faithful from attending and a fairly decent number of vendors
from showing their wares.
First, Let's Look At A Few Of The Planes… THEN, We'll
Talk Politics
The event followed the usual profile of such fly-ins, an area
dedicated to outside booths and displays, a forum area (rarely
utilized), an active flying/demo area and a smaller inside display
area. Our good friends Vern Peckham and Roscoe morton did the
lion's share of the announcing and kept the neophytes educated as
they inspected the wares on display. The display area was well-laid
out, exceptionally well organized and getting from one area to the
other was an uncommon pleasure in terms of access and
distance… no more mile-long hikes to see the "Little-planes"
because at the SAE, the "Little-planes" were the sole focus of the
event. That was a refreshing change… especially in terms of
events like Sun 'n Fun where the sport aircraft activities seemed
to be "tolerated" and isolated rather than a proper focal
point.
The Stars Of The Show
Even at a fledgling event like this one, there were a number of
immediate stars getting most of the attention… and for
darned good reason. The value, performance and engineering of these
offerings seem to be tailor-made to get the Sport Pilot movement
off to a damned good start.
One of the more promising developments in the LSA manufacturing
scene might be loosely termed something of an overnight
success… OK, that's if you count an "over-night" as lasting
the better part of a century. The Thorp T-211 was shown, powered by
both a Continental O-200 as well as a Jabiru 3300 powerplant-which
is apparently quite the scooter. The two-place, side-by-side design
has a pretty small cockpit, but is a wholly conventional airframe
that should attract folks who are looking for something that is a
bit more attractive than what's available on the used market and
still qualify as an LSA. The ready-to-fly $70K (in LSA spec) T-211
climbs well over 1000 fpm, runs on auto-gas all day long, is quite
the STOL bird (300-400 for takeoff and only a little more for
landing), and can cruise close to the LSA limit. We like the looks
of this thing and our flight experience in various iterations of
the bird has been wholly positive. Better; there is a solid little
company being built around this bird, with some equally solid
staffing to fill in the serious shoes needed to take on such a
project. I like the way this project is shaping up.
Recommended.
You couldn't miss the almost-cuter-than-Meg-Ryan (Note: I said
"almost" … my priorities remain clear on such things…
sorry) RANS S-7 on the flightline -- with a price sticker attached
that said "$48995." Damn. That got my attention. I've always liked
this bird… especially after its stability and control
profile got tweaked as designer Randy Schlitter prepped it for
certification a few years back (the elder bird, while remaining
pretty delightful on the whole, needed a lot more tail volume and
some other tweaking… while responsive, it had poor
directional stability).
The current two seat tandem taildragger is truly the poor-man's
Super Cub… and I have personally done solid crosswind
landings in 40 knot gusting winds (a normal day in central
Kansas)… and then gone around to land ACROSS the runway,
just to show off (something I rarely do… honest,
really… oh, never mind). With a solid little auto-gas-happy
Rotax 912 in the puppy, this is a great little 100-118 mph cross
country cruiser, an outstanding boony bird (anything over 300 feet
is gravy… and even less in the hands of someone who has
gotten to know the bird), and a truly "Affordable Flyer." Since
Kitfox has fallen on hard times and lost much of its former
corporate horsepower, this bird may be the best "Sure Thing"
available to flyers looking for a solid LSA. Better yet, there are
other RANS products, including a pretty solid little side by side
bird (the S-6 series) available and a somewhat more ultralight
style single and two seater in the mix. RANS seems poised to play a
major role in the LSA sweepstakes and has a solid rep to capitalize
upon. Highly recommended.
Tom Peghiny's FlightStar line has stood up to the test of time
quite handily. A quality machine built by a company with an
uncommonly ethical management strategy, the addition of the
delightful little HKS 700E four stroke two-cylinder sport engine
(which has had a tough time getting market acceptance in an overtly
Rotax-dominated market) seemed like a good addition a few years ago
to a solid product line while yet another new addition, the Flight
Design 'CT', seems like it will follow a similarly successful
path.
With more curves than might be found at the Playboy Mansion
(OK… ALMOST), the two seat CT comes in a number of variants,
but this Rotax powered rascal boasts solid LSA credentials. The
$77.5K CT Sport has a 132 mph cruise speed, a stall just under 40
mph and a 960 FPM climb rate. Needing only 300 feet for take-off,
the CT offers a 650 pound useful load and is a new generation of
European designs that not only maximizes the performance allowed
under the LSA guidelines, but offers a distinctive/stylish look to
boot. It's a really cute bird. Highly recommended.
I'm also developing a healthy respect for the Jabiru line.
Already the manufacturer of a time-tested line of 4- and 6-cylinder
sport aero-engines (with an eight-cylinder engine working it's way
into serial production), the Jabiru folks have an intriguing and
attractive line of composite high-wing birds that offer everything
from a genteel two seat version to a four seater (which is, of
course NOT LSA-compliant) that has to be seen to be believed. While
I think the four seater is a mite small to be taken seriously as a
family flyer, the fact that it can handle the load is an intriguing
proposition… so long as the folks inside don't mind the
close quarters. The two seaters, however, have been around for a
while, have been the subject of a number of favorable owner reports
we've gotten and are supported by an aggressive US dealer operation
and a quick-build support center (for the kit versions). A $79.5K
ready-to-fly LSA is in the works.
One final company bears special attention. A rather slow start
for Spectrum Aircraft has not stopped US Distributor John Hunter
from fielding a product line that is both versatile and unique, as
well as visually exciting. Comprised of a number of single and twin
engine designs (as well as a S/E amphib), the Spectrum/Aeroprakt
(the foreign manufacturer that Spectrum reps) line is truly unique.
While the S/E birds are the only ones that may be eligible for LSA
consideration, their experimental line seems agile and rugged, and
the overall design strategy cut from a different bit of cloth than
many of the "Me-Too" designs that are starting to repopulate the
industry (especially in the high-wing segment). If you don't mind
working strictly in the experimental regime, there is a new twin
Rotax bird, the A-36 that looks particularly promising.
To Be Continued
ANN's Daily Aero-Linx (04.15.24)
See All