           |
|
aerokurier 5/1998
GPS: Back to reality The American FAA is correcting its approach towards satellite navigation. In the recent past, the FAA had striven for a use of GPS as the only means of navigation and for switching off all ground-based navigation equipment. Now the aviation authorities are reconsidering this position. A US commission’s report for the protection of national infrastructure is cautioning that the entire American aviation system would depend on only one navigation system, the main concern being that GPS is designed as a military system. A civil use is only a side-product. The FAA’s new approach is not a catastrophe since VOR/DMEs and Loran are still operational. They could be used as future back-up systems. Furthermore, there will be enough time to evaluate other back-up systems. Nevertheless: The FAA’s main goal is satellite navigation via GPS. Diamond Aircraft DA 40: Welcome to the club The development of Diamond Aircraft’s DA 40 four-seater has progressed considerably. The proof-of-concept prototype of the DA 20 Katana-based aircraft took off for its first flight at the end of last year. Up until the beginning of April, the aircraft accumulated 50 hours of flight time. A second prototype joined the flight test program in mid-April. While the so called V1 is powered by a 115 hp Rotax 914, V2 is powered by a 125 hp Continental IO-240. The IO-240 will probably give the aircraft a similar performance to the Rotax powered aircraft. However, the altitude performance will probably be somewhat less. Reportedly another DA 40 version with an IO-360 will also be offered, supplied either by Lycoming or Continental. The future of the Rotax 914 option is still not sure yet. Diamond wants to leave the decision up to the customers. The DA 40 will be available from mid-1999. The aircraft in a VFR option is currently listed between 278400 Mark (Rotax 914) and 319000 Mark (IO-360). EBAA conference in Brussels The 4th EBAA conference in Brussels at the beginning of April clearly showed the challenges which the business aviation is facing in Europe. The meeting also made clear that by far, not all parties concerned want to pull on the same end of the rope. According to the European Business Aviation Association (EBAA), 18200 business aircraft are registered in Europe. 2051 of these are stationed in Europe. Because of the increasing number of aircraft, EBAA has identified the limited number of approaches to the major airports as the biggest challenge for business aviation. For some operators, the availability of airports has become a question of survival. Due to these reasons, EBAA is striving for a new definition of Business Aviation, discerning business aviation from general aviation. EBAA does not support the European Union’s idea of the auctioning the slots for international airports. ILA ’98: More exhibitors, more exhibition area The ILA in Berlin will be the biggest aviation trade fair in Germany. The airshow is designed as an important advertisement event for the aerospace branch, attracting the media and public interest. German President, Roman Herzog, will open the show on 18 May. At the editorial deadline of this aerokurier issue, there were more exhibitors registered than there were at the same point prior to the last ILA. One of the main focuses of this show is the 50th anniversary of the Berlin airbridge. Accordingly, military transport aircraft will be dominating the show. Many of these current and historic aircraft will come to Berlin for a Fly-in. Nevertheless, business aviation and general aviation will not be hidden, making up half of the aircraft registered for the show. Still, for general aviation, ILA will not be able to compete with the Aero in Friedrichshafen. Helicopters will be very dominant also. For example, a 1:1 mock-up of the Bell 609 tilt-rotor aircraft will come to Berlin. The show is one of the few air fairs to which people can fly with their own aircraft. However, there will be slot regulation. All the ways to ILA Whomever plans to fly with their own aircraft to the ILA ’98 at the Berlin-Schönefeld airport will have to apply for a landing and departure slot. The central coordination office (ZEKO) gives out VFR slots via telephone (+49 (0) 30-6091-8750) or via Fax (-8751). The IFR phone number is +49 (0) 30-6091-8760/8764). The aircraft can be parked on a designated ramp right next to the exhibition area. There will be special approach and departure routings for helicopters. Furthermore, there will be several bus and train connections available. The ILA shuttle bus routes A, B and C will be available for the visitors for no cost.
