Foxbat at Oshkosh – click picture for video
Here’s a video from across the Pacific from my colleague Dennis Long, newly appointed as one of the agents for Aeroprakt in North America. He took his new A22LS demonstrator to Oshkosh and flew into the grass ‘ultralight’ strip…quite a few times, judging by the video!
I have never been to Oshkosh, one of those ‘must go’ places for anyone who really calls themselves a pilot! Maybe next year…
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.
Idaho bush strip – click picture for video
Here’s a short video of a bit more back country bush flying – a landing into a very small, high-altitude ‘runway’ between the trees at Simonds Strip in Idaho. Aircraft is a Cessna 185 with a STOL kit, not as one wag commented, ‘only a 747 would be big enough to carry the pilot’s b***s!’
One of the few specifically light aviation airshows in Australia this year – Ausfly 2015 – will be held at Narromine, NSW, from 4-6 September. The main days for exhibits and flying displays will be Friday and Saturday (4 & 5 September) with most people, as usual, departing for home on the Sunday morning.
I’m pleased to announce that Foxbat Australia will be publicly showing the new A32 aircraft for the first time, alongside the familiar A22LS Foxbat.
As well as all the static exhibits, a full flying display is planned, with plenty of aerobatics and other aerial delights.
The show is primarily sponsored by the Sport Aircraft Association of Australia (SAAA) who are the body mainly responsible for amateur built aircraft. Although there will be many workshops around building your own aircraft, there will also be safety and other seminars covering a variety of other aspects of light aviation.
For me, one of the highlights of these fly-in airshows is wandering along the lines of parked aircraft and marvelling at the sheer diversity of all the flying machines. Ausfly caters for a wide variety of aircraft from warbirds and general aviation through to amateur built, light sport and recreational/ultralight aircraft. Occasionally you might see one for sale – you never know what you might find!
There’s a dinner on the Saturday evening, where awards will be presented to special aircraft in a range of categories. If you haven’t already booked accommodation (or you’re planning on camping), it might be a bit late for motels in Narromine itself, but there’s still plenty of room available in nearby Dubbo.
Come along and say hello and have a good sticky-beak at the A32. You won’t be disappointed!
A32 in flight – click picture to see video
Here’s a short YouTube video of the Aeroprakt A32 in flight over southern Victoria and Philip Island. Just cruising.
It’s good to view some fly-in aerial activity from the other side of the world – in this case, near Borodyanka (sometimes spelled ‘Borodianka’) which is located to the north west of Kiev in the Ukraine. Here is a very nicely made little video which captures well the feeling of a local fly-in. [Click the picture to see the video]
Sitting where I am, wrapped up in my warm woolies and scarf in the middle of a Melbourne winter, the clear sunny summer skies look very inviting! There’s an interesting mix of aircraft at this fly-in, from an aerobatic Sukhoi through various Cessnas to some offerings (of course) from Aeroprakt. CEO Yuriy Yakovlyev arrives in his personal A36 and there are examples of the A22, A32 and the seaplane A24. There’s even a short display by Aeroprakt with smoke trails from the aircraft…I must ask them to send me a smoke kit for my demonstrator.
Roll on summer in Australia!
Not aviation, strictly speaking, although aerodynamics plays a key part – wind turbines are playing an increasing role in the production of ‘renewable’ energy.
This video, from Mid-American Energy shows the building of a single wind turbine, from digging the first hole through to commissioning – a total time of about 3 weeks. Fascinating stuff.
Click picture to view video
[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.
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. 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.
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.
Those of you bemoaning the ever-escalating costs of keeping your light sport and recreational aircraft in tip-top airworthy condition should spare a thought for Cessna owners.
AOPA Australia has published some information about compliance with the Cessna SIDs (Supplemental Inspection Documents) process, which has been devised to help ensure older aircraft remain airworthy. Unless you have at least a 7-figure credit bank balance, it makes for pretty bleak reading. And, after all, most older planes are owned by people who can’t afford to buy new ones, so the compliance cost is particularly burdensome.
Here’s a few examples relating to the venerable Cessna ‘100 series’ aircraft, ie 150, 152, 170, 172 etc. These requirements have a deadlines looming ever closer – the end of 2015 for commercially used aircraft and end of June 2016 for private aircraft. Cost figures are ex-GST and are only intended to be broad estimates.
CASA AWB 02-048 issue #2 requires that all mandatory and advisory service bulletins concerning the Principal Structural Elements (PSEs) of the aircraft are inspected and complied with. This includes not only obvious and expected items like wing spars and landing gear but also things like door frames and, for example, any areas of the aircraft skin under ‘fore & aft’ and/or ‘circumferential loads’ – ie most of the aircraft. Projected costs for this inspection and typical remedial work are in the A$10k-A$50k range.
In addition, NDBs and VORs have to be decommissioned and VHF radios and nav equipment updated. You’re looking at A$35k-A$55k for new TSO’d equipment. Makes the Dynon SkyView look like very good value…
In addition, AD/GEN/87 Primary Flight Control Cable Retirement (scroll down that page to see AD 87) requires all flight control cables to be replaced every 15 years. Cost estimate A$8k every 15 years. Many aircraft are still operating with the original manufacturer’s cables, even after 30-40 years.
In addition, there is a proposed airworthiness directive (AD/PROP/1A3) which will require regular mandatory strip downs on all constant speed props – cost every 6 years is around A$2k. It is estimated that as many as 50% of these propellers will be deemed unserviceable and have to be replaced, at a typical cost of A$14k.
Finally, after the initial SIDs inspection & remedial work, there’s an ongoing SIDs ‘top-up’ cost of around A$3k a year to keep it all current. On top of any other required maintenance.
If you own a Cessna single engine retractable or, even worse, a twin, you’d better start looking round for a second mortgage on your home – assuming it’s worth enough – because SIDs related costs could be 3-4 times as much as for a ‘simple’ single.
Against these figures, an annual cost of under A$1,000 for a LAME or L2 to issue your LSA maintenance release doesn’t look so bad. And if you get your L1 ticket, you can maintain your RA-Australia registered aircraft yourself. Personally, although I’m doing the L1 with RA Australia online, I want a fully qualified engineer to check out my aircraft at least once a year…
Here’s a link to a short video from Foxbat owner, Andrew Murray, flying his aircraft into Jandakot Airport, Perth, Western Australia, for the first time. It’s also his first in-flight GoPro video – not bad at all on both counts!
Jandakot Airport is the general aviation hub for Perth and lies just south, close to Perth International Airport. As well as being the home base for the Royal Aero Club of Western Australia, it’s one of the busiest GA and training airports in Australia.
Click on the photo to open the video.