Vive La France (2)

MontelimarFrench FoxbatPilot subscriber Ferdinand Colonna-Cesari responded to my ‘Vive La France‘ post with a link to some photos of his Aeroprakt A22 aircraft based at Montélimar in France. I have never visited, but this looks like a wonderfully French picturesque medieval town in south eastern France, originally built in Roman times and dominated by a castle.

An interesting link for Australians is that Montélimar – apart from being the world nougat capital – was the birthplace of navigator Louis-Claude de Freycinet, who, along with his brother, Louis-Henri de Freycinet, joined the French navy in 1800 and sailed all the way to Australia, re-visiting many of the places originally explored by Englishman Matthew Flinders. The Freycinet brothers returned to France and published their map of the Australian coastline in 1811 – at least 3 years before Flinders managed to do the same, so there is some ‘discussion’ as to who first ‘discovered’ what parts of Australia…

There are several places in Australia named after Freycinet: the Freycinet Peninsula, a wonderfully scenic part of the eastern Tasmanian coast, including Wineglass Bay; the Freycinet Estuary in south Western Australia (WA) and Cape Freycinet, further up the WA coast.

Finally, if you want a more obscure connection with Australia, have a look at Ferdinand’s aircraft registration – F-JUOZ.

So what initially looks like a simple link to a few photos of an aeroplane, turns out to be a serendipitous couple of co-incidences which brightened my Sunday morning! Thank you, Ferdinand.

Brazilian Red Bull Foxbat

A22 Red Bull 01My colleague and fellow Aeroprakt agent in Brazil – Wander Azevedo – has sent me a selection of photos of a new metallic grey Foxbat, decorated in Red Bull colours. It certainly looks good!

Maybe we should organise some of these unusual colour schemes in Australia…

Click the photo to go to the photo gallery, which has this one and more Brazil Foxbats.

 

Sport Pilot Magazine reviews the A32

A32 Sport Pilot Review

A32 Sport Pilot Review

The September issue of Sport Pilot Magazine (the official publication of Recreational Aviation Australia) has a flight review of the new Aeroprakt A32 Vixxen. You can read the article by clicking the Sport Pilot link above and turning to page 30.

Written by Andrew Murray – an A22LS Foxbat owner – this is a candid, comparative and objective review of the A32 aircraft.

Thanks to Andrew for taking the time to write the article, which, I think you will agree, has a certain style about it which makes it an easy read.

PS – As you’ll read, the new A32 is not just a quick update of the A22LS Foxbat, it’s a whole new aircraft. As a result, the name ‘Vixxen’ is currently being used in Australia to differentiate the two aircraft.

Don’t forget Ausfly!

Ausfly reminderA last minute reminder that the 2015 ‘Ausfly’ show at Narromine, NSW, is scheduled for Friday 4 and Saturday 5 September – only a week away!

Foxbat Australia will have on show at least one current A22LS Foxbat as well as the new A32 Vixxen – its first formal public outing since its first flight in Australia only a few weeks ago. We are also hoping to show the latest A22LS Foxbat from Moruyair, with controls modified so that disabled pilots can learn to fly it.

The show is jointly sponsored by the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA), AOPA Australia, Australian Warbirds and last but not least, Recreational Aviation Australia (RA-Aus). As a result, there should be a wonderful gathering of all types of aircraft, from ultralights to heavy metal and all points in between.

There are air displays planned for both Friday and Saturday, with warbirds, solo aerobatics and the RAAF Roulettes strutting (or should that be winging?) their stuff.

The weather is looking hopeful at this stage – certainly for the Narromine area – but it’s still a long way off in weather forecaster’s terms, so my fingers are firmly crossed that the cloud will be high over the ranges.

If you manage to get to the show, come and say hello and have a look at the A32 Vixxen for yourself. The show site layout is still a bit flexible but Foxbat Australia will likely be on the apron between the indoor exhibits area (hangar 10) and hangar 17 – look for our black teardrop flags with the red & white Fox head logo.

Foxbat – bush destinations

Cygnet Pearl Farm

Cygnet Bay Pearls Airstrip S16°26’23.22″ E123° 1’2.48″

Here’s news from would-be Foxbat owner Bruce Brown, of Cygnet Bay Pearls, near Broome in northern Western Australia. This is what he says:

“We are the oldest pearl farm in Australia and for the last 5 years we have opened to the public, a situation bought on by the GFC and our need to diversify.

