EDITORIAL

Through the back door to new noise regulations

Since 1 May, the new "noise protection requirements for aircraft" (LSL) are effective in Germany. From now on, the measurement overflights of motor aircraft must be done with take-off power and maximum allowable rpm. The ministry of transportation announced these changes at the end of April, reasoning with an adaptation to international regulations.
    The change of the procedure means that aircraft are now evaluated with a procedure that is not realistic. The consequence is that the aircraft will not pass the strong German noise emission requirements and that these aircraft can’t be registered in Germany any more.
    International regulations on one side and a German national rule for the noise levels on the other don’t fit together. Because of this, the General Aviation demands that either the new regulations are taken back or, that there must be at least a just transition phase in which also the noise requirements are successively adjusted to international regulations.

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FEATURE

Skydiver in the cockpit

Up until reaching the drop point at 4000 ft, Maic flew the Twin Otter like a passenger airplane. With the last skydiver having left the aircraft, the calm time is over. The turboprop aircraft dives back to Kassel airfield. It’s like the hole ground wants to come into the cockpit. Being a drop pilot is a job with lots of action. For this feature we visited the skydiving school Aero Fallschirmsport in Kassel.

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PILOT REPORT

Socata TB20 GT

Socata has taken its TB aircraft series through a rejuvenation cure. The 250-hp Trinidad has already been through this phase. The most prominent change is the new design of the cockpit roof which also gives an additional 8 centimeters of head room.
    As far as the performance is concerned, the TB20 GT is still up where it used to be. With 65 percent power and best power setting under ISA conditions the aircraft allows to fly with 151 KTAS at 8000 ft. A power setting for maximum endurance allows a speed of 148 kts, which is a respectable result for an aircraft with a 1,28 meter wide cabin. Also, the range of 1755 kilometer plus reserve is quite remarkable. Depending if flying with best power or with maximum endurance, 65 percent power results in a fuel consumption of 53 and 46 liters per hour respectively.
    Like its predecessor, the TB20 GT is a true four-seater. The aircraft has an empty weight of 800 kg. Its upper weight limit is 1405 kg. The Trinidad GT with an IFR package is currently listed for approximately 700000 DM.

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MAGAZINE

Engine failures: Weak camshafts?

There have been two atypical engine failures involving two Robin DR 400/200 aircraft in a short period of time. Did Textron Lycoming deliver the IO-360 with flaws in the camshaft? The manufacturer did not yet comment on this suspicion. However, the aircraft owners concerned, who must pay 50000 DM for an engine exchange, want to clarify the problem. They want to protect other aircraft owners from being hit by the same problem.

E-Commerce in General Aviation

Having an own website has become an important tool for aircraft dealers. The illustration potential of the Internet representation is very helpful for the customers in making decisions.
    Supposedly half of the German population has access to the Internet, either at work or at home. Does General Aviation use this potential to the most extent possible? We have inquired various dealers and flying schools.

Planned: Bücker assembly in Rüngsdorf

Comeback after 55 years? A deserted airfield and a manufacturer of historic airplanes on the search for a location: The combination is ideal and could make Rüngsdorf, where once the Bücker aircraft were built, again known to the world.

Walter Stender 1905 to 2000

A life for flutter safety: The hazard of flutter to aircraft safety has been Walter Stender’s subject during all of his life. With his work, the aerospace engineer contributed to the avoidance of these dangerous effects. Especially the gliding community owes him a lot for that.
    Walter Stender died at the age of 95 at beginning of this year in Nürnberg. Only few know that he belongs to the group of personalities who not only experienced the past century of aviation but, with their contribution, formed it. The engineer’s main focus was the research of the flutter effects with aircraft, with the goal of helping to avoid this through appropriate aerodynamical designs combined with technological improvements. His striving for the avoidance of flutter effects in the aircrafts’ certified speed envelope lasted for over 70 successful years.

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FASCINATION OLDTIMER

Cessna L-19 Birddog

The Birddog is the ideal oldtimer aircraft: It features a tailwheel configuration, simple technology and there are plenty of spare parts available. Still, it is a rare aircraft in Europe with only two flying in Germany.

Christian Haiml saw the Cessna Birddog L-19 three times, then he was hooked. For the first time, he saw the small liaison aircraft of the US forces during the fifties at the airport Salzburg in Austria. The second time he saw the aircraft when the Americans handed over 29 L-19s to Austria in the frame of a military support program. Finally, in 1985, when Christian Haiml was at a meeting of former Austrian military pilots, he decided to buy a L-19.

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TRADE SHOWS

ILA debut: OMF-160 Symphony

A new German two-seater is debuting at the ILA 2000. With its 160-hp Lycoming, the OMF-160 Symphony achieves a cruise speed of 131 kts. Very secretly, the Ostmecklenburgische Flugzeugbau GmbH developed the aircraft in the past two years. The aircraft is expected to receive its JAR-23 certification in the next three months. As the first German aerospace magazine, aerokurier exclusively presents the OMF-160 Symphony and tells you what the newcomer OMF is planning in the future.

