Tag Archives: Aeroprakt

Top 20 sport planes in Australia

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Yes, this is an ultralight! Photo by Michael Priesch

I was recently reading an article on bydanjohnson.com (a big USA-dominated aviation website covering light sport and ultralight aircraft) about the best selling recreational and light sport aircraft in Germany, comparing them with what’s top of the pops in the States.

Dan’s article got me thinking about the Australian Recreational and Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) market. Are our tastes different from the USA, Germany and other countries? I did some basic research on registrations and it seems Australians, Americans and Germans all have their own – different – ideas about what they like…no surprise really!

A particularly stunning piece of information from Germany is that the MTO-Sport gyrocopter lists at #2, with almost 350 on their ultralight register. What do the Germans know that we don’t? I have never been a fan of gyrocopters, believing them to be inherently lethal – but things must have changed a lot for them to be #2 in the German top 10. Additionally, Rotax reports that gyrocopter manufacturers are currently the biggest buyers of 912 engines out of any aircraft sector in the world. However, gyrocopters in Australia are a bit of a ‘grey’ area, not registered either with RA-Aus or CASA. The current (unofficial) Australian gyrocopter register suggests there may be 250-260 of all types in Australia, although they clearly state that there may be others flying which are unregistered.

For information, the #1 ultralight in Germany is the Ikarus C42 with 582 flying; there are but three examples in Australia.

Slightly unexpectedly and in spite of quite tough USA insurance conditions, Americans really go for the traditional tail dragger – Cub-alikes account for a major slice of their LSA market – while here and in Germany modern taildraggers are nowhere near as popular. Too difficult for us to fly?

An examination of the Australian ultralight and LSA registers (RA-Aus and CASA/VH-) shows some interesting statistics. Out of around 5,300 current ultralight and LSA registrations:
– about 5,200 are on the RA-Aus register and 100 on the VH- register
– about 2,700 of these are factory-built, the remainder are amateur built
– there are about 450 factory-built powered weight-shift/trikes
– there are about 350 factory-built powered parachutes
– the remainder, about 1,900, are broadly speaking factory-built ‘3-axis’ aircraft

Making type comparisons with other countries outside Australia is quite difficult, as different registration regimes are used – so for example weight-shift trikes are classified differently in Germany. However, here in summary, with a few comments, are some broad brush Australian figures. Please note – the numbers exclude amateur-built aircraft

The top 10 factory-built aircraft:

1. Jabiru, all models – 556. Not surprising really, as they have been in business for 25+ years and are generally seen as the least expensive 3-axis home-market offering.
2. Airborne Windsports – 402. Weight-shift/trikes are a big chunk of the Australian RA-Aus register; Airborne, the Australian manufacturer, has easily the lion’s share.
3. Aerochute Industries – 335. Personally, I am surprised at the number of powered parachutes on the register; I hardly ever see them flying (maybe I don’t get up early enough!).
4. Tecnam, all models (except twin) – 174. Tecnam has a plethora of models, some of which have sold only a handful – it must make spare parts quite a headache for the factory. Interesting to see that Tecnam has sold fewer S-LSA aircraft in USA than in Australia.
5. Thruster – 173. This British built ‘microlight’ is still in production, although it appears that the most recent new registration in Australia goes back to the early 2000’s.
6. Austflight Drifter – 139. The Drifter is, alas, no longer available as a new aircraft but was at one time the mainstay of ultralight flying in Australia.
7. Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat, both versions – 128. Australia is currently the leading market for Aeroprakt A22 aircraft.
8. Australian Lightwing (ALW) – 109. I understand that although the original Lightwing is no longer made, ALW now offers a much changed LSA version, of which I could find only one registered.
9. Skyfox Gazelle – 71. Another mainstay of ultralight flying, no longer in production.
10. Evektor Aircraft, SportStars & Harmonys – 53. It is surprising that, despite all the hype, similar aircraft by the same designer: Sport Cruiser/Pipersport, Rokospol and Aero Bristell combined have nowhere near matched the success of the SportStar.

