There Are Two Ways This One Can Go...
Remember Daedalus and Icarus? You should... they were the first
pilots, even if they were mythological. Daedalus was also the first
aeronautical engineer... a captive of Crete's powerful, cruel King
Minos, he built a couple of feather-covered frameworks for himself
and his son Icarus to escape with.
He made it OK; but Icarus disregarded his warnings not to fly
low, lest water weaken his wings; nor high, lest the sun weaken
them. But in his joy of free flight he went blasting off after
Apollo's chariot, regardless. We know how it turned out.
If ancient Greek mythology had an NTSB they'd have said PILOT
ERROR - EXCEEDED OPERATING LIMITATIONS - STRUCTURAL FAILURE -
ULTIMATE LOADS EXCEEDED.
But the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft world presents us with
the dichotomy of Daedalus and Icarus. Some pundits say it's flying
straight, and some say it's destined for a plunge -- maybe not into
the Aegean, but into the regulatory equivalent of Davy Jones's
locker, where it will sleep with such regulatory blunders as
Recreational Pilot and Primary Category certification. We thought
we'd bring the Hellenic founders of flight itself here to argue the
case, so here goes.
Daedalus Speaks First
Well, I've been looking
over the first year's light-sport aircraft and I have to say I'm
impressed. Not only do we have rebirths of old classics like the
Taylorcraft and the Cub, but there are all-new planes like the
Flight Designs CT, the Sting Sport (right), and the Mermaid from
Sport Aircraft Works.
I liked IndUS Aviation's Thorp T211, and it's neat to slide the
canopy back and get the wind in my hair, and the sun on my forehead
-- just not too close.
I also like that the license is easier to earn that today's
Private Pilot's License. My cousin Pappadopolous owns Parthenon
House of Flight Training and he's always telling me about some kid
who comes in and leaves in shock on learning how long it would take
to get his license. A Sport Pilot can solo pretty quickly -- as
long as he listens to his instructor, unlike some impulsive kids I
could name.
It's a real license to fly real aircraft, and the restrictions
on it mostly make sense -- a prudent guy like me understands the
need for type-specific training, to name just one. We want people
to get excited about flying, but not so excited they splash. That
makes it harder to get the next guy excited.
But with the simpler aircraft and more restricted airspace
limits and all, you spend less time training before you have a
license to go out on your own. It's always a "license to learn,"
after all.
Icarus Rebuts
My Dad's enthusiasm is interesting -- after all, I'm supposed to
be the impulsive one. But I see some serious problems with both the
Light Sport Aircraft and the Sport Pilot license.
To start with, these things are EX-pensive. What happened to the
idea of "affordable flying?" I've looked at the planes Dad digs,
from the Sting to the Mermaid to the Flight Designs CT (above). The
price of entry is EIGHTY THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's affordable
compared to what -- a Cirrus? For eighty grand you can buy two
Cessna 172s or about 1 2/3 Piper Warriors used... of course, you
can't fly them with the Sport license, but we're talking a larger
plane with a proven safety record. I mean, if these things are
built like a set of wax wings they ought to be priced that way,
too.
Have you priced a Cub lately? CubCrafters and Legend make nice
versions of this timeless classic, but the price! It's up there in
King Midas territory, not down where a family of hard-working maze
builders like us can buy in.
And what about the size of them? I mean, I'm shaped like a young
Greek god myself, but portlier Americans aren't going to fit in
tiny birds like these.
I like those planes too, but I'd like them a lot better if they
were priced like a medium-sized boat at $45 thou, or better yet a
pair of Harleys at $35k. They're not any higher tech than that, and
there's not a lot of material in 'em, so where's the money
going?
As for the license, the FAA suspended my medical when I hit the
ocean all those years ago, and now I have to get it back. The FAA
promised this was medical-free and at the last minute, AFTER all
the comments periods closed, FAA lawyers snuck the thing in behind
everybody's back.
Aero-News: Didn't you have lawyers in ancient
Greece?
Icarus: The closest thing was probably the guy
that betrayed the Three Hundred at Thermopylae.
Daedalus Counters
I hear you, Icarus, on the cost, and I feel your pain. You can
cut the cost some by building your own Experimental-LSA but it's
still more expensive than some other activities. That's probably
because the volumes are so low right now. If these things catch on,
there are so many makers that prices might come down.
And you can't really compare these things to a clapped-out
Warrior with 10,000 hours and yellow windows. These are new planes,
with zero-time components and a new-plane smell. Really, try out
the Thorpedo -- it's a faster version of the T211. You'll like it
if you give it a chance.
Let me address the medical thing next. Look, the FAA are
bureaucrats. All they can think is what happens when some guy
prangs in the schoolyard during kindergarten recess, and
Eyepokewitness News finds out he had his medical yanked in 1976? So
you gotta get some kind of special issuance, if you can, and then
let it run out. Or it's Part 103 ultralights for you, full
stop.
You could say, "it's for the children." You know, in that
schoolyard.
As far as the size thing goes, some of these planes are a bit
small. (Some, like the CT, are not as small inside as they look,
but overall, they're small). How come? Well, the FAA took so long
making this rule that American light plane designers gave up
waiting. So the initial planes available are not designed to this
rule... they're designed to the European rule. The difference? One
hundred fifty kilograms, baby. The 450KG European limit makes for a
more compact and lighter plane than the 600 KG American limit.
So we aren't seeing the REAL LSA's yet, with a couple of
exceptions. One set of exceptions is previously fully
type-certificated birds that can be flown within LSA limits --
Cubs, T-Craft, the Thorp. The other are two planes by Sport
Aircraft Works. One is the Mermaid amphibian (above), which was
designed by Chip Erwin to the draft American rule when nobody knew
if it would pass or not. So he paid no attention to the European
limit. (He did get surprised by the FAA, because the final weight
in the rule was higher than the proposal... which goes to show not
all changes are bad changes).
The other is the Parrot (below), a really attractive all-metal
high-wing bubble canopy plane that Chip was showing at AOPA Expo. I
wanted to take it home with me, but he didn't have its FAA
registration yet, he trucked it in. It's designed to the final, not
draft rule, and call me an optimist but I think it's the first of
many.
Aero-News: Well, thanks for the help, legendary
flying guys. Say, before you go -- any tips on flying the
Aegean?