ILA 2000: The aircraft

The ILA 2000 will set a new record: Almost 300 aircraft and helicopters will be at display from 6 to 12 June at the ILA show area in Berlin Schönefeld. Most of them will also be seen in a flying display.
     There have never been as many aircraft at a European international aerospace exhibition. This makes ILA 2000 a large-scale flying event. The show organization is expecting approximately 850 companies from all over the world. For the first time, exhibitors from South Africa and Ireland are represented at ILA. We have an overview with tips how to get to the ILA with the private aircraft, car, bus or train.

Expo satellites: Lots of space for General Aviation

The countdown is running. With the Expo 2000 in Hannover, Germany is hosting a large-scale event of international dimensions. The airfields around Hannover have brushed up accordingly.
    During the Expo 2000, the Hannover international airport in Langenhagen is expecting an increased traffic volume. Also the arrivals and departures of General Aviation aircraft will be regulated by SLOTs. Specific regulations are described in the Notice to Airmen NfL (I-144/00). This Notam presents the alternative airfields around Hannover with their connections to the world exhibition.

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TRAVEL

Around France in seven days

Four men just felt a desire to spend a week in France. With two aircraft, tents, sleeping bags and lots of fun in the baggage, they took off. France is tempting. Often, no landing fees have to be paid, there are lots of friendly people at the airfields. Everything is a little bit different than at home. A travel report to be followed.

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FLYING

Lockheed 12 "Electra Junior"

Even if you have never heard of the Lockheed 12, you have certainly seen one – in Casablanca, the classic movie with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergmann. Bob Grimstead had the chance of flying with one of the few remaining aircraft. The aircraft had served for years as a drop plane for skydivers. Its condition was accordingly. The aircraft’s owner Donovan invested lots of money and time to restore it. Bob Grimstead’s report tells you how the elegant twin radial engine aircraft with characteristic twin-empenage flies.

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PRACTICE

Airspace: TMZ and Delta in practice

Today, most of the large airports are surrounded by airspace C and not quite so restrictive airspace TMZ (Transponder Mandatory Zone) and Delta are found more and more around regional airports. Paderborn-Lippstadt, for example, has a TMZ which requires the aircraft to carry a transponder. Dortmund airport has an airspace D (not controlzone) which requires a transponder and clearances. So far, these airports were only highlighted on the ICAO charts with a circle of 16 nm diameter.

Navigation: VFR charts

In every spring pilots must buy new VFR charts. They have the choice between the German Air Navigation Service’s ICAO charts or the VFR charts from Jeppesen. The information presented on the two different chart systems (1:500000) only varies slightly. They are made for VFR pilots and present all necessary information for VFR flights. Still, both charts have a very unique character as far as their cut and the way they present the geographical data are concerned.

Know-how: The turn back

Sadly, bad weather accidents happen over and over in General Aviation. Many of the pilots could still live, their aircraft were equipped with an instrumentation that would have allowed them to fly a 180 degree turn back on instruments and clear a bad weather situation – if they had learned to fly this maneuver in their training (or later). The current training guidelines for private pilots now include the course reversal maneuver on instruments. aerokurier author Karl-Heinz Apel describes the important points.

Accident analysis: Turning in the wrong direction

His decision to fly a turn back because the power of the engine was not enough to cross a passage ended in a fatal accident for the pilot of a Piper PA-28, who was under the influence of alcohol, and his two passengers. The VFR flight took off on 20 October from the airfield Locarno (Tessin) with destination Salzburg. The route took them into the Morobbia valley, located east of Locarno, an in direction of the San Jorio passage.

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ULTRALIGHT

Glider tow with ultralights: No problems during the evaluation

The flight evaluation program has been going on for two years. Now there are confident data about the tow flights with ultralight aircraft available. After evaluating more than 500 flights, it looks very promising that soon tow flights will be available for the price of winch launches.

FlyCom: Intelligent on-board computer

The FlyCom is currently a unique equipment on the market. The highlight of this digital monitoring system is its digitized voice. If engine or aircraft limits are exceeded, the FlyCom is literally giving the pilots an audio warning. We present the FlyCom in detail in the June issue.

Conneforde: Ultralight airfield for the short vacation

The ultralight airfield Wiefelstede/Conneforde could be a true tip for a short vacation with the ultralight. The airfield opened in 1999 (PPR) and has a 360 meter runway. It is located between Westerstede and Varel in northern Germany.
     Right next to the airfield is the holiday park Connefornia which, along with a lake for swimming and fishing, offers a variety of activities from archery to surfing and sailing. On 19 August, the airfield operator is hosting a big fly-in.
      Ultralight airfield Wiefelstede/Conneforde, Coordinates: 531927 N, 080418 E, Runway: 350 m grass, Radio: Conneforde Start on 120,975 MHz, Fuel: Premium unleaded, Landing fee: 4 DM, PPR phone: 04458/9182-13, Fax: -15.