The next 10 factory-built aircraft:

11. Flight Design CT – 42. This is the most popular S-LSA sold in the States, although its lead is slowly but surely being whittled away by the Cub S-LSA replica made by Cubcrafters (276 in USA at December 2013).
12. Pipistrel, all models – 36. Made in Slovenia, this company has a reputation for innovation and fuel economy. Also have sold fewer in USA than Australia.
13. FlySynthesis, mainly Texans & Storches – 34.  Italian company, not yet accepted by FAA as S-LSA aircraft.
14. Eurofox, all models – 30. This is really an update of the old Gazelle. Currently the least expensive 3-axis factory-built S-LSA on the USA market.
15. TL Ultralight, mainly Sting & Sirius – 27. Czech company. Sting is a very pretty little plane.
16. Micro Aviation Bantam – 24. This New Zealand originated aircraft is still on the market but the most recent registration in Australia appears to have been over 6 years ago.
17. Savannah – 23. Savannah was more successful marketing kits for amateur building.
18. Alpi Pioneer – 19. Italian company, predominantly wood airframe. Pretty aeroplane, particularly the retractable.
19. FantasyAir Allegro – 18. Now made in USA.
20. Slepcev Storch – 18. Australian built, sadly no longer available.

Factory-built aircraft that didn’t quite make the top 20 include: Sport Cruiser/Pipersport (15), Brumby high & low-wing (15), Cessna 162 Sky Catcher (12), Zlin Savage Cub (12), Petrel (10), Sadler Vampire (9), Moyes Dragonfly (8), Kappa Sova (Sabre) (8), BRM Aero Bristell (8), FK-Lightplanes, all models (7) and Seamax (6). And there is a huge long tail of manufacturers who have registered 1-5 aircraft over the years.

A word of caution: the only two figures above, of which I am certain, are those for the Foxbat and the SportStar/Harmony, because I have the registration lists. There may be minor % errors in the other figures – but I have no reason to believe that the overall picture would change much, except maybe at the bottom end of the list. I am well prepared to eat humble pie if I have got any numbers significantly wrong. Firstly, the RA-Aus and CASA registers may not be up to date (heaven forbid!). Secondly, owners and manufacturers/importers unfortunately do not always use the same name terminology when registering aircraft, which makes tracking down every single one of a particular type quite difficult. For example, I checked ‘Foxbat’, ‘A22′, Aeroprakt’ and ‘Silverwing’ (a previous trading name of Foxbat Australia) and still the number of listed Foxbats did not match my own records of actual registrations. So it is quite likely this could be true of other makes too. I’m sure those involved will soon put me right – particularly if I quoted too low a number!

All comments welcome.

Foxbat factory visit – flying day

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Screen Shot 2014-09-06 at 11.11.30 pmSaturday 6 September was flying day at the Aeroprakt factory and club airfield.

Doug King and I were lucky enough to spend a fair bit of time flying in the Foxbat (both A22L2 and A22LS versions) as well as having a good look at other aircraft around the airfield and in the hangar.

The photo here has not been photo-shopped to look like this. It was taken with a a small Sony camera, similar to a GoPro, mounted on an extendable pole, held just outside the (removed) left hand door of a Foxbat. Apart from yours truly, the pilot is senior instructor Nadia from the Aeroprakt Club. Yuriy Yakovlyev was flying the other aircraft with Doug King.

The reflection of the wing and the aircraft are all exactly as per the original shot – sometimes you just get lucky. Talking of which, a young photographer at the airfield managed the shot of a lifetime – using a huge telephoto lens, he captured a silhouette of a Foxbat against the almost-full evening moon. I’m hoping to get a copy and  put it on here – it really is a shot of a lifetime.

There are some other photos of the flying day here on the Foxbat Pilot Flickr Album.

Tomorrow, sadly, I am leaving the Ukraine to begin my eventual way home to Melbourne. Thank you everyone at Aeroprakt for making Doug and my visit so enjoyable and memorable.

