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aerokurier 9/1998
Are you prepared for the year 2000? Two letters and one number are worrying software programmers worldwide: Y2K. It is the shortform for the year 2000 problem, the change of the years that will take place 16 months from now. On January 1, 2000, old personal computers, to be exact all electronic equipment with old microchips, will set their internal clock back by 100 years to January 1, 1900. The German Air Navigation Services (DFS), which has been working on the problem since 1996, is expecting total costs of up to DM40 million to solve the bug. According to a DFS letter, the organization is putting the highest priority on the problem. However, the avionics in aircraft is affected also. If you have the slightest doubt in your mind that your avionics (or your private PC) will be able to cope with the year 2000, you are well advised to get a letter from the equipment manufacturer confirming that there will be no problems. APM-20 Lionceau At the airfield Issoire Le Broc south of Clermont-Ferrand, where once Wassmer aircraft were built, a VLA aircraft is currently waiting for its JAA certification. The two-seater, designated APM-20 Lionceau, was developed by Philippe Moniot. Before he developed his own business, he was working as an engineer for Wassmer. The Lionceau’s structure is made solely out of composites. A Rotax 912 with 80 hp is the standard engine option. The aircraft has no wingtanks but a central fuselage tank with different capacities. The cabin offers lots of space. The Piaggio P.149 style canopy allows a good all-around visibility. The APM-20’s performance and handling characteristics are proved to be satisfactory. The aircraft invites for longer travels, something that is not a standard with Very Light Aircraft. The APM-20 will supposedly list around DM210000, such being at the price level of the DA20 Katana. Still, there are no aircraft being built yet. Philippe Moniot is waiting for the certification first. Then, he plans a low-number series production. The reason for his mindful business behavior: Minot has paid for the entire development costs himself so far. Reason enough to be really careful about the future steps. RSA meeting 1998: Lots of news Whomever was looking for news, was not disappointed at the 51st meeting of the French experimental aircraft association RSA in Epinal-Mirecourt. More than 850 aircraft from many European countries had found there way to the meeting, among them many new aircraft from the very active French kit scene. This year’s eye catcher was the Caudron JN760-C1.01 "Cyclone" from Claude Noan. It is the replica of a light fighter aircraft in the original scale. The aircraft is powered by a Renault/Snecma twelve-cylinder with 650 hp. Konfederate Klassiks modifies aircraft wrecks The last flight ends in the movie theater. What sounds like the title of B-class catastrophy movie out of the eighties, is in reality a very interesting story about decorating an extraordinary movie theater. Record flight with a Lancair 320 to Mallorca In the record time of only four hours and nine minutes, Albert Zech and Johannes Helmerich flew nontstop from Manching to Mallorca with their Lancair 320 kit aircraft. Albert Zech is telling the story of this short trip to the Mediterranean island. AirVenture 1998: Good Morning, Oshkosh There is no place like Oshkosh. For the 46th time, The Experimental Aircraft Association called for the annual meeting and again, almost one million aviation enthusiasts came to the show at the Wittman Regional Airport from 29 July to 4 August. But even if you did not make it there: Our report lets you witness the most spectacular airshow of the year. Tips for nightflyers You have done everything VFR? Only night flying is missing? We tell you the basics for this fascinating way of flying. Whomever plans to fly during the dark hours, needs a CVFR and a nightflight rating. We tell you how you can ease the challenge of nightflying in practice. This is not only interesting for the pure nightflyers but also for those pilots who are planning to fly in the 30 minutes after sunset or before sunrise. That is something that every VFR pilot is allowed to do. However, in these critical minutes, one runs often into night-time alike conditions. Progress to a turboprop rating Who is not impressed by turboprops? In this article, we are explaining the differences between a fixed design, in which the turbine shaft with all compressors has a fixed connection with the propeller via the gearbox, and the free spinning turbine. The presentation includes the engine start procedures, climb and descent procedures. Accident analysis Because of weather deterioration, the pilot of a DR 400, coming from Rügen, wanted to do a stopover landing at the airport Rostock/Laage. The field is protected by a controlzone and is a mixed military and civil aerodrome. Following the first contact, the DR 400 entered the controlzone without permission. Since there were German Air Force MiG-29s approaching the runway also, the controller asked the private pilot to leave the airspace immediately in order to avoid a collision. The radar controller took over the guidance of the private aircraft. However, the pilot followed the radar vectoring only partially, the course had to be corrected constantly. Only a little later, an eyewitness saw the aircraft flying a circle, disappearing in the clouds and coming out of them with a deep angle. The aircraft cut a power line and crashed into the ground. The pilot and the passenger were killed. aerokurier action: Landing for free The North Sea, the river Donau, and Germany’s best researched meteoroid crater: The September round of our action "Landing for free" is again attracting with interesting destinations. This time the free aerokurier landing tickets take you to Büsum, Nördlingen and Neuburg-Eweil. Pilot Report: Pretty Flight Developed in Germany, built in Romania: 18 months after the prototype’s first flight, the series production of the Pretty Flight has begun. Exclusively, aerokurier flew the first production aircraft after it arrived in Germany. The Pretty Flight convinced us in respect of its flight characteristics. However, the all-metal high-wing aircraft did not have an appealing finish. This will supposedly change with the next aircraft that are due for delivery. If it does, the Pretty Flight is a new and interesting product on the market. Tow-flight for the price of a winch launch? Following the motor gliders, ultralight aircraft are next in getting into the role of tow aircraft. Among others, there