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aerokurier 6/1997
40 years of aerokurier – building the future together In his editorial, aerokurier editor in-chief Volker K. Thomalla did not focus on a review of the past 40 years but, he takes a look into the future where quite a few challenges are waiting for General Aviation and airsport. These challenges can be met, however. The development of environment-friendly engines, the availability of airfields and airspace, along with the enthusiasm of young people for aviation are the three main problem areas for GA’s future. Visions are needed to deal with these problems, decisions are needed already today. The chances look good. In 20 years, today’s noise problem should not be a technical one any more. The problem "availability of airfields" must be seen in that light also. There should be no fights against a flying community which one can’t hear. Current avionics developments, such as the GPS technology, will allow a more optimized utilization of the airspace. The future remains exiting. aerokurier will continue to accompany General Aviation in its entire scale. Competent, extensive, and up-to-date. Sun ’n Fun Lots of sunshine, heat, and aircraft. Everything with fun inclusive. Whomever wants to experience this in April, must go to Sun ’n Fun in Lakeland, Florida. While the flying season has not even really started yet in our part of the world, aviation enthusiasts from all over the world are assembling at one of the largest flying celebrations in America’s sun state. The aerokurier was among the approximately 700000 guests who came to Lakeland this year. Read our exclusive report on this fantastic fly-in. PILOT REPORT New in Europe: Kit aircraft Jabiru ST While the all-composite two-seater Jabiru ST is already flying in large numbers in Australia, it is still a rarity in Europe. This will change. Two aircraft are flying in Great Britain and a further two are under construction. The first kit will supposedly arrive in Germany soon and will be registered as an experimental aircraft. According to the manufacturer Jabiru Aircraft, all verifications for VLA certification have been achieved. The company expects the certification for this category at the end of this year. The special thing about the Jabiru is its engine which, here in Germany, has been as unknown as the aircraft itself so far. The main parts of the 80 hp (at 3300 rpm) four-cylinder opposed engine are made by Jabiru Aircraft. The engine is more than 20 kilograms lighter than the comparable Rotax 912 and, depending on the exchange rate, is up to 6000 Marks cheaper. Euro-license: What will change Beginning in July 1999, the new European regulatory work FAR-FCL will be applicable. It concerns all pilots since it regulates how to get or extend a pilot’s license in the future. There are some significant changes to today’s rules. The first part of the series tells you the new regulations for PPL/VFR pilots. Junkers W-33L "Bremen" is back to Bremen A piece of aviation history has returned to Bremen, even though only on loan. The Junkers W-33L "Bremen", with which in April of 1928 the crew, von Hünefeld/Köhl/Fitzmaurice, had mastered the Atlantic from East to West for the first time, is now undergoing a restoration in the Hanse town. The restored "Bremen" will be presented on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Atlantic crossing. List of faults without black stars The most recent list of faults at German airports, drawn up and presented by the German Airline Pilot’s Association (Vereinigung Cockpit), does not show any black stars any more (critical unsatisfactory). Bremen airport was the only German airport that got an orange star (unsatisfactory) because of the still missing taxiway. Since the passenger volume and the jet operations at the regional airports are growing rapidly, the annual report covered these airports for the first time. According to the VC report, all of these airports satisfy the minimum ICAO requirements. Still, seven of the regional airports don’t match the higher standards which are demanded by the IFALPA (International Federation of Air Line Pilots Association): Five received an orange star and Mannheim and Kassel were graded with a red star (very unsatisfactory). ANNIVERSARY Big anniversary fly-in at Paderborn/Lippstadt In June, aerokurier will be celebrating its 40th anniversary. Celebrate with us. We are inviting anyone interested for an anniversary fly-in on June 21 at the airport Paderborn/Lippstadt. No matter if you fly in with a motor aircraft, ultralight, touring glider or helicopter: Everybody is welcome. Lots of surprises and prizes are waiting for you – what exactly, you can read in the June issue. Coming to Paderborn will be worth it. Select and win in