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GLIDING

Has the LBA interpreted or manipulated?

The accusation is highly explosive. Have the German aviation authorities LBA dramatized (manipulated) statistics to support its plans to forbid tow flights with the bottom coupling?
      Effective 20 April, the LBA has published the Notam NfL II-38/00 which regulates the mandatory use of a front coupling for gliders that are towed by other aircraft. With this, the ban of tow flights with a bottom coupling is effective and a transition phase has started.
      The LBA reasoned the new regulation with a study about the accident prevention and controllability in glider tow which has been done at the German Aerospace Research Center DLR. When briefing the German Aero Club (DAeC) on the results of the study on December 15, 1999, the LBA confronted the DAeC representatives with numbers which, however, the study does not actually reveal. The LBA’s numbers dramatize the accident analysis. The DAeC representatives were impressed by the numbers and agreed to the LBA’s plan of banning tow flights with the bottom coupling.
     So far, the LBA has not commented on the accusation of having convinced the DAeC with wrong numbers. Should the LBA reason its action with an own interpretation of statistics, it is planned to litigate against the NfL II-38/00.

New Nimbus 4M: Silent and powerful

This was the missing engine for the top aircraft from Schempp-Hirth: With the 60-hp Solo, the Nimbus 4M is finally getting the power for a self-start which matches its gliding performance. While being powerful, the engine is working silently and environmentally friendly.
      The Solo engine gives the Nimbus 4M the necessary power reserves for take-off since the 4M with its 26,4 meter wingspan is not a lightweight. Including instrumentation and batteries, the aircraft has an empty weight of 580 kg, which is already beyond the maximum certifiable mass of 15-meter aircraft, plus the weight of the pilot. The minimum wing load, which is decisive for the turning and gliding performance, is now at 40 kg/m² which is a reasonable value for aircraft of this high aspect ratio (38,8).

SZD "Foka": First flight 40 years ago

Forty years ago one of the most beautiful and most famous Polish built gliders flew for the first time: the Foka. The aircraft’s development history is exemplary for the end of the era of the wooden gliders.
      The Foka debuted at the World Gliding Championships 1960 in Cologne at the Butzweilerhof where the aircraft attracted much attention both, because of its elegance and of its performance. Its best glide number with a wing span of 15 meters is 34. During the WGC 1965 in South Cerney in England, this aircraft succeeded in a coup which is probably unique in the history of gliding and will probably not happen again: Jan Wroblewski from Poland flew with a Standard Class Foka 4 in the Open Class competition and became world champion! This report illustrates the development history of this highlight of the wooden glider era.

Hockenheim competition 2000

For many competition pilots, the Hockenheim competition has become a fixed date as the starting point into the new season. This year, the event had been booked out for months in advance, approximately 40 interested pilots could not participate. For the first two days, Good Friday and Saturday, the weather was influenced by a weak high pressure area. A following bad weather area with a cold front resulted in two days with no flying. Only two more flying days were possible before a waving cold front stopped any more scorable flying. (Results)

Alarming decline of gliding

For the International Gliding Commission’s (IGC) assembly 2000, John Roake from New Zealand did an inventory of the worldwide situation of gliding. The shocking result: The number of members are decreasing worldwide.
     The worldwide statistics of the member situation is reason for sorrow. While not all of the Aero Clubs/national gliding associations participated in the survey (among others Italy, Finland and Poland are missing), this should not change the total picture. A view back illustrates that the number of members has shrunk in the past ten years by 12,2 percent. If the countries of the former Eastern Block are included, this number gets even worse (14,81 percent).
      And, the rate of declination is increasing. This cannot be ignored any longer. Various IGC member states (the Netherlands, New Zealand, USA) have tried to reverse the development with different measures, however with no real success.
         This issue holds an analysis of the situation. The following July issue will report on suggestions how the trend can be stopped and possibly be reversed.

Glider tow flights: The rope trick

Does it always have to be the front coupling? Engineer Rüdiger Kunz has his own opinion and also a suggestion which could replace the front coupling.
     With laying a rope sling around the glider’s nose section (drawings are inside the aerokurier) the point where the force of the tow rope acts can be relocated to the front. With a second rope, the sling leads to the bottom coupling. At the joint of the two ropes a sort of connector snap is attached into which the ring of the two rope is hooked. When the bottom coupling is released, the sling is being pulled of the front also.

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AEROKURIER COMPACT

Webguide

The offers in the Internet is not just growing, it’s exploding. We want to facilitate your search for information in the Internet with aerokurier compact and have looked at 1000 aerospace related websites. If you want to find aviation information in the Internet, this booklet will be your key to success, no matter if you are an Internet beginner or a WWW professional.

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