aerokurier 2/2001
Editiorial The vagaries of exchange rates / Feature The red pizza barons / Pilot Report OMF-100-160 Symphony /  Magazine Raytheon Premier I certification put back again, In the cockpit with Herbert Gaidies, Aircraft report: the Aeroprakt A-26 Vulcan, All-digital control systems for piston engines, Avionics news: state-of-the-art technology for all, Aircraft report: the last of the sportsmen / Helicopter MD Helicopters to double production, R44: Californian best-seller /  Readers' Choice 2001 Take part and you could be a winner! / Travel Elk hunting in Sweden / Flying The fascination of paragliding / Practice Safety: instrument failure, Flat batteries?, Tips of the day for FliteStar and FliteMap, Accident analysis: flying into a mountain on the approach / Ultralight Ultralights may at last be allowed on the North Sea islands, Pioneer 300: an Italian diva, Two-stroke diesel engine from Greifswald / Gliding The German distance gliding championships, V 1/2: a glider from out of a kit, Tachometer for the distance flyer, Pre-world championships in Mafikeng, South Africa, Flying to one’s heart’s content in St. Auban, Hans Wegerich: Father of the Lommatzsch Libelle

EDITORIAL

The vagaries of exchange rates

All around the world aircraft are bought and sold in dollars, and not just when "the big names" are involved. Anyone who uses the exchange rate to his advantage can save so much money that his aircraft operating costs will be paid for for several months. On the other hand anyone who has the bad luck to buy at the wrong time will come unstuck. Aircraft dealers cannot take on the risk of the roller-coaster ride of exchange rates. When the dollar was at its peak, aircraft manufacturers from Euroland had a competitive advantage as their aircraft prices remained stable irrespective of the exchange rate. But now that the dollar is falling this competitive advantage is being eroded too. A strong dollar is a curse for European customers, while for American buyers of second-hand aircraft it is a blessing. Seldom before have they purchased so much aircraft for so few dollars in Europe. The state of the second-hand market in Europe – swept clean – is a testimony to the US purchasers’ skill at taking full advantage of the weakness of the euro.

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FEATURE

The red pizza barons

Kurt Anderson and George Moore have a dream job. They see themselves as modern barnstormers in the tradition of those pilots who captivated the American provincial public in the 1920s, flying First World War biplanes that were now surplus to requirements. Like those pilots, Anderson and Moore give performances all around the country in their Boeing Stearman, though their sponsor is a pizza manufacturer for whom the biplane has become the most important advertising medium. Take the plunge with us into the world of the two advertising pilots who spend a good nine months of the year flying guests around and giving air shows every day.

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PILOT REPORT

OMF-100-160 Symphony

The idea for the two-seater comes from the New World. It was so much improved by Ostmecklenburgische Flugzeugbau GmbH (OMF) in Neubrandenburg that it needed JAR-23 certification. The harmoniously designed high-wing monoplane is based on the successful experimental GlaStar SH-4 plane. Around 90% of the GlaStar components have undergone modification.
     In the February edition of aerokurier you can read our impressions of flying the first prototype (D-EMVP).

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MAGAZINE

Raytheon Premier I certification put back again

Raytheon’s orderbook stands at around 300 orders, four aircraft are undergoing flight trials, 98% of flight testing has been completed, and the production aircraft up to number 34 are on the production line. It all sounds good, but only at first sight. For Raytheon itself would have liked to be a lot further down the road with the programme. Two complications prevented the Premiere I from achieving FAA certification as planned at the end of last year. This is now scheduled for the end of the first quarter of 2001.

In the cockpit with Herbert Gaidies

For as long as he can remember Herbert Gaidies has been flying or building models. Today he is 76 years old, yet he still clocks up 700 flying hours a year as a Fokker 27 captain! A portrait.

Aircraft report: the Aeroprakt A-26 Vulcan

The A-26 Vulcan, a superlight twin-engined two-seater, is built by Aeroprakt of Kiev. The man behind development of the pusher is the Russian aircraft designer Yuri Yakolev.
    In the standard version the plane is powered by two 52hp Rotax 503 engines. Maximum cruise speed at 6000 rpm is 129-137km/h. Fuel consumption is 23l/h.

All-digital control systems for piston engines

All-digital engine control systems are standard in jets, and they are also found in cars. Only piston-engined aircraft have held out against the new technology up to now, but with FADEC they too can finally move into the 21st century.

Avionics news: state-of-the-art technology for all

The avionics market dazzles with new ideas and products. Integration of many functions into a single device is one trend, "optimal situational awareness" another. Advanced technology is turning into public property.

Aircraft report: the last of the sportsmen

Exactly 22 of the Sportavia-Pützer RS-180 were built. The four-seater low-wing travel plane from the Eifel has unusual qualities.

