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When the Good Lord put me on this earth
she must have thought I needed a little harder road to travel than others.
My last couple of trips away from home have been adventures that I would
not wish on my worst enemy. The trip to my favourite ultralight air show
in the
world was no exception.
Fours hours into the trip south, in the
middle of nowhere "L'il R n R" decides to blow not just
one of her fan belts but all five of them! As luck would have it I had
one spare belt went around three of the
pulleys I need to run R N R - the brakes, water pump and
alternator.
She did a lot of squealing but managed
to limp us into a Ford dealership where two hours and three hundred
dollars U.S. later we were back on the road again. In years past I
had driven down in "Elizabeth" my Chev camper van - but with
the wife, son and daughter in law along I decided to take the motor
home.
It great to see familiar faces at the
media center and at the ultralight camper registration, makes you feel
like your at home. Well on with the show.
While the show doesn't officially open
until Sunday (this is Saturday) all of the exhibitors are busy setting up, and many
pilots have already flown or trailered their ultralights in.
There is quite a bit of information to cover so
lets break it down into areas, so you can sift through to what you
want. If you subscribe to the Ultralight Flyer web video magazine you
can see many of the interviews over the web if you have high speed
internet.
Things that happened during the show....
here I have included stories on the volunteers, the people who really
make the show what it is. How the F.A.A. reacted to some "ultralight
trainers." Tim Williamson and John Moody entertain the crowd, a new
ultralight magazine enters the market.
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The
volunteers at Sun N Fun - Each year people like myself go down to Sun N
Fun to see what's new, what's changed, what's no longer
here. We come back sit down at our computers and write the stories and
articles that you read in Ultralight Flying, UltraFlight, AeroSport
Connections, the Experimenter, Ultra Flyer and others.
But do you realize that we would not be able to
report on anything.... if it wasn't for the volunteers that donate their
time FREE to put on Paradise City!
Click here for more information!
FAA impounds 2 ultralights - 5
others sited for paperwork.
Thursday morning Lockwood Aviation sponsored the SUN DASH 2000
race. A TITAN TORNADO II equipped with a Rotax 912, with no
registration or markings, including a "Instructional use only"
placard, entered the race and apparently flew too close to the viewing
stand. In addition the estimated cruise speed listed on the race
data form as 120 mph! This of course exceeds the speed limit for a
"two place ultralight trainer." The FAA
started checking everyone in the race. Apparently 2 aircraft were
impounded and 5 others cited for improper
paperwork/documentation/placards. This
prompted the people running "Paradise City" to call an
emergency pilot's meeting, to explain the problems of flying an
unregistered, unlicensed, improperly placarded "ultralight
trainer".
Another problem was that some of the pilots did not have the required
paperwork on board indicating their status as BFI's. Those
who had their exemptions through ASC were able to verify
them at the ASC tent. For some reason EAA and USUA were not able
to deal with the problem at the show.
Ultra
Flyer Ultralight Magazine - While at Sun N Fun I came across a new
magazine covering our sport the Ultra Flyer. According to the owner the
Ultra Flyer is not a new magazine, it was available from 1982 to 1989 in
West Virginia.
For more information click here.
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New ultralight aircraft accessories
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Stream-Line - In an effort to
produce faster speeds and better fuel economy pilots are
"stream-lining" their ultralights. One way of doing that is to
install "stream lined struts" or "stream lined strut
fairings." The first of these two options can
be very costly. To install new aluminum stream lined struts, plus design
new fittings etc. can cost in excess of $1,000.
Stream-Line of North Port Florida
has a more economical option, installing a plastic streamline case over
your existing tubing. The extruded plastic fairings quickly and
easily install over existing round lift struts, jury struts, gear
legs, etc.
Click here for more information: |
Kuntzleman Electronics - New
for 2000 from Kuntzleman Electronics is a strobe light for
"Trikes." A specially designed adapter, with mounting plate
and installation kit allows for the mounting of streamlined strobe heads
on a trike wing.
For more information click here: |
The RiteAngle 2000 - While driving around in the "Gimpster' I came across a tent
with a product called the RiteAngle 2000.
According to the designer the system
" accurately
determines your aircraft’s angle of attack", which of course can
help prevent stalls! It does this by
monitoring the relative air entering a wind vane mounted on your
ultralight. This then sends a message to a sensor that displays the
angle in a series of lights on "display."
For more information click here: |
The Powerfin Propeller - A company that had its wares on display at Sun N
Fun was Powerfin. The Powerfin propeller is a composite propeller. It is
available in several different models, some for specific applications,
and various horsepower ranges.