our anniversary contest Select the best from 81 different aircraft of their category and best handheld GPS. We are giving away prizes worth DM20000 in total. The first prize will be an aerokurier trip to Oshkosh. You can also win free flights with Condor, a valuable Fortis chronograph or a handheld GPS. Lots of news in the light aircraft and ultralight classes Diamond Aircraft used this year’s AERO as the frame for the presentation of its new four-seater DA 40. The prototype of the all-composite aircraft with fixed gear is supposed to take off for its first flight in June. The DA 40 follows the design of the two-seat DA 20. This is intended, resulting in lower development costs and facilitates the pilot’s conversion from the two-seater to the four-seater. The DA 40 will supposedly be IFR certified. As for the engine, the customers will have a choice between the Rotax 914, Conti IO-240 and Lycoming IO-360. The first DA 40 (current base price 199000 Mark plus VAT) is scheduled for delivery at the end of 1998. The new Cessna 172 gave its official European debut in Friedrichshafen. The company flew the demonstrator over the Atlantic especially for the AERO. It was the first opportunity for pilots in part of the world to get their own impression from the updated features of the C172R Skyhawk. The first customer aircraft will reportedly arrive in Germany in September of this year. The very-light aircraft category is picking up speed. Names to remember are: P96 Golf, MCR 01, Wega, Eurostar. The interesting thing is that the majority of these aircraft will be available as VLA and in an ultralight version, opening up new possibilities to the customer. The P96 Golf from Tecnam in Naples, Italy, has accumulated approximately 30 flight hours. 70 percent of the low-wing aircraft’s parts come from the successful P92. The P96 will be offered in the UL version first and in approximately another year, the aircraft will be VLA certified as well. The MCR 01 will also be available as VLA and as an ultralight. The two-seater is the result of a cooperation between the French Michel Colomban and Christophe Robin. The MCR 01 is based on the MC 100 for which only plans are available. The Wega reminds one on the kit-aircraft Pulsar and will supposedly be available as VLA also. The aircraft is developed and manufactured by HK Aircraft Technology in Oberpfaffenhofen. The Eurostar EV-97, a nice looking low-wing aircraft from Ikarusflug, is based on the French Pottier P.220. Again, this is also one of the aircraft which will be certified in both aircraft categories. The product scale in ultralight aircraft was bigger than at the AEROs before. The show had never seen so many official debuts. More than 30 ultralight aircraft manufacturers and importers showed their aircraft. Almost every one of them had something new. B & F came with three aircraft, the FK 12 Comet, the FK 11 and the FK 9 Mark 3. Remos presented its just completed G-3 Mirage. The composite two-seater, which is currently in the certification phase, has the potential to become a competitive product in the ultralight market because of its high manufacturing quality and its good performance. Among the many new aircraft presented by Czechian companies was the Swing, a brand new composite high-wing which will supposedly be certified in Germany in the next few months. The Italian ultralight Sky Arrow 450 T, a pusher in tandem configuration, had just received its certification before the show. Based on the good customer contacts which were made during the AERO, many of the ultralight exhibitors are now optimistic about the after-show business. Some aircraft were sold and some options were already signed during the show. AOPA action Runways must be extended for commercial use Several airfields must extend their runways beginning in 1999 because of a new European regulation if they are still to be legally used for commercial air traffic. Still, these extensions plans are a thorn in the side for some of the state governments. Crosswind landings Crosswind is a major factor in landing accidents. We tell you what to do to land safely if the wind doesn’t exactly blow down the runway. A little airspace refresher The airspace structure of the ICAO states was pretty much standardized in 1993. We illustrate the use of the airspace below FL 100. Stalls, spins, and the learned reflexes Not every reflex is helpful in flying. Some of the learned reflexes are even dangerous in some situations. Author Rod Machado, who has become famous in the USA with flight safety seminars, thinks the best way get a grip on stall or spin accidents is to train reflexes which are adapted to the situation. Landing without fees Several hundred aerokurier readers have already used the opportunity to expand their landing