The aerokurier May issue includes an additional 40-page booklet for free, presenting the aircraft at the ILA with the most important data. The booklet is a good companion for your ILA visit. If you are missing the booklet in your aerokurier, you may order it via email. Competition aerobatics 1998: A beautiful obsession Aerobatics is airsport pure. While the community of ambitioned aerobatic pilots in Germany consisted of merely 10 to 15 enthusiasts at the beginning of the nineties, the number of competitors today is two to three times that high. 38 German pilots had registered for the German aerobatic championships in 1997. The regular competitions are contributing to an increasing number of pilots flying figures and angles. Everybody knows each other in this small group of pilots. The disadvantage is that the organization of the events is weighing on the shoulders of only a few people. The aerobatic flying community is a big family. What is their motivation and what do they have in common? Almost 20 years ago, US aerobatic champion and world champion Leo Loudenslager wrote the answer on his Laser 200: Beautiful Obsession. Aerobatic dates 1998: 11 to 14 June: Hessen aerobatic championships in Lauterbach, Germany Better overview with Terminal Charts The German Notam office has generated a new Terminal Chart for the Stuttgart airspace because of the new airspace structure in this area. The folding map is part of the AIP VFR and, additionally to the information on the ICAO charts, holds more detailed information on the topography and the specifics of this particular airspace, including all boundaries, altitudes, reporting points, obstacles and frequencies. "Take-off" will take off soon Take-off is the name of a new airfair in the North of Germany. The show will commence from 7 to 8 May in Münster (Halle Münsterland) and at the airfield Münster-Telgte. The show will cover all aspects of aviation, reaching from ballooning, parachute jumping, gliding, ultralight to engines, models, helicopters and business aircraft. On Saturday many balloons will take-off and at 9 and 10 May there will be interesting flight displays in Telgte. "Real" wheels in the Cessna Having just a folding bicycle available when landing at an airfield wasn’t good enough for Stefan Hahn. He developed an alternative. Hahn found a way to take apart two real bicycles and store them in his Cessna 177’s baggage compartment. There is even room for passengers or baggage on the rear seats. With very little effort, the bicycles can be put together again in only three minutes. With 28 inch wheels the 24-speed bicycles are the ideal means of exploring the surroundings of the landing field. Less fatalities in accidents The German Aviation Transportation Safety Board (FUS) is reporting less fatalities and less accidents with civil German-registered aircraft in 1997. The number of accidents decreased from 539 in 1996 to 523 in 1997, the number of fatalities decreased from 107 to 89. One of the main accident causes still involves flying into bad weather. For the first time, balloonists had a big share of the accidents in 1997. While there was no accident in this category listed in 1996, 1997 shows five fatalities in two accidents. Good news come from helicopter operations. The number of accidents in this aircraft category decreased from 21 to 13, accounting for two (eight in 1996) dead people. On the trail of Antoine de-Saint-Exupéry As the only German pilot, Barbara Friedenberg with a Piper Navajo participated in the 15th Rally Aéropostale in Senegal. The big aviation event takes place every year in October and is a homage to the early mail pilots which, in the first half of this century, flew under most adventurous conditions from Toulouse via Spain, Morocco and Mauretania to Senegal. The most famous of them was Antoine de-Saint-Exupéry. Flying on his trail, 26 aircraft participated in the rally. Along with flying tasks, such as timed overflights and point landings, the participants had to answer many questions concerning Aéropostale and the life of Saint-Ex. 50 years Airbridge: Hurrah, we are still alive! The 50th anniversary of the Berlin airbridge is one of ILA’s main themes. This unique event has tied Berlin closer to aviation than any other city. The Berlin airbridge lasted for 462 days, being the largest humanitarian air transport task in history. When the operations began on June 26, 1948, probably nobody thought that by the end 2.3 million tons of supplies would have been transported into a Berlin that had been cut off by the Soviets. Finally the Russians gave up the blockade. On 12 May, the first trucks and freight trains rolled again into the city, on many of them was written: "Hurrah, we are still alive!" Read the exiting story