Box Canyon Hazards

Beyond mountains, airspace restrictions & tall buildings can also define tight spots.

By Michael Vivion

The visibility isn’t the best going up the mountain pass. On the far side lies better weather and home. Behind are a tent, camp, cold and wet weather, and insufficient gas to go elsewhere. The pilot continues deeper into the pass, hoping conditions will improve. The ceiling is steady, but the terrain is rising. They’re headed south, and winds are westerly at 20 knots, with gusts. The pilot hugs the right side of the pass for traffic.

Suddenly, clouds obscure the rising terrain, and it’s obvious he isn’t going to make it through the pass. It’s time to turn around, but the opposite canyon wall looks awfully close. The aircraft’s vertical fin is already in the clouds, and the surrounding terrain is much higher—climbing isn’t an option. Neither is a descent. From cruise configuration, the pilot initiates a hard left turn, banking 45 degrees in an imitation of a check ride aced years ago. Unfortunately, the aircraft has just turned into a tailwind.

Two days later, searchers find the remains of the aircraft near the top of the pass. The wreckage pattern leads downhill, on a northerly heading. The NTSB accident database is littered with stories of pilots who failed to turn around in the space available to them.

Years ago, I was introduced to the de Havilland Beaver by Jack Corey. I remember most of the information conveyed to me during the checkout, but two topics stand out. The first is a flight regime that has destroyed many de Havilland aircraft: operation in the region of reverse command, or flying on the back side of the power curve. The other lesson, repeated until it was second nature, involved turning the Beaver around in a tight spot. With Corey growling at me from the right seat, I turned again and again in airspace I would have thought only a helicopter could work in. Years later, the lessons learned that day likely saved my life and the life of my passenger.

It’s important to be aware that not all box canyons are found in the mountains. High-rise buildings and metropolitan areas may rise above a VFR flight corridor, such as in New York City’s East River. Airspace restrictions may also create a virtual box as well—in those cases, I’d rather maneuver safely and risk facing an entire team of FAA lawyers.

The weather doesn’t have to be bad for things to go awry—many incidents occur on sight-seeing flights in VFR conditions. Either way, know any canyon very well before venturing into it. You can fly above the canyon to discern whether there are any new obstructions, such as wires or towers that you’re unfamiliar with.

No matter what the scenario or aircraft, there are several key factors that will help you turn around in minimum airspace.

Before The Turn
First and foremost, slow down before you get into a tight spot. Because airspeed and bank angle dictate the radius of a turn, slower speeds and/or steeper bank angles will result in a tighter turn. Many pilots wait until they’re actually starting the turn to slow down—that’s too late. What speed should you target? I use 1.3 Vso initially. Practicing turns with slight variations in speed helps find the best speed for your airplane. Don’t forget that stall speed varies with weight, and adjust accordingly.

Configure the airplane for the turn before you initiate the turn. This will vary from aircraft to aircraft, but look for the configuration that offers the best tradeoff between lift and drag. Most airplanes will warrant a flap setting at about half deflection, but some aircraft turn tighter with full flaps, so practice at altitude until you find the best configuration for your aircraft.

Wind direction is the most important consideration in determining which side of the canyon to hug while proceeding up canyon. If you’re flying south with a westerly wind, as described in the scenario above, starting the turn from the east side of the canyon provides a headwind as you turn across the canyon. If there’s a lot of wind, there may be downdrafts on the west side of the canyon. But remember, the radius of the turn is a function of speed over the ground. If you cross the canyon with a tailwind, your best effort may not be good enough.

Practice the procedure for minimum radius turns repeatedly at altitude so that the maneuver becomes second nature. When you’re looking at sheer rock walls through the windshield, you need to have confidence and competence in your technique. A GPS will help evaluate your turn radius during practice.

Everything described to this point must be done before you initiate that lifesaving turn. Slow down, configure, move to the wall that offers the best starting point, and practice. Preparation is the key to success.