So it was a pleasant surprise this morning when I found a Foxbat sitting on our airstrip! Peter and Stephanie set off from Queensland a little while ago and are heading all over Australia. Both are keen bird watchers and Peter uses the aircraft for bird observation and recording. A few days before they arrived, we also had a group of other Light Sport Aircraft come in and stay a few nights. We are located about 5 kilometres east of Cape Leveque which is a popular place for touring aircraft to visit.

Cygnet Farm 02We want to publicise our airstrip and facilities to attract more touring people. We are only 40 miles from the famous ‘Horizontal Waterfalls‘ and adjacent to all the rugged Kimberly wilderness country. We are only 100 miles North of Broome with our own 1200 metre hard red dirt strip with no stones (unlike Cape Leveque Airport). With a little prior notice, we can supply fuel and we have Safari tents, standard tents, old pearlers’ cottages, and a camp ground, as well as a restaurant and swimming pool. We ferry people from our airstrip to our facilities. We offer pearl farm tours and boat tours of the tidal Buccaneer Archipelago.”

Sounds pretty much like heaven to me…and you can see it all by clicking here: Cygnet Bay Pearls

Thanks for the information Bruce and very best wishes for a successful future – I hope you get plenty of visitors!

Brazilian Foxbat – a trio of videos

Brazil Video 01

Brazil Video 02Brazil Video 03

Here is a very nice set of three videos from Eduardo Fernandes Gontijo, A22LS owner in Brazil. Although fairly long – 6-11 minutes each, they show great views of the interior of this vast South American country. The music is good, even relaxing, and the various view points he’s used for the cameras also adds interest. It’s also good to see the aircraft being used to visit friends!

I can’t be certain but it looks like Eduardo has an MGL iEFIS installed in his A22LS with maybe a Garmin 695/795 for navigation. So far in Australia we have installed mainly Dynon equipment – anyone any experience of these large MGL screens?

Anyway – thanks for the video links Eduardo, it looks like you are enjoying your flying!

As usual, click on the photos to go to the YouTube page for viewing.

Foxbat co-pilot: 2-year old Jonah

Jonah 2-year old co-pilot

Co-pilot Jonah – click the picture for a bigger more readable version

Friend and fellow Foxbat pilot, Norm Hite, sent me the attached clipping from the Australian Saturday Daily Telegraph. It’s all about 2-year old Jonah Thomas who regularly flies around and above New South Wales with his father Daniel from their home airfield at Orange, NSW.

It instantly reminded me of when I took my own grandson for a flight about 18 months ago, using a similar sort of car seat, which, as in a car, makes use of the installed vehicle safety belts. He was about 3 years old at the time and I was concerned about his reaction when we took off – would he be OK? Would he throw a tantrum and demand to be back on the ground as soon as we started to climb? His hands and feet couldn’t reach any of the controls but how would I deal with screaming flailing 3-year old if that’s what happened? The answer of course would be to calmly complete the circuit and land safely, returning the distraught child to his parents.

However, I needn’t have worried. I talked him through everything we did, including some turns on the taxi-way and explained the noise of the engine run-up and why I was doing it. He was wearing some old Bose noise-cancelling headsets, the only ones I had which adjusted small enough to fit him properly. As we took off, he was peering out of the door/window at the ground and seemed to be silent and transfixed by the view. I was still a bit apprehensive but when I told him we were turning [down wind] to land his reply said it all: “No, NOT YET Papy Peter!”. So we turned away from the airfield – as it turned out, much to his mother’s concern – and flew around the area for 20 minutes or so before returning.

It is really fantastic taking kids for flights – provided they want to go and their parents are completely OK with it. It’s important to chat to them all the time and to tell them everything you are doing, so there are no surprises. Make sure they know that you can land again as soon as they want. If it’s their first flight, make sure it’s a clear smooth day. Don’t make any sudden control changes – up, down or sideways. Point out lots of things on the ground, which helps  lessen the chance of air sickness – if you can fly over where they live, so much the better.

The biggest regret I have was not putting my GoPro in the cabin, pointed at my grandson during the short flight. I’m sure he would have treasured the video and I know I’d love to watch it over and again; after all, he lives in Amsterdam and I don’t get to see him very much.

A32 – Aeroprakt-ically magic!