of the airbridge, and all about the difficulties that the organizers under the command of General Lucius D. Clay had to overcome. Record flight of Breitling Orbiter 2 The flight of the hot-air balloon "Breitling Orbiter 2" lasted for nine days. While the attempt to fly around the world in the fast Jetstream failed, the three balloonists, Bertrand Piccard, Wim Verstraeten, and Andy Elson accomplished a 10,000km non-stop record flight. They took off in Château d’-Oex in Switzerland. The balloon finally landed in a small Burmesian village. Due to a delay of getting the permission to overfly China, the balloon with pressurized cabin had to leave the ideal wind stream which reaches speeds of up to 400 km/h in the Northern hemisphere’s winter months. CVFR training: The small IFR CVFR training is high in demand. The reason is that pilots are worried that their national German PPL without CVFR rating will not be changed over into an European license. CVFR areas and the according license endorsement are a unique invention of the German aviation authorities. They are not known to other countries. A CVFR rating requires at least ten flight hours plus five hours for the night flight endorsement. The flying training for the two ratings can be combined. However, the minimum flight times (ten plus five) must be adhered to. If the set-up and conditions are right, 15 hours of nightflight can become a unique aviator’s event which he will remember for ever – even if one has not read the book of the same title by Saint-Exupéry. In order for the nightflight endorsement, the candidate must have successfully acquired the CVFR rating which requires a practical and a written test. Weather-related flight accidents/part II The German Weather Services has analyzed a series of weather-related accidents for the period form 1994 to 1996. The sad result: All of the accidents could have been avoided. Especially prominent is the high number of accidents that are related to low clouds. Along with busting the minimum safety altitudes, spatial disorientation after flying into instrument meteorological conditions is the dominating accident cause. The accidents are described in short. aerokurier extra service: Landing without fees Our action for more landing practice and more flying safety starts again. Several thousand landings were accomplished in 1997 because of this activity. This year, we hope to surpass this excellent result with your help. The season is opened by Schleswig-Kropp, Haßfurt and Wels in Austria, which is the first airfield outside of Germany to participate in the action. Use the opportunity to land at these airfields in May free of charge. All you need is the aerokurier coupon. If you want to participate with your airfield just call the aerokurier editorial office: Heiko Müller, Tel: +49 (0) 228-9565 222. Pilot Report: TL 96 Star The TL 96 Star is supposed to become the first ultralight-category composite low-wing on the German market. We have flown the prototype in Czechia for you. It looks like TL Ultralight, the Czechian branch leader, has created a good new aircraft. The prototype already leaves a good impression both on the ground and in the air. The two-seater is characterized by good cruise and slow-flight performance. However, the prototype we flew, which was equipped with a fixed pitch propeller, did not reach the promised speeds beyond the 200km mark. This is to change with the production aircraft’s constant speed prop. Pilot Report: TL 96 Star, Ultralight scene in Czechia The airsport fair in Prague from 19 to 22 March proofed to be a small but very interesting show for the branch. Almost all of the companies which have a name in the rapidly expanding Czechian ultralight scene showed their products. We have looked around for you and found out what the German ultralight market can expect from our neighboring country in the future. Discus-2: New racing glider for the Standard Class The Discus-2 is flying. Schempp-Hirth’s new Standard Class glider accomplished its first flight on 3 April. The aircraft is an entirely new design. (photo). The new Discus’ appearance does not look very much like its predecessor but, reminds more on the modern sister models of the other classes, such as the Ventus and the Duo. In a typical Schempp-Hirth design, the wing leading edges are swept back and the outer wing is bending twice. After the first flights with the new glider, we can agree to the overwhelming praise of Schempp-Hirth’s managing director and project manager, Tilo Holighaus, who accomplished the first flight on 3 April in turbulent and rainy weather at the Hahnweide. The Discus-2 allows to follow even the smallest thermal movements in a very maneuverable way. The maneuverability is comparable to modern