practice by participating in our action "landing without fees". In the June issue you will find again coupons for four charge-free landings, this time for Wyk auf Föhr, Schönhagen, Höxter-Holzminden and Aalen-Elchingen. "Landing without fees" is highly acknowledged by the airfields. This action for more safety would not be possible without the support of these airports. The following airports have already participated in the action: Aalen-Elchingen, Anklam, Bad Dürkheim, Barth, Böhlen, Cottbus-Neuhausen, Höxter-Holzminden, Kamenz, Meinerzhagen, Mosbach-Lohrbach, Rechlin-Lärz, Schönhagen, Wyk auf Föhr, and Zweibrücken. Ferry flight to Dubai Ferry pilot Andreas Offermann set off to ferry a Cessna 206 from Münster/Osnabrück to Dubai on the Persian Gulf. He and his copilot wanted to accomplish the route in five days. Courageously they had chosen a route with two refueling stops in Iran. A missing permission number forced them into a break in Eastern Turkey. Only after several phone calls and faxes could the flight be continued through the endless range of Iran. Short news from the
AERO: More than a dozen ultralight aircraft were presented by manufacturers from Czechia and Slovakia. Highlights included the composite UFM Lambada from Libchvy based manufacturer Urban and the all-metal low-wing KP 2U Sova by Kappa. The Lambada, which impresses by its perfect finishing, is powered by a modified BMW motorcycle engine with 50 hp. The Sova is available either with a fixed gear or with a retractable gear and supposedly reaches a speed of 240 km/h in horizontal flight. Electronic instruments from TL Ultralight The Czechian ultralight manufacturer TL-Ultralight, who builds the TL 232 Condor Plus, among other aircraft, is now offering its own line of electronic instruments for engine monitoring. Radial engine without camshaft A technical daring feat was presented at the AERO by Vladimir Yakuschenko. The Ukrainian has developed a radial engine which works without the usual camshaft. New rescue systems certified The Grabenstetten based Glasfaser-Flugzeugservice Hansjörg Streifeneder surprised everyone with two newly certified rescue systems. The Russian made K 500 and KS 500 are certified for loads up to 500 kilogram and speeds up to 160 km/h and 250 km/h respectively. Comet: New star in the ultralight sky B & F head Peter Funk has realized a new aircraft which many pilots will dream of. We are presenting the new FK 12 Comet, a biplane which is truly modern. We were able to take a closer look at the fascinating two-seater just shortly after its first flight. We think that the FK 12 is less an object for fans of nostalgic aircraft but has all attributes of a modern ultralight, offering a good performance. Furthermore, it is extremely agile and surprises with excellent details. And, each FK 12 pilot gets a free and good dosage of the fascination of a sporty biplane. DAeC world championship team looking ahead "Our goal is to win", says Robby Schröder straight out when asked about his ambitions for the world championships. He continues, saying that while the French team will be a strong competitor in the gliding world championships from June 29 to July 13, 1997, in St. Auban in the French Alps, they will not be unbeatable. Eight pilots are on the German team for the 25th gliding world championships. Not all of them are speculating for a medal rank. Still, they have more ambitions than to just participate. The often announced wish to come in within the first ten ranks does not exclude the dream of winning one of the top positions. We are presenting the pilots and their preparation tactics. Motor gliders and gliders at the AERO The Albatros from Hansjörg Streifeneder (extensive description in aerokurier 5/97) was the undisputed highlight of the gliding section of the AERO ’97. Streifeneder presented the technology bench impressively underneath the colourful chute of the rescue system. The presentation of the established manufacturers looked rather colourless as compared to the project of the standard class aircraft Albatros from Glasfaser-Flugzeugservice which was the only real innovation in this branch of the AERO. The Polish products were in the focus of hall 3, the main glider exhibition area. The world class aircraft PW-5, which had just received German type certification, the racing class SZD-56-1, which has meanwhile received the Polish certification, as well as, the Akro derivative of the Standard Jantar, the SZD-59, were in the center of attention. The company HPH from Czechia revived an old construction: the Glasflügel 304B. The first aircraft of the now called 304 CZ with winglets was presented. Wuppertal based Gomolzig is offering a mini-series of five aircraft of the metal two-seater (side by side) Caproni Calif A 21 