For more information click here: |
Airmaster
AP 308 Propeller - Aero Trading Ltd of Aukland NewZealand is producing a
variable pitch constant speed propeller for ultralight and light
aircraft. The three blade propeller hub uses blades from Warp Drive and
GSC propellers, with the addition of the Powerfin expected in the near
future. Currently the unit is set up to handle blades up to 72
inches, and weighs in less blades at 21.2 lbs.
For more information click here: |
New aircraft engines and drives
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The SUB 4 Ea81 Subaru
conversion aircraft engine
A company from New Zealand was at Sun N Fun 2000
with their SUB 4. The SUB 4 has been in the R&D stages for the last
two years. While the basic block from the Ea81 is used the rest of the
engine has undergone extensive changes and or modifications.
Click here for more information: |
Raven
ReDrives Inc. - Raven ReDrives has been providing the ultralight and
light plane industry, 4 stroke engine alternatives for a
number of years now. They first entered the market with a "how to
manual" on converting the Geo Metro/Suzuki engine for aircraft
application. The manual takes you from what you need to purchase
at the wrecking yard, the computer wiring, starter, alternator, how to
lighten the engine on through to installation of the reduction
drive.
Click here for more information:
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The Thunder Chief
In our coverage of Sun N Fun 99 we did a story on Larry Israel and Jim
Holbrook of H&I engineering, on their 40 hp 4 stroke called the
Thunder Chief. While I didn't have a chance to interview the factory
according for Larry the engines are now being shipped.
"The heart of our power plant is the factory-rebuilt French Citroen
602 cc engine that is modified and retrofitted with a prop speed
reduction unit. We have also built into the engine a rugged electric
starter with an 8 amp alternator. The Mikuni 34 mm carburetors provide
the final touch for power and fuel economy."
I saw them flying the unit on a Mini Max, it sure sounded good, with the
performance looking very similar to a 377 or 447 Rotax.
For more information contact H & I Inc.
332n 300e Warsaw In, 46580 -
Telephone 219-267-2217
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New ultralight aircraft
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A quick trip around the patch and I
came upon a beautifully finished Early Bird Jenny - with a Canadian
theme.
Click here for more information |
The
Legal Eagle - Just
over from the Jenny I came across the designer of the Legal Eagle, a
single place legal U.S. ultralight.
Click
here for more information! |
The Doodlebug
Flylight
Airsports Limited has crossed the pond to introduce the Doodle Bug to
the North American market. The Doodle Bug turns a hang glider into
the "the ultimate minimum flying machine," This makes
those long expensive trips to mountain sites a thing of the past. With
the Doodle Bug's ability to take off in less than 100 feet, trips to the
clouds can be accomplished from just about anywhere!
Click here for more information: |
Team
Falcon:
The new Falcon 2000 is now in production, this all composite,
two seat, front and back seating, craft in a pusher configuration with a
canard, looks like something out of star wars!
For more information click here. |
Y2Fly LLC
- SeaHawk - The new "Sea Hawk" trike is a 2 place fully
amphibious trike unit constructed of reinforced fiberglass.
"The Sea Hawk is a purpose built unit." "built from the
ground up to be an amphibious trike"
Click here for more information:
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Affordaplane-The
Affordaplane is the creation of Dave Edwards of Riverview Florida. His
goal "combine the best innovations to come from the ultralight
industry, to create a rugged, bolt together ultralight, with a build time
of right around 150 hours, without any special jigs or elaborate
setups."
Click here for more information: |
Beaver
SS - Aircraft
Sales and Parts of British Columbia Canada has begun to produce the
venerable Beaver single place ultralight. According to factory
representatives over 2200 Beavers are currently flying world wide with
nearly 1200 of them being single place.
Click here for more information:
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The Fergie: In 1991 a plane called the Fergie won "Best New Design" at
Sun N Fun. Since then over 27 kits have been produced and are up and
flying. This year Ferguson Aircraft manufacturers of the Fergie, sold
the design to a new company called Precision Tech Aircraft out of
Cartersville Georgia.
Click here for more information: |
Rocky
Mountain Wings LLC of Nampa Idaho has two new planes out for 2000 The
Ridge Runner UL and the Ridge Runner 11. The basic difference
between the two planes is that one is an ultralight while the other fits
the experimental category.
Click here for more information:
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Powered Parachutes are one of the
fastest growing segments of ultralight aviation today.
Click here for more information. |
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For a web video interviews on many of
these stories subscribe to the
Ultralight Flyer web video magazine - giving you
access to hours and hours of web video on ultralight aircraft,
ultralight builders, manufacturers and accessories! |