During The Turn
Let’s revisit our scenario: Clouds immediately above—can’t go up. Rocks below—can’t go down. What’s the best strategy to get turned around?

Pose this question to a dozen pilots, and you’ll hear as many answers. Some advocate a chandelle—a climbing turn at the conclusion of which you should be within a couple knots of stall speed. In our scenario, we can’t climb and we don’t want to be so close to stall speed in the mountains and turbulence.

Others suggest a diving turn. But we’ve continued to descend as we’ve gotten deeper into this deal—to the point where we can no longer descend. Furthermore, a descent suggests more speed, and speed equates to a larger turn radius.

The technique I use has worked in the light aircraft I’ve flown, including that harridan of canyon turns—the Beaver.

Here’s the technique, as I’d perform it in a Cessna 172:

Slow down and configure the airplane before you get to the tight spot: 70 mph and flaps set to 20 degrees. Depending on the operating weight, 70 knots is a little over 1.3 Vso.

When the airplane is trimmed, roll smoothly into a steep, coordinated turn. This doesn’t have to be a maximum-rate roll—steady and smooth works here.

As you pass 30 degrees of bank, apply full power, and up-elevator to initiate the turn. Continue the roll to 50 degrees of bank. With practice, you’ll find a pitch attitude (generally a little higher than cruise attitude) that will maintain altitude. The idea here is to turn with minimum radius, while holding altitude. Keep pulling hard as the airplane turns, and at the 180-degree point perform a smooth rollout and power reduction.

The airplane should come around as if on rails. If it buffets a little in the turn, back off the pull just a tad. With full power, the airplane will tolerate a lot before it stalls. Practice at altitude to perfect the technique and to determine how much pull it takes. And remember, in actual practice, this is a last-ditch lifesaving maneuver. Done well, the airplane will finish at the same altitude that you entered the turn. Practice the maneuver until you nail the altitude every time.

All aircraft—from basic trainers to taildraggers to high-performance models—can get into trouble with box canyons. With each aircraft, the flap setting and target airspeed may be different, but the basic technique is the same.

So, remember, practice turning around till you have the technique down pat. Should you anticipate a tight spot ahead, slow the airplane down and configure it for a turn. Most times, you’ll get through the pass just fine. Flying slow with flaps will take a little longer, but should the space close in on you, reduced airspeed and bank will get you out of there in one piece.

Virtual Box Canyons

Mountain walls aren’t required to form a box canyon, as was evidenced by the October 2006 accident involving New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle and his flight instructor, Tyler Stanger. Sightseeing over New York’s East River, the two pilots flew within a narrow VFR corridor, surrounded by LaGuardia Airport’s Class B airspace. These limitations defined an invisible, but potentially hazardous, box canyon.

Within confined areas, it’s always preferable to make any necessary turns into the wind. At the time of Lidle and Stanger’s flight, winds were recorded at 095 degrees at 13 knots. As reported by the NTSB, radar data showed their aircraft entering a 180-degree turn to the west—downwind—to avoid bravo airspace. The easterly tailwind would have reduced the airspace available for turning by 400 feet. Prior to the turn, the aircraft had been positioned approximately mid-river, and as such couldn’t take advantage of the entire width of the corridor, further reducing maneuvering space.

NTSB reports suggest that if the aircraft hadn’t banked steeply at 53 degrees upon commencing the turn, even greater bank angles would have been required throughout the turn, making a stall a possibility. All of these factors may have contributed to the aircraft’s crash into a Manhattan high-rise building.

Radar tracks of the aircraft’s path over New York’s East River can be viewed at http://ntsb.gov/Pressrel/2006/ N929CD_final_turn_3radars.pdf.

From The Editor - Light-Sport Aircraft Aren’t Just For Sport Pilots

By Steven D. Werner

With the growth of the light-sport market, flying a new plane is more affordable than ever. There are approximately 40 ready-to-fly LSAs in this rapidly expanding segment of general aviation, and author Dan Ramsey gives us the low-down on 10 of the most popular sport aircraft, all available for under $100K.

