Light-Sport Chronicles: Three From The Heart

But enough whining: I hereby invoke the Law of Positive Attraction by putting on my happy flying face. Time to chant "Om mani padme LSA," and here we go.

LSA's Seven-League Boots
From the Wish I'd Done That! Dept., two enterprising pilots came up with a wild and crazy venture to demonstrate the long-reach viability of LSA: They flew from the right coast to the left---in one day!

In June, Jessica Scharle and Matt Hansen flew a lovely Peregrine FA-04 (German-designed, carbon-fiber low-winger) 1,813 nm, setting a transcontinental speed record in the process. Since the National Aeronautic Association doesn't have a category for LSA records yet, the pair applied to Guinness World Records for recognition.

Total time (with five fuel stops) was 19 hours and 21 minutes. Average groundspeed: 110 knots. The purpose of the flight was twofold: demonstrate LSA as a viable way to fly long distances and draw attention to a nonprofit organization that gives free flight training to people with physical disabilities.

Hansen is a CFI at Hansen Air Group (www.hansenairgroup.com); Scharle is one of his former students. They flew in support of Able Flight (www.ableflight.org), which offers scholarships to people with disabilities who are new to flight, returning pilots, or want to fly but aren't seeking a license.

Scharle, 24, is an Able Flight scholarship winner who was born with a rare condition that fused all her joints. Her accomplishments of a pilot's license and the transcon flight are stirring tributes to courage and perseverance, exactly the traits Able Flight hopes to arouse in physically challenged people. Well done, all!

"If You Ever Need One..."
Just after Sun 'n Fun '09, I had the distinct pleasure of flying with a guy who's a hero of mine. Back in the early days of hang gliding, Jim Lee made an epic 186-mile thermal-soaring flight in a hang glider from 10,378-foot Sandia Peak near Albuquerque, N.M.

He has gone on to distinguish himself in soaring flight and is now the sales director for Urban Air USA, owned by former U.S. hang gliding champion Joe Bostik. The company imports the Lambada LSA motorglider and Evektor LSA.

John Dunham, yet another hang divin' geek and long-time sport pilot veteran, had just grabbed the reins as VP of marketing and sales. He became known in ultralights for his Second Chantz emergency parachute company; now he's getting the word out about the Evektor. (Expect my report on the Evektor Max soon.)

Back to the UFM-13 Lambada: Lee took me up for an hour-long jaunt in the two-seat power floater near Urban's Melbourne, Fla., headquarters.

It was love at first flight. Lambada is easy to fly and surprisingly responsive in roll for an aircraft with a 49-foot wingspan. I soared, engine off and prop feathered, in local thermals for almost an hour, thanks to Lee's patient flying pointers. I had never flown a motorglider and felt like Moses reaching the Promised Land---what a perfect synergy of soaring and powered flight!

Lambada climbs effortlessly in light thermals thanks to its balanced control feel, 210 fpm sink rate and 30:1 glide ratio. Its max cruise of 119 knots and great 800 nm range also earn it strong powered kudos. Lee has made some memorable long-distance flights delivering planes to customers, including one trip from Melbourne, Fla., to San Jose, Costa Rica, last February. Like the Able Flight duo, he also has flown Lambada coast to coast in the United States.

In his blog (http://urbanairusa.blogspot.com), Lee mused about an around-the-world jaunt in a Lambada. "After all," he says, "it is only 20 of these flights [Florida to Costa Rica] strung together!" Imagine motoring around the globe, switching off and feathering to work some of the world's great soaring sites. What an adventure!

Now for some not-so-good news: Two separate Lambada in-flight incidents recently ended in ballistic parachute deployment. The silver lining: Both pilots returned safely to earth.

There are early indications that the pilots may have exceeded the speed envelope of the airplanes. The crashes are still under official investigation, so we'll wait for those results. But the successful deployments---both after, apparently, experiencing broken tailbooms---gets me up on my ballistic parachute soapbox.

When I was in the military, I saw a sign over a hangar parachute loft that proclaimed, "If you ever need one and you don't have one, you'll never need one again." Amen, brothers and sisters.

Every time people opine that a thorough and safety-conscious pilot shouldn't ever need a ballistic parachute onboard, I remind them that "schtuff" happens: nonforecast extreme turbulence, midair collisions, unforseeable engine failures and the like. Even world-class preflight and flight habits don't guarantee against all mishaps. Life is life, and it's unpredictable.

In my mind, hearing about these successful deployments only strengthens the argument that ballistic rescue devices should be standard equipment in every light aircraft. Think about how many lives would be saved every year!

In print, I've pushed since 1983 for their adoption in general aviation. Laudably, aircraft by Cirrus include ballistics, but far too many established airframe makers haven't taken one step in that direction. Why not? Is it really that much of a marketing challenge to ask pilots to weed out 40 to 50 pounds or so of baggage in exchange for enhancing the safety of all on board? We all need to take a breath and think about the human tradeoffs we sometimes make for mere performance when we assume nothing bad will ever happen to us in flight.

I can't imagine a reasonable defense against onboard ballistics, any more than I can conscientiously argue against wearing car seat belts. But let me know how you feel about it, would you?

Watt's Up
Everybody's got alternative energy on the brain these days. Our sweet old earth is running out of fuel: Time for change.

LSA thinkers and doers are meeting this challenge with exciting projects like ElectraFlyer-C and Sonex projects here in the States.

Now comes word of the latest l'excitation électrique from Shanghai, China. The Yuneec E430 electric-powered two-seater is in phase two of flight-test mode as I write. (I'm guessing Yuneec is phonetic for "unique.")

The E430, fitted with Yuneec's own 54 hp electric motor, which weighs only 37.5 pounds, uses six LiPo (lithium polymer) batteries and is capable of 1.5 to 2 hours of flight. All that's with a 400-pound payload. A future 10-battery configuration should bring duration to 2.5 hours. Most impressive.

The Yuneec International story (Google it, the URL's too long!) only begins here. This super-sleek composite high-winger with a large V-tail also sports a 45-foot wingspan. Why is that important? It gives the LSA a 25:1 glide ratio, bestowing at least a potential for power-off flight. It also could make handling in strong winds a challenge, but one step at a time: First, let's get it flying and to market, right?

With electric motors, restarts are a breeze. Because there only are two moving parts in the engine (the bearings!), just flick the go switch and the prop is spinning again.

Think about that---an engine that's quiet and virtually vibration-free even at full power! And what about charging times of three hours and around $5 in energy costs. Wow!

Sure, it's early yet to get too amped up about this (pardon the pun). Aircraft development is an arduous process, and we'll see how this Chinese beauty plays out in the scheme of things. Plans are to certify it first as an experimental homebuilt, but commercial production is the goal.

Meanwhile, phase two of flight-testing produced these exciting results: flight durations of 15 minutes, a max height of 975 feet, takeoffs in 265 feet at 40 mph, a climb rate of 1,320 fpm, a cruise speed of 55 mph, a top-speed level flight of 93 mph. Are we dreaming electric yet, chilluns?