www.PSFmagazine.com | May-June 2019 | 15 14 | May-June 2019 | Powered Sport Flying Sun 'n Fun 2019 Finding a qualified flight school and instructors with seaplane trainers and insurance for commercial training operations is another challenge, although organizations like the dedicated Seaplane Pilots Association (spa) can help overcome some of the preceding obstacles. All these facts conspire to make seaplane flying less common than it ought to be. Light Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot kits to the rescue! While still more costly than landline equivalents, lsa seaplanes carry price tags that are a fraction of certified aircraft on floats and they likely outperform their counterparts in general aviation. Even spa — the water flying organization that has been more focused on certified floatplanes — is now flying a loaned Searey for a year or so to learn more about this segment of their community (photo). Here at Sun ‘n Fun 2019, we saw two new entries in the lsa or Sport Pilot kit space. Italian manufacturer icp representative (and airline pilot) Walter della Nebbia presented a bright red stol Savannah on white composite amphibious floats. The floats were designed and built by an Italian organization (Scuola Italiano Volo) with many years of experience providing seaplane-only flight instruction. “He (the designer) is very knowledgeable,” said Walter. “These are very good floats with lots of experience.” Just Aircraft showed a Highlander on aluminum floats built by the owner from a Zenair float kit. Just has become known for their Superstol model with the jaw-dropping performance. Highlander is the company’s original lsa success story (#33 on our slsa List) that, when significantly modified for special use, became Superstol. Besides these two entries the lsa industry offers several more choices of float-equipped land planes plus other boat-hulled seaplanes such as Progressive Aerodyne’s Searey, Aero Adventure’s Aventura, Seamax Aircraft’s SeaMax, Vickers Aircraft’s coming Wave, and others. While waterborne aircraft carry a higher price tag than land-only airplanes, seaplane flying has never been more affordable. My definition of these terms is that a ‘seaplane’ has a boat hull where a ‘floatplane’ is straight or amphibious floats added to a landplane. The terms are not used as official designations. Just Aircraft Highlander on floats ICP Savannah on floats Sun ‘n Fun Day 3 — Lightning Fast Kit Aircraft, lsa Regulation Questions, and a Tribute Lightning Fast — You wanna go fast? Of course you do. What pilot doesn’ t want to go fast? Now, ultralight pilots (me, for instance) will go on enthusiastically about the beauty of flying slowly, of drifting leisurely over the landscape at a ‘human speed’ that allows enough time to enjoy the expanse of an aerial view of your surroundings. Open cockpit flying adds to the joy facilitated by low airspeeds. Yet the allure of going fast is great, zipping over the countryside. I get that and when contemplating a cross-country trip of any real distance, fast cannot be too fast. In addition to a higher tas, we all yearn for a tailwind that will raise our speed by another 20 mph. Arion Aircraft boss Nick Otterback also feels that desire to fly fast. Along with his since-retired but longtime business partner Pete Krotje, Nick created the dashing, sleek and smooth Lightning, first offered as a kit and a compliant Light Sport Aircraft. Lightning has enjoyed and continues to execute a good run, but like many designers, Nick felt the design could handle more speed. He set out to bump the numbers by installing a Titan X340 with 180 horsepower. This triggered other changes such as a new cowl to accommodate the powerplant. “Our Lightning XS kit has a redesigned forward fuselage structure that gives the builder the option to choose engines up to 180 horsepower,” said Nick. “Taller landing gear for bigger props, bigger brakes, and 20 gallon fuel tanks are among some of the features of this new kit.” How fast does Lightning XS go? Testing is not complete yet; it recently took to the air. However, Arion is calculating 165 knots (190 mph) tas at 8,500 feet density altitude at full gross. Climb is a stunning 2,000 fpm. Of course, Lightning XS is not a Light Sport Aircraft and will require a Private or better certificate plus a medical to fly. Stronger Climb–Efficient Cruise–Greater Safety — Rotax, Searey builder Progressive Aerodyne, and RS Technology continue work to acquire knowledge and data about what’s called Single Lever Control (slc). They’ve been at it a couple years or more and RS Tech is pleased with initial results. Since I first interviewed Michael Stock about this, the team has transitioned to Rotax’s newest 915iS engine that supplies 135 horsepower. Combined with the adjustable prop, this becomes an enthusiastic performer. The beauty of the system, in my mind, is that it is so simple. A literal single lever makes the pilot workload no more difficult than a conventional throttle on a fixed pitch prop, yet it can deliver increased performance to shorten takeoff runs without sacrificing cruise at altitude. This is a win-win safety argument that the faa recognizes. In our discussions with top executives with the agency they proved surprisingly and pleasantly receptive to considering slc as they rework the SP/lsa regulation. That’s not a guarantee but the odds seem promising. Nonetheless, that regulation is still years away — how many years is an unanswerable question at this point but the wheels of progress are in motion. In talking about regulation change, lots of folks are still asking about a speculated weight increase. Yes, one is definitely coming but not to a specific number. A formula will develop gross weight, and no, the final version of that formula is not yet established.
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