In future issues, look for increased coverage of this exciting market, with more in-depth LSA pilot reports. This month, Senior Editor Bill Cox flies the Remos G-3, a German plane that has seen success in Europe and South America and was recently introduced to the U.S. market. The aircraft, composed primarily of carbon fiber, has easy and forgiving handling qualities, plus unique folding wings that allow for more storage and transportation options.

Although the Mooney Bravo has been replaced by the Acclaim, it’s still one of the quickest and most comfortable single-engine piston airplanes, as it has been for the last 15 years. Bill Cox flies one with a Garmin G1000 glass panel and is impressed with the whole package.
If you’ve been true to Budd Davisson’s New Year’s resolutions [January 2007], this is the month to get a new endorsement, rating or flight experience. Andover Flight Academy in rural New Jersey trains students in a 180 hp CubCrafters Top Cub. Not only will you earn a tailwheel endorsement, but you’ll improve your stick and rudder skills to become a better all-around pilot.

Should the winter weather have you stuck inside wanting an aviation fix, we’ve compiled our picks for 50 great aviation Websites (from flight planning to air shows to photography), as well as handheld gadgets (from GPS units to transceivers to weather software). And while you’re waiting for springtime, dig out your insurance policy and make sure you know what’s what. Insurance expert Jim Lauerman walks us through the fine print.

Contact Plane & Pilot at editor@planeandpilotmag.com.

Remos G-3Teutonic LSA

This german sportplane is as strong as it gets.

By Bill Cox, Photography By David Gustafson

The Germans have never had a monopoly on quality, but there’s little question that American drivers have long regarded German cars as some of the best in the world. Mercedes, Porsche, BMW and Audi all have reputations as high-quality, high-performance machines.

While German lightplanes have benefited from the same uncompromising quality control, they’ve been notably less successful in the U.S. and world markets. The delightfully handling Extra 300 series has made its mark as an excellent aerobatic machine, but other German-produced aircraft have found tough sledding on this side of the pond. Ruschmeyer was a fun retractable that never caught on the first time around in the 1990s, then was revived a few years ago as the Solaris, which still hasn’t caught the pilot public’s fancy.

The Remos G-3 is an airplane from Germany that could change all that. The G-3 represents the dream of German designer Lorenz Kreitmayr, a
lifelong aviation fanatic who was determined to do things his way.

His way turned out to be the light-sport aircraft market. In many respects, the Remos is one of the most exotic LSAs available. Kreitmayr initiated design efforts in 1993, and the prototype first flew in 1997. Following a recent infusion of capital by software entrepreneur Eberhard Faerber, the factory in Pasewalk, Germany (an hour’s drive from Berlin), is currently turning out about one airplane every two weeks, and many of those G-3s are finding their way to the vital U.S. market.

I flew a G-3 with Doc Williams of Corona, Calif. Williams purchased his Remos through Remos USA, (888) 838-9879, in Fullerton, Calif., the West Coast distributor for the line. At first sight, the Remos promises a different experience, and it delivers exactly that. It’s an attractive little airplane, and one can easily see that good quality control and intelligent design were foremost in the Remos’ conception. As partial acknowledgement of Kreitmayr’s efforts, the G-3 was voted “Aircraft of the Year” at the AERO Show in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in 2000.

The G-3 is constructed primarily of carbon fiber, a nearly ideal material for airplanes, a third lighter than fiberglass, yet twice as strong. Fabric-covering is also used on portions of the Remos’ wing.

The G-3 is an economical design with a pod-shaped cabin up front, trailed by a waspish empennage and conventional low tail with a small ventral fin. Kreitmayr’s philosophy was to produce the most efficient design possible, minimizing wetted area and equivalent flat-plate area, consistent with the mission of carrying two folks in comfort. The gear legs are smoothly faired into the wheel-pants, and the overall impression is one of clean, efficient aerodynamics.