MD Helicopters to double production

When Boeing hived off its civilian helicopter activities in January 1999, the future of MD-series helicopters looked uncertain. Since then the picture has changed completely. MD Helicopters is taking off. The helicopter manufacturer has undergone a complete re-organisation under the leadership of Henk Schaeken. aerokurier’s interview with Henk Schaeken in Mesa appears unabridged in the 2/2001 issue.

R44: Californian best-seller

After numerous ups and downs, the four-seater Robinson R44 is today the biggest selling helicopter in the world. aerokurier visited the new Robinson company premises in Torrance, California, where eight R44s and three R22s are currently built every week – a record in the helicopter industry. In an interview, chief designer and company president Frank Robinson (70) confessed to being a devotee of diesel engines, which he could fully imagine as the powerplant for his R44.

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READERS' CHOICE 2001

Take part and you could be a winner!

Flying is not just an education, but it creates bonds between people, countries and continents. Possessing one’s own aircraft or chartering one is the key to travel experiences of a special kind. No other means of travel allows one to be transported quite so rapidly from one place to another. Who knows this better than aerokurier readers?
     In our Readers’ Choice "Destination 2001" we would like to know which destination you yourself would like to fly to or in which regions you enjoyed some particularly good flying experiences. All you have to do is find your top destinations in the lists provided, fill in the reply card and send it back to us. Don’t forget to give your own details, since, by way of thankyou, everyone who responds will be eligible for a great prize draw. (Summary and registration card will be found in aerokurier 2/01).

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TRAVEL

Elk hunting in Sweden

The three ultralight crews from Bremgarten had really planned to fly right up to Lapland. But the only briefly favourable weather conditions in Sweden meant they had to follow a different route. This turned into a real flying adventure combining great hospitality with fascinating landscapes: from Lübeck over to Denmark and Landskrona, then across to the east coast, over Stockholm and Mellansel to high up in the Arctic Circle; through central Sweden and over the Vättern Lake to the west coast and then back towards the south.

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FLYING

The fascination of paragliding

The very idea is fascinating, flying as naturally as one might only imagine, completely without restrictions. Who would imagine this from gazing at the colourful parachutes? The thought of this has enticed 30,000 people in Germany alone to take part.
    No complicated technique, no stress – paragliding doesn’t cost a huge amount of money. There are no transport problems, no time-consuming preparations, as are required for other types of aerosports. "What could be more wonderful," asks Fritz Kurz in his "Invitation to come flying" in the book "Paragliding", "than after climbing to the peak of a mountain, taking out a bundle of material from one’s rucksack, and simply floating away, while those on foot follow you enviously with their eyes?". No other aerosport, in his view, comes as close to that centuries-old dream of humanity’s to be able to fly under one’s own power.

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PRACTICE

Safety: instrument failure

What to do when one’s primary instruments cease to work properly during a flight or even pack up altogether, is the subject of Karl-Heinz Apel’s extensive contribution to PRACTICE this month.
     Apel, author of the book "Motorflug Praxis" ("Powered flight in practice") and an airline pilot by profession, gives advice on how to land safely without an air speed indicator, and describes the effects of a pitot tube blockage on air speed indicator accuracy while ascending, descending or in level flight, and what to do if the altimeter suddenly begins to hang or jerks around unnaturally during climb or descent.

Flat batteries?

If your battery won’t start up in the cold season, you won’t find a ground power unit on every airfield. But for flying schools and frequent flyers there is a solution in the form of a battery case.

Tips of the day for FliteStar and FliteMap

For years computer flight planning programs have been helping pilots to reduce considerably the amount of time spent on pre-flight planning. But the more functionality the software offers, the more complicated it becomes to use. We offer you advice on how to use the Jeppesen FliteStar.

Accident analysis: flying into a mountain on the approach

The Beech 300 had approached Donaueschingen airfield several times that day in IFR conditions as part of an exercise aimed at surveying the new NDB-DME approach on runway 36.
    Why the pilots initiated their descent in the clouds some way short of the point marked on their approach chart, even though there was a 3,000ft high ridge in front of them which still needed to be overflown, no one will ever know. About eight miles short of the airfield, the Beech crashed into the mountain and was dashed to pieces All four crew and passengers on board were killed.

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ULTRALIGHT

Ultralights may at last be allowed on the North Sea islands

In the summer season the German islands in the North Sea are popular destinations. Only ultralights have been forbidden from visiting the off-shore isles. This is now set to change.
     Stadtwerke Borkum GmbH is leading the way in getting the island airfields opened up. Borkum allowed its name to go on an application submitted on 21 November to extend use of the island airfield to ultralight aircraft. Following Borkum’s request, the responsible regional administration of Weser-Ems in Oldenburg should receive further requests for other island airfields such as Norderney, Baltrum and possibly even Wangerooge. Wyk on Föhr, off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein, will evidently start accepting visits from ultralight pilots as well.
    It seems there is a pretty good chance that, after previous refusals, the responsible authorities will now give the green light to ultralight operations on the islands. In this month’s aerokurier you can read all about the latest developments.