Aeroprakt factory visit – 1

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Aeroprakt Factory 01 copyAeroprakt Factory 02In spite of misinformed rumours to the contrary, I can confirm (again) that the Aeroprakt factory is operating as normal. Here are just a couple of pictures taken today. Currently there are around 5 A22L2 aircraft in production, and 4 A22LS, including a couple of A22LS orders I just placed for an owner in the Philippines.

Later today, Doug King (New Zealand Foxbat agent) and I are going to the Aeroprakt Club airfield to do some flying on this gloriously sunny day in Kiev. More news soon…

Visit to Europe

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Hello everyone – I’m soon leaving for a short trip to Europe – including a visit to the Aeroprakt factory in Kiev.

As a result, blog posts may not be as frequent as usual for a while, although I’m aiming to continue as far as possible, including news and pictures direct from Kiev while I’m there.

Just before my visit to Aeroprakt, I’ll also be going to the e-Go Aeroplane factory near Cambridge in England – info and pictures ditto.

Hopefully, when I get back, spring will be well under way and – at least in Melbourne – flying weather will have improved a bit.

Meanwhile – happy flying!

Auto fuel and Rotax engines

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rotax2_1Just recently, I have heard stories of rough running Rotax engines. This has been traced on several occasions to problems with the carburettors. It appears that the plastic floats in the carburettors are slowly dissolving in the fuel, causing them to become porous and cease to float! Equally dangerous, small parts of the floats are breaking off and blocking the carburettor jets. I looked at a couple of these floats and sure enough, they were soft and spongy to the touch and there were tiny pieces of black material in the bottoms of the float bowls.

Rotax recommends the use of unleaded automotive fuel – ‘mogas’ – in their 912 series engines. The fuel must have a minimum 95 octane rating for use in the 100hp 912ULS and 912iS models,.

You can also use 100LL aviation fuel – ‘avgas’ – in your 912 if you have to, but you’ll need to change the oil more frequently to help mitigate the effects of lead build up on the valves and other parts of the engine.

All fuel companies use petroleum blends to increase the octane rating of their fuels. Originally the main octane raising additive was lead but this has been phased out for automotive applications, although lead remains in use for aviation fuel. Significant octane-increasing additives in unleaded fuels include ethanol and toluene, both of which work well but they do have their limitations in some applications.

BP UltimateGenerally, the more ethanol or toluene, the more the octane rating is increased. However, this is not a golden rule and some high octane ‘low aromatic’ fuels – like BP Ultimate 98 – do not contain ethanol and have a low levels of aromatics such as toluene.

Both ethanol and toluene can affect rubber and plastic components in the fuel system. Toluene also has a high carbon content that may lead to sooty spark plugs – so don’t assume that this indicates an overly-rich mixture.

So it seems some unleaded fuels which contain substantial ethanol and/or toluene levels may be having a negative impact on plastic and rubber components in your engine!

Rotax recommends fuel with no alcohol additive for their engines but has approved the use of up to 10% ethanol in fuel. They do not mention toluene anywhere in their technical information. Your airframe manufacturer may or may not have approved the use of ethanol in any proportion. This is important to note, as the fuel tanks, fuel lines and auxiliary pumps they install could be affected.

My feeling? Stick with fuel that has no alcohol and meets at least the minimum required 95 octane for the 912ULS and 912iS engine. The higher the octane, the more likely it is to include higher levels of additives. Certainly, steer clear of any premium unleaded quoted at 100 octane or at least check if it has ethanol in the product. And maybe it’s a good idea to stick with the well known big brand name fuel distributors rather than fuels from an unknown source, that is, until we get more of a handle on the exact nature of the problem. They may be a cent or two more expensive but in my opinion, that’s a small price to pay for some peace of mind!

Recreational Aviation Australia – Easter NATFLY

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IMG_5362The annual Recreational Aviation jamboree is happening as usual over Easter 2014 at Temora Airfield, NSW. Dates for your diary: 18 & 19 April are the main visitor days. Thursday 17 April is arrival day, Sunday 20 April is departure day. So you don’t miss out – note that most aircraft and exhibitors depart on Sunday morning!