Power is provided by an Austrian Rotax 912 ULS, a 100 hp mill at 5,800 rpm with a gear reduction of 2.43:1. Now that Rotax has dropped its V6 program, this is effectively the largest engine the company produces. TBO is listed at 1,500 hours.

Entry to the cabin is through a pair of fold-up doors, à la DeLorean. The front office is wide and comfortable, nearly 47 inches across, easily capable of accommodating two big men. The panel is straightforward and simple, with a surprising variety of avionics options available. Garmin, Becker and Bendix/King avionics are on the list, even a Dynon seven-inch EFIS display. VFR is the rule on LSAs, but utilizing the panel-mounted Garmin 496 and 330 Mode S transponder, you can select TIS uplink traffic, XM Satellite Weather and terrain if you’re so inclined.

Once you’re settled inside, the cowl slopes slightly downhill to provide a good view forward. The view to the sides through the combination doors/windows is also excellent. There are even mini-side windows on each side of the aft cabin, more stylish than functional.

Pitch and roll control are via a conventional stick with a coolie-hat electric trim for both elevator and ailerons. The nosewheel is steerable, and flaps are electric with 40 degrees of deflection available. In combination with a high-aspect-ratio wing, flaps help produce a stall speed of only 39 knots, allowing approaches as slow as 50 knots. As you might expect, such a slow stall doesn’t demand much runway—less than 600 feet for both takeoff and landing.

A relatively large wing (131 square feet), 100 hp out front and the LSA legal limit of only 1,320 pounds to lift translates into good climb, 1,300 fpm according to specs. Even if that’s a little optimistic, the airplane can easily manage 1,000 fpm, putting it well ahead of most other LSAs.

According to Remos, the typical unequipped empty weight comes in at 625 pounds. Add even 75 pounds for options, and you’ll still be left with a useful load better than 600 pounds. Subtract 21 gallons of fuel, and you have about 480 pounds remaining for people and stuff, a more than reasonable allowance and better than some certified two-seaters.

Handling qualities are appropriately benign. Stalls are practically nonexistent with no tendency to fall off on a wing, provided the ball is somewhere near the center. The airplane simply sets up a hobbyhorse bobbing as it settles toward the ground. Roll rate isn’t exactly lightning quick, but it’s fast enough to make the airplane responsive without being quirky.

In cruise mode, the Remos turns in about 110 knots in keeping with Remos’ company motto, “The Sky Is Your Freeway.” (Notice use of the term “freeway” rather than “autobahn.” Years ago, I was delivering a new Piper Archer to Munich, and cars were passing me on the autobahn below.) Perhaps the best news is that you can pull back the little Rotax to sip fuel at 3.0 gph, providing up to six hours of endurance plus reserve. Remember, this is a European airplane, and they’ve been paying the equivalent of $5 to $6 per gallon for fuel over there for decades. The Rotax is even approved for high-test auto fuel if avgas is in short supply.

Another concession to economy on the Remos is folding wings. The wing-fold mechanism allows rotating and swinging the wings back alongside the fuselage, so you can trailer the airplane home to store it in your garage. Alternately, you can fit three G-3s in a standard T-hangar at the airport.

Base price on the Remos is $89,500. A reasonably equipped airplane would sell for about $110,000. In keeping with its international lineage, the Remos is distributed in Germany, Austria, Brazil, Denmark, France, Switzerland and Turkey.

What’s left unspoken is the fact that the Remos is plain fun to fly, easy to maneuver, simple to operate. If you’re into LSAs, by all means, check out the Remos G-3. You may be surprised at how much airplane you can buy for a little more than $100,000.

2006 MOONEY M20M BRAVO

SPECIFICATIONS
Average price: $478,000

Engine make/model: Lycoming

TIO-540-AF1B

TBO (hrs.): 2000

Horsepower@altitude: 270@SL to 20,000 ft.