Pioneer 300: an Italian diva

The Pioneer 300 looks like a small two-seater from the Italian top designer Stelio Frati. But in fact the ultralight comes from a different stable. It inherited its good aerodynamic properties.
   We tried out the new ultralight from Italy before it had even been certified. The fast low-wing aircraft, which is fitted as standard with a retractable undercarriage, had few weaknesses. Its great strength is its outstanding handling. The Pioneer 300 behaves like a true diva, but without making trouble. In the February edition of aerokurier you can learn what this new two-seater has to offer.

Two-stroke diesel engine from Greifswald

At the Technologiezentrum Vorpommern, Greifswald Peter Rong is developing a new two-stroke diesel engine. The prototype is running. But to get it ready for mass production he needs investors. Then it will be possible to take full advantage of the performance potential that is waiting to be released from this new engine.

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GLIDING

The German distance gliding championships

The German distance gliding championships are the biggest German gliding competition. Almost 3,000 pilots took part last year. Ten of them succeeded in making their way to the platform to receive their prizes. How they managed it they describe themselves.
    As far as the weather was concerned the 2000 distance flying season in Germany left much to be desired. But even so, the winning scores were still in the region of 4000 points, i.e. on average three FAI triangles of around 700 to 800km were flown. As the winners confirm, there was an element of luck at play: they were in Spain or, to be more precise, in Fuentemilanos on the old Castilian plateau, approx. 80 km to the north of Madrid, at exactly the right time.
    There at the beginning of August for a few days the distance flying conditions were outstanding even by Spanish standards (aerokurier 11/2000). Two winners, Karin Wiesenthal (women) and Joachim Krais (standard class) succeeded in flying the first 1,000km flights. In the two-seater class, Gerd Spiegelberg and Uwe Hannes completed a 901km triangle – a requirement for the Barron Hilton Cup 2000/2001 that is combined with the German distance gliding championships. Their score will now be difficult to outdo. Seven of the ten winners in the individual scores completed the critical flights in Spain, but by no means all.

V 1/2: a glider from out of a kit

The V 1/2 from Vittorio Pajno is to be available in kit form for amateur aircraft constructors. Since last year the fibre composite design has been undergoing flight testing. For designer Vittorio Pajno the V 1/2 is the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. The engineer, a veteran of the Turin academic flying group – had witnessed the birth of the M-100 to M-300 of Professors A. and P. Morelli in his student days in the pre-composite age. His dream, the design of a modern glider for club use that could be assembled by amateurs from a kit, dates from that time. At the end of the 1980s Pajno gained the opportunity to realise his ambition.

aerokurier Online Contest is now to score flights on triangular courses

The aerokurier Online Context 2001 is becoming more challenging. Anyone who flies a triangular course will get more points. The new rules.

Rescue systems: development raises hopes

No sooner has the memory of a fatal accident faded than the calls for glider rescue systems, which are only too vociferous in the immediate aftermath to the tragedy, go quiet. But in fact there is currently a lot of work going on in a number of places to develop glider rescue systems. An overview.

On the way to accurate prophecies

At the end of November 16 meteorologists, all active glider pilots and experts in the specialist area of gliding meteorology, met in Ohmenheim near Aalen for an inspiring exchange of ideas.
    The primary objective of this working group of the Organisation Scientifique et Technique du Vol à Voile (OSTIV) is to achieve an internationally standardised form of producing forecasts for gliding. It makes sense for the glider who spends his flying holiday abroad to be able to get weather information in the same familiar form as in his home country. Preferably a graphical product which he can access over the Internet. This would have the simultaneous advantage of an interactive dialogue.

Tachometer for the distance flyer

The instrument is not (yet) available, but when it comes it will make life a lot easier. The talk is of the flying speed tachometer which gives the pilot immediate feedback on current flying speed. He could then tell very easily where he was losing or gaining time.
     There are devices which can calculate flying speed over long distances or periods of time, but as yet there is no device that is capable of continuously displaying instantaneous flying speed to the pilot, for example on a tachometer. The article describes the theoretical basis of an instantaneous flying speed tachometer and gives examples.

Pre-world championships in Mafikeng, South Africa

The countdown to the world gliding championships 2001 began at the end of last year in Mafikeng, South Africa. Between 17 and 31 December dress rehearsals for the world championships 2001 were held at the international airport approximately 200km to the north-west of Johannesburg, with a strong international contingent.

South Africa, Flying to one’s heart’s content in St. Auban

Gliding to St. Auban, and without it costing a lot of money? Thanks to the support of the German-French Jugendwerk this was possible once again last year.

Hans Wegerich: Father of the Lommatzsch Libelle

Hans Wegerich’s name is closely linked to the successful glider builders in Lommatzsch where in the post-war era a number of outstanding performance gliders were built. As we now know, Hans Wegerich died in the summer (on 17 July) at the age of 88 in Dresden. He was born on 12 December 1912 in Ohrdruf. An obituary.

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