S. The aircraft’s performance is comparable to the Janus, it features a retractable dual landing gear, and it will be offered for a very good price of DM160000 including a high-grade instrumentation (route computer Peschges VP7). The demonstrator is being offered for DM140000. Glider board computers at the AERO ’97 The AERO in Friedrichshafen held lots of news in the instrumentation of glider aircraft. The newcomers on the market offered their products for prices which were underbidding everything before. Here is only one example: Garrecht Computersysteme presented the Volkslogger for a total price of only 1499 Marks. However, the company showed only the prototype with not yet fully developed software. More about this topic can be read in the issue. Distance flying fever in Germany Was this the day of the year? April 21 generated a flood of super-routes in Germany, including the largest FAI triangle in Europe (1124 kilometers) flown by Klaus Wedekind in an ASH 25M. The weather situation was on its way on a Sunday already, with clear signs for every committed glider pilot about what could be possible on the following Monday, April 21. Klaus Wedekind is explaining the flight himself. Uli Schwenk and Wilfried Großinsky were in the air on triangle routes over 1000 km on that day also. PPL-B is enough for touring glider tow For towing gliders or self-sustaining gliders with motor gliders, the pilot in the tow motor glider only needs a PPL-B with tow rating! This has been announced by the German Ministry of Transport (BMV), following the protest against a recently published regulation (NfL II 5/97) which required a PPL-A. BMV announced in mid-May that a revision of the particular NfL II 5/97 is in preparation. With this regulation an important demand of the gliding community is fulfilled. Tow flights with motor gliders can now be conducted by pilots which probably have the most flight experience and training on these aircraft, without being forced to acquire the tow rating through a PPL-A and a motor aircraft tow rating. Meteorology seminar of the OSTIV There has been significant progress in the area of the weather advisory service for gliding. The increased use of computers opens new possibilities. However, in order to use them to the optimum, the meteorological training of both, the weather advisory service and the users, must be aligned to the new tools. The recent meeting of the meteorological section of the OSTIV (International Scientific-Technological Organization for Gliding) in Oberpfaffenhofen focused on the areas "meteorological training for weather advisors and glider pilots", "gliding weather report", "competition weather service", "meteorological evaluation of GPS data", and "global gliding possibilities". The contributions and discussions, especially concerning the first three of the above topics, illustrated how a spatially and chronologically detailed gliding weather forecast could look like in the future. The real performance of the modern standard class/Part II How efficient are the modern standard-class gliders really? For this article, aerokurier did not rely on the data given by the manufacturers or assessments which are influenced by the pride of owners. A very good understanding based on objective data can be gained through speed and glide number graphs which have been worked out by Idaflieg and the German Aerospace Research Institute (DLR). The second part of the article series "The real performance of the modern standard-class aircraft" presents the Idaflieg/DLR graphs for the LS7, LS7 with winglets, the preproduction LS8 and the SZD-55. The performance evaluations are complemented by the flight characteristics programs (Zacher protocols) which were made up in the frame of the Idaflieg summer meetings. OSTIV sailplane development panel This is a unique constellation in aviation: government-independent experts have a major influence on the international safety requirements for gliders. Here, the gliding sport has kept the unique chance not to be tied by administration which is often operating far away from the real practice. The organization is called Sailplane Deveplopment Panel of the OSTIV (International Technological-Scientific Organisation for Gliding). The OSTIV’s sailplane development panel joins at least once a year for a meeting. The 1996 meeting was hosted by the Finnish Aero-Club and by the Helsinki University of Technology. The event turned out to be a little anniversary: 35 years ago, the first meeting of the working group had taken place at the same location. Reason enough to take a closer look at the history of this important organization. |
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Copyright 1997 by Motor-Presse Stuttgart. All rights reserved.
Last updated June 2, 1997