Fuel type: 100/100LL

Propeller type: McCauley 3-blade CS
Landing gear type: Tri./Retr.

Gross weight (lbs.): 3368

Landing weight (lbs.): 3200

Empty weight, std. (lbs.): 2355

Useful load, std. (lbs.): 1013

Useful fuel, std. (gals.): 102

Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.): 401

Wingspan: 36 ft. 1 in.

Overall length: 26 ft. 9 in.

Height: 8 ft. 4 in.

Wing area (sq. ft.): 175

Wing loading (lbs./sq.ft.): 19.3

Power loading (lbs./hp): 12.5

Seating capacity: 4

Cabin doors: 1

Cabin width (in.): 43.5

PERFORMANCE

CRUISE SPEED, 75% power (kts.): 214

MAX RANGE (nm): 1150

FUEL CONSUMPTION, 75% power (gph): 17.6

Vso (kts.): 59

Best rate of climb, SL (fpm): 1130

Takeoff ground roll (ft.): 1080

Takeoff over 50-ft. obstacle (ft.): 2050

Landing ground roll (ft.): 1200

Landing over 50 ft. obstacle (ft.): 2600

Great Handheld Gadgets!

Glass-cockpit functionality in a carry-on package

By John D. Ruley

Most airplanes in the general aviation fleet were built more than 20 years ago and have old-fashioned “steam gauge” panels that induce glass-cockpit envy among pilots who get a peek at the latest flight decks from such companies as Avidyne, Chelton and Garmin. Fortunately, there’s an amazingly simple cure: A wide range of carry-on gadgets are available that provide glass-cockpit functions in a handheld package. In this issue, we briefly cover more than a dozen products that span the gamut, from simple digital E6B computers to full-function portable multi-function displays!

Sporty’s SP-200 NAV/COM Transceiver
Alternators fail and batteries won’t keep your radio stack operating for long. Sporty’s SP-200 provides a vital backup when that happens: it’s a complete VHF NAV/COM (including ILS localizer functionality) that weighs just over one pound and fits nicely into your flight bag or a seat-back pocket. Features include a “last frequency” recall button, 8.33 KHz channel spacing, 2,280 COMM channels, 200 NAV channels, OBS functionality, duplex functionality (transmit on COM and listen on NAV) and five-watt output power. It runs on eight AA batteries; accessories include a rechargeable battery pack, headset adapter and belt clip.
Suggested price is $279.00.
Contact: www.sportys.com, (800) 776-7897.

ARINC eFlyBook
There’s an old Air Force saying that no airplane leaves the ground until the weight of the paper equals the weight of the pilot—and those of us who’ve flown long cross-country IFR know it’s sometimes true. ARINC’s eFlyBook promises to change that: It’s a 13.7-ounce electronic document viewer with an 8.1-inch “electronic paper” display that allows pilots to store and view FAA en route charts, terminal procedures, approach and departure procedures and airport diagrams. On-screen annotation is available using eFlyBook’s built-in stylus, and it’s easy to keep your charts up to date with updates delivered on CD-ROM. Suggested price is $1,499.
Contact: www.eflybook.com, (888) 406-7388.

NavAero tPad 800
Laptop or notebook PCs are great flight-planning platforms, but any pilot who’s tried to do so in the cockpit can tell you that they’re not ideal for use in such environs. NavAero’s tPad800 solves this problem: It’s a display device that straps to your leg and connects by cable to your laptop, which can go under your seat. The tPad 800 offers a stunning 8.4-inch display with brightness that can be adjusted for use in bright sunlight or the darkest night; a touch screen allows you to select menu items, press on-screen buttons or even input text (using an on-screen keyboard, one letter at a time).
Suggested price is $1,895; doesn’t include notebook PC or software.
Contact: www.navaero.com, (866) 628-2376.