racing class aircraft. The rudder forces are well balanced and easy to operate. Scheibe SF-25A: Refreshment for the A-Falcon Scheibe’s powered Falcons can be found on most German airfields. No wonder: The first A models of the SF-25 series were delivered 36 years ago and the aircraft has continuously been in production. The A Falcons are still up to date. Ludger Kasperek is operating an A Falcon, built in 1965, in Borken and has just recently brought the aircraft up to the newest standards. The aircraft belongs to a series of 57 airplanes which were built from 1962 to 1967 in Dachau and were equipped with two-cycle engines. Of these preproduction aircraft, twelve are still flying in Germany, another 13 are waiting for a refurbishment. There are 18 A Falcons known to exist outside of Germany, ten of which are registered, one in Anyang/China. Class records World records are a good scale for measuring the performance potential of a sport. In gliding, world and German records can be flown all over the world. However, what can be achieved in regard to one country? The list of the German gliding class records gives the answer to the question. Best performances are always a coin with two sides. Most often the first reaction is admiration. Still, critics are never far. Whomever wants to set a world record is forced into a major financial and time effort. Only certain regions in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the USA are suitable for these flights. Only few can really afford the necessary effort. The record lists don’t show what’s possible in Germany under the prevailing meteorological conditions with a glider of a specific performance category. The list of the German gliding records shows where gliding in Germany is right now. One record category can list a maximum of ten achievements. There are five classes each for men and women. This allows for a maximum of 90 entries, 17 of which are still open. There is no provision for minimum performances. Not really a question: To pee or not to pee? Drinking fluids and getting rid of them has always been a problem in gliding. A full bladder can be very uncomfortable. The American long-distance specialist, world record pilot and world championships participant Karl Striedieck has worked out different solutions with his wife Iris. There are solutions! Year of the championships: Germany before the world championships Before the 26th world gliding championships will take place in Bayreuth in 1999, the competition scene in Germany is looking at the national championships. The competitions in Bückeburg and Mengen are very important for the appointments in the world championships. With the Bavaria Glide (7 to 23 August), Bayreuth will open the stage for the dress rehearsal of the world championships in the three traditional FAI classes (Standard, Racing, and Open). From the German point of view, these pilots are supposed to participate which have qualified for the national team and the WM 1999 during the German championships at the beginning of June. One place is sure already today: It’s the one from world champion Werner Meuser who, as title-holder in the Racing Class, is qualified outside of the nation’s quota. The team which will fly in Bayreuth, will compete separated by classes for the qualification. In parallel (30 May to 13 June) the Open and 18m Class will compete in Mengen and the Standard and Racing Class in Bückeburg. In one aspect these events will fulfill their meaning as preparatory competitions: The flights will be evaluated according to the international scale for European and world championships. High-performance training in Rieti The Italian gliding center in Rieti, which is located approximately 60 km northeast of Rome and which is known from a series of European championships and the 1985 world championships, is now adjusting its mountain, performance and competition courses to become an international training facility. Fuentemilanos 1998 without the Oerlinghausen gliding school This summer, the gliding center Fuentemilanos in the heart of Spain will be operated solely by the Spanish Club Aeronautica del Guadarrama. The gliding school Oerlinghausen which had contributed to setting up the center and which had been represented in Fuentemilanos every summer for the past 18 years, has stopped its engagement for the summer of 1998. Further gliding news, for example concerning the European championships of the women and the German championships of the juniors, can be found under airSPORT and NEWS Gliding. |
NEWS | SPOTS | airSPORT | FACTS | MAGAZINE | SPECIAL | aeroACTION | LINKS | SHOP | PROFILE | HOME
Copyright 1998 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved.
Last updated April 2/, 1998
Booklet:
Aircraft at the ILA