Foxbat Australia will be there – look for us on adjoining display spaces 11 & 13. We hope to have on show a Foxbat with controls adapted for disabled pilots, which has been in training use at Moruya Air for almost 3 years. I’m also expecting Sydney Recreational Flying to be there as usual, offering TIFs (Trial Instruction Flights) in one or both their club Foxbats.

And who knows? there may be a ‘Show Special’ or two around…..

Belite aircraft

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James & BeliteJames Weibe is a busy man. His background, experience and creativity in electronics has enabled him to develop and market the most innovative and amazing range of incredibly light weight panel instruments for experimental and recreational aircraft. Here’s a link to those instruments: Belite Aviation Electronics

However, it’s the other side of his life that I’m more interested in – the development of a range of extremely light and strong single-seat ultralight aircraft. Starting a few short years ago, from the humble beginnings of the Kitfox Lite, James has re-designed and now builds ‘state-of’-the-art’ very light aircraft.

The regulations in USA around these types of aircraft appear at first sight to be very relaxed – no registration required, no pilot license needed to fly them – but in fact, the few rules there are can prove to be very difficult to match. In summary, these rules boil down to: an empty weight limit of no more than 254 pounds (that’s around 115 kilograms for us metric people), carry no more than 5 US gallons of fuel (that’s just 19 litres), have a flat-out maximum power, straight & level speed of 55 knots and a stall speed under 24 knots at maximum weight.

James manufactures these little wonders at his factory near Wichita in Kansas. One of the great things about James is that he always seems to be looking for ways to improve his product.

These small aircraft are perfect for the cash-strapped owner – you can buy ready finished or as a kit; the wings are a one-person fold, so you can store the aircraft in the corner of a shed or hangar; and best of all, they are very easy to fly. There’s a selection of engines, from 28 hp to 50 hp 2-strokes (not my personal favourites) to a 45 hp 4-stroke. I think James has some further exciting announcements coming up in the next few weeks, so link yourself to his website: Belite Aircraft or to his excellent blog: James Wiebe’s Blog, where he tells it all, warts & all. Happy reading!

STOP PRESS! Here’s a link to Belite’s latest aircraft first flight – the ProCub Lite  What a magic little aeroplane!

Who needs a taildragger?

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ImageFor extreme bush flying – and by this I mean river bed landings, rocky hill tops and so-on – there’s no substitute for a tail dragger with huge main wheels and a smaller one at the back. And a pilot with considerable skill and experience.

But for most types of bush and farm flying, a suitable tricycle gear aircraft will do the job just as well – and in some conditions better than – a typical tail dragger.

Specifically, let me introduce you to the Aeroprakt A22 Foxbat – a tricycle gear aircraft with a tail wheel.

The Foxbat is a 2-seat light sport aircraft – an LSA – which will take you into many places you just cannot go in a conventional tri-gear plane. And it is an aircraft that enables reasonably competent, medium time pilots to handle cross winds like no tail dragger possibly can.

For a start, it’s rugged and strong. As well as full fuel it will carry around 200 kilos of people and baggage.

The CofG is close to the main wheels, so you can lift the nose off the ground at standstill or very slow speeds – this lets you run the plane down a rough paddock on its main wheels, with the nose wheel and prop well clear of trouble in the form of ruts, stones and even small shrubs.

The Foxbat lifts off in around 75 metres, even fully loaded, so there’s no long ground roll to punish the landing gear.

And getting back on the ground is just as quick and easy. You land at about 35 knots and you can hold the nose wheel clear of the rough stuff down to walking pace. Even better – unlike a typical tail dragger – you have nose wheel steering if and when you need it. The Foxbat nose wheel is steered directly through the rudder pedals, not relying on differential brakes. And there’s always the tailwheel to help you protect the rear of the aircraft in extreme cases!

There are farm based Foxbats operating out of rough strips and paddocks all over Australia. A couple have over 5000 hours on them in these conditions and many over 2000 hours. All of which attests to the longevity and toughness of the aircraft.

Who needs a tail dragger? Not me!