[Please note – many subscribers have reported that the embedded videos in this post did not work correctly. I have replaced them with links to the YouTube versions, so they now work as usual. Please click the picture to go to the YouTube video – view in hi-res if possible]

I have now spent over 4 hours flying the new Aeroprakt A32, initially on my own and then with four different passengers/co-pilots. I can confirm the aircraft really does have a speed range from stall at 27 knots with flap (actually almost zero knots indicated) right up to flat-out straight and level at 120+ knots at 5,500 rpm.

Skeptical? Yes, at first I was too, even though these speeds were demonstrated to me when I flew in the prototype in Kiev late last year. There has clearly been a great deal of work done on the aerodynamics to achieve these real-world figures, while retaining the sweet slow-speed handling of other Aeroprakt aircraft like the A22 and, for that matter, the A20 before that.

Here is a video of the A32 stalling, with full flap, two people on board and about 70 litres of fuel – total weight around 560 kgs. The ASI is just about centre of the frame.

A32 Stalling

Although it is natural to think the A32 is just a revamped version of the A22LS Foxbat, an important point I must make quite clear is that the A32 is fundamentally a different aircraft. I realise comparisons between the A22 and A32 are inevitable, but the only common elements between them are the engine, propeller and the wing, and even this has received a few tweaks for the A32. From and including the propeller spinner, right back to the tail, the fuselage is all-new. There are no flat panels on it – no mean feat in an all-metal aircraft – which remove ‘oil-canning’ and reduce drag and wind noise. The engine installation is completely different from the A22, with air ducting to smooth airflow, reduce drag and improve cooling. The oil radiator is mounted behind the coolant radiator, so there’s no need for an oil thermostat to speed up the warm-up.

The control system is all cable (like the iconic Piper Cub) and the all-flying tailplane is powerful and well-geared – particularly useful during landing, where even at 30 knots indicated, you don’t run out of elevator. Trim changes between take-off, cruise and landing are much smaller than on the A22 and it is easier to adjust the manual trim lever quickly to the required setting.

The cabin is actually a bit narrower at the elbow than the A22  (although it takes a ruler to confirm it) but is taller and the panoramic view through the windshield gives an impression the cabin is actually wider than the A22. The windows behind the seats are well-positioned to give a great view out. And there are plenty of storage pockets around the cabin for all those odds and ends so necessary to us pilots.

A32 cruise around 4,800 rpm. Photo by GoPro

A32 cruise around 4,800 rpm. Click pic for full size

Here are a few more numbers: cruise speed at 4,800 rpm (Rotax’s recommended minimum continuous rpm) is around 107-109 knots true, burning about 16 litres an hour. To cruise at 100 knots, you’ll need to drop the rpm to around 4,200, for a fuel burn of about 14-15 litres an hour. Approach speed down finals with flap should be no faster than 50 knots, with a maximum – even two-up – of 45 knots indicated over the keys. Even then, there’s a little bit of float, so I’ll be gently pulling the speed down a bit further. After all, a reasonable rule of thumb for a very light aircraft is to approach at 1.5 times stall speed; so 1.5 x 27 gives 40.5 knots, well below the 45 kts I have been using. And that’s at maximum weight….

Here is another video, this one showing A32 cruise speeds. The SkyView screen shows, on the left side, top to bottom, indicated airspeed (IAS), true airspeed (TAS) and ground speed (GS) so you can see the differences. RPM is top centre. Sorry this one is a bit blurred and shaky, the winds aloft were quite strong and bumpy that day – close to 30-35 knots and occasionally more. Also, it turns out the Garmin VIRB camera I used is not as good at close focus as my trusty old GoPro, which was used a day later for the video showing stalls.

A32 Speed vid

Where the A22LS Foxbat is a great ab-initio trainer and go-anywhere farmer’s aircraft, the A32 feels like it is much more of a sport cross-country aircraft and intermediate trainer. Speed management is particularly important in this aircraft – if you’re used to floating a bit due to overspeed when landing the A22LS Foxbat, you’ll run out of runway before the A32 stops flying – you’d better believe it!

Experienced A22LS Foxbat pilots will quickly see and feel the differences in the A32 – it’s a great addition to the Aeroprakt range.

We’re working on some more videos to show the aircraft flying, both inside the cabin as well as external sequences. Meanwhile, at least a couple of Australian aviation magazines are doing full flight tests for publication later in the year – I’ll announce when and where as soon as I have confirmation.