are currently tests going on involving a Rans S-7. So far, the aircraft which is fitted with a Tost coupling has proven its value in tow operations. However, the towed aircraft are currently limited to 350 kg MTOW. The technical potential of the ultralight tow aircraft is much higher. This article describes the advantage of towing gliders with an ultralight and also the limitations of such operations. World record: From Serres to Spittal and back Southern Alps traverse: Following the four 1000-kilometer flights, the spectacular 1420-kilometer flight and his return flight record over a distance of 1240 km, Klaus Ohlmann scored again. On 8 July, he accomplished a free return flight over a distance of 1306 kilometer in the 15-meter class. He accomplished this flight with a Ventus c from the airfield Serres La Batie Montsaléon at an almost historical date: Almost exactly two years ago, on July 9, 1996, he was able to complete a 1420-kilometer return flight from Serres, the basis of his gliding company Quo Vadis International, located in the French Sea Alps, to Klagenfurt, Germany. With his most recent flight, Klaus Ohlmann is setting a new record in the world record list of the 15-meter class free return-flight category. Stemme S10-VT: With turbo-power into series production The two-seater touring motorglider Stemme S10 is now available with turbo power. As S10-VT, the Stemme is powered by a Rotax 914. With the exception of the type designation, the new inner value of the aircraft is not discernible from the outside. Nevertheless, this aircraft has gone through a major change by switching from the Limbach to the Rotax engine. Of-course, the performance increase is very obvious as compared to the S10-V. With the maximum climb power of 115 hp, which is available for five minutes, the VT is climbing with more than 4 m/s. Even at maximum continuous power of 100 hp (5500 rpm), the aircraft still climbs at around 3,50 m/s. For take-off, the S10-VT needs a distance of 590 meters to overfly a 15-m obstacle (at take-off weight 850 kg). The cruise speed is listed at 222 km/h. European championships of the club class Frank Hahn from Amberg is the new European champion of the club class. After seven years of domination by Ralf Fischer, Hahn took over the title after five scoring flights during the 10th European championships in Jihlava, Czechia. Ralf Fischer did not compete to defend his title. (results) Hotzenwald competition Five flying days over the southern area of the Black Forest: This year, the pilots of the Hotzenwald competition were lucky with the weather. Competition director Karl Enggist set five scoring flights. A total of 22 pilots, five with two-seaters, two racing class aircraft and 15 pilots in the mixed club and standard class participated in the competition which was held in the first week of June (results). Plea for new evaluation rules Are the regulations of the German route gliding championships performance limiting? This is the question raised by multi-world record pilot Hans-Werner Grosse in his comment. He says, the fact that the pilots applying for a record are often putting routes on the application that are on the safe side. Often, one finds later on in-flight that much more would have been possible. How many long and exciting flights have we not accomplished, such not being able to tell our grandchildren about them, he asks. Hans-Werner pleas for new evaluation rules. Russian championships in Oriol The Russian gliding championships in Oriol, known from the European championships of the women, was held in the second half of June with German participation. Ralf Schubert and Kai Glatter from AC Pirna participated in Oriol. The venue of the competition is located approximately 300 kilometers south of Moscow and basically has everything that one can expect from a large gliding center. The Russian military financed airport includes a sport hotel with 60 rooms, several training rooms, a bar and a cafeteria. Furthermore, there are 30 gliders, mainly Jantar Std. 3, and ten tow aircraft stationed in Oriol. A total of 80 employees, from glider mechanics to medical personnel, are working at the center. What the airfield is missing are active glider pilots. There are only five of them in Oriol. Realizing that half of Russia’s 24 gliding centers does not have gliding operations currently due to a lack of financing, the situation in Oriol looks almost paradox. 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. With the TV chopper on the news hunt Direct transmissions from the helicopter are normal in the USA. Many TV stations are operating helicopters, which are often chartered for 60 to 120 hours per months. With them the news teams are constantly covering the major cities from the air, always looking for a chase, such as the one after O.J. Simpson, a fire catastrophy or a heavy traffic accident. We were on board "Chopper 8" in San Diego, California, and have also used the opportunity to look closer at the camera equipment of a Bell 407 during its first German demonstration flight. In Germany, electronic news gathering (ENG) is still not far developed. Helicopters of the new generation More silent, more efficient, and fuel saving. That’s what the helicopters of the newest generation have to offer. Bell Helicopter Textron, Boeing and Eurocopter are competing in the markets of the light single-engine and twin helicopters. Eurocopter is investing in improved Fenestrons and many new technical details made in Germany. Boeing convinces with the new NOTAR tail-rotor system, and Bell is looking for niches with offering proven and solid products. Kit helicopter The market of kit helicopters in Germany is growing. Slowly, but continuously. Several pilots displayed their work at the recent summer meeting of the German experimental aircraft association OUV. The Italian CH-7 Angel is one of the top models. In the market of the tow-seaters, the Rotorway Exec 90/162F is very popular. Whomever wants a more dynamic type, probably chooses the Mini 500, a replica of the agile Boeing MD 500. The kit is supposed to be available soon in a two-seat version called Voyager 500. The single-seater costs approximately 60000 DM. Market survey The market survey of the Helicopter Special’98 includes 83 companies from Germany, Austria and Switzerland which are operating helicopters or are engaged in the development, maintenance and overhaul of rotary aircraft. Also, the list shows which operators conduct helicopter pilot training or offer ratings and check flights. |
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Last updated August 26, 1998