Advanced Data Research
FG-1000 EFB
Advanced Data Research offers the FG-1000 Electronic Flight Bag (EFB): A Fujitsu P1500 tablet PC that runs Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition software. The computer offers an 8.9-inch daylight-visible display with touch-screen input, convertible form factor with built-in keyboard, 1.2 GHz Pentium-M processor, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB hard disk and built-in wireless connectivity. It’s compatible with most flight-planning, moving-map and weather-avoidance software that runs on Microsoft Windows.
Prices start at $2,295.
Contact: www.adrsoft.com, (248) 299-5300.

Nielsen-Kellerman Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker
Nielsen-Kellerman’s Kestrel 4000 Pocket Weather Tracker is a great backup tool to use at smaller airports that don’t have their own weather reporting. In addition to wind speed, barometric pressure, temperature, altitude and dew point, it also calculates wind chill, relative humidity, heat-stress index and density altitude. Up to 2,000 measurements are stored in the Kestrel 4000’s built-in memory, and may be charted on the unit’s built-in LCD display or uploaded to a PC. The unit is available in black, orange or olive drab.
Suggested price is $349.
Contact: www.nkhome.com, (610) 447-1555.

AvMap GeoPilot PLUS
AvMap’s GeoPilot PLUS is a compact GPS navigator that can be used in the air and (with optional terrestrial maps) for turn-by-turn navigation on the ground. It offers a wealth of pilot-friendly features, including a bright 5.6-inch color display, oversized control buttons and a unique thumbstick cursor control. The customizable display allows a map view with or without data fields to be used alone or in combination with a simulated HSI/RMI presentation. The unit comes preloaded with a Jeppesen North America database, which includes low-altitude Victor airways, and a terrain database that enables full TAWS functionality for complete situational awareness. Other features include flight planning, flight computer functions and a built-in speaker.
Suggested price is $999.
Contact: www.avmap.us, (800) 363-2627.

Vertex Standard VXA-710 Spirit Air Band Transceiver
More than the typical handheld backup for your voice radio, the Vertex VX-710 offers coverage of the entire VHF aircraft band including both NAV and COMM frequencies. It also receives FM broadcast band, U.S. broadband radio service (BRS)—with Continuous Tone-Coded Squelch System (CTCSS) and Digital-Coded Squelch (DCS) functionality—and NOAA weather radio transmissions. All this functionality comes in a rugged magnesium case designed to survive after 30 minutes submerged in three feet of water.
Suggested price is $550, but you should shop around for a better deal.
Contact: www.vertexstandard.com, (714) 827-7600.

Stenbock & Everson ChartCase Pro
Pilots of older airplanes with “steam gauge” panels can carry-on a complete portable glass cockpit with ChartCase Pro software from Stenbock & Everson. When used with a GPS and WxWorx satellite weather receiver, the software turns a tablet PC into a class-1 electronic flight bag (EFB), including in-cockpit weather (both NEXRAD and satellite) and digital charting (all U.S. sectional, WAC, low/high en route charts, approach plates and taxi diagrams). All charts are geo-referenced and provide full moving-map functionality. Suggested price is $395 for software only, and $2,500 for the complete system bundled with a Samsung Q1 Tablet PC, Bluetooth/WAAS-enabled GPS, WxWorx Weather Receivers and power devices. A subscription is required for chart revisions.
Contact: www.flightprep.com, (503) 678-4360.

RMS Technology Flitesoft Express
Pilots who carry Pocket PC devices based on the Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system will find many uses for Flitesoft Express—software that offers flight planning, weather, weight and balance, moving map and even an emergency attitude indicator function based on GPS input. It’s compatible with saved routes and pilot files from Flitesoft’s desktop flight-planning product and can also present XM Satellite Weather data. The $149 price tag is for software, and is only available to existing Flitesoft customers.
Contact: www.rmstek.com, (800) 533-3211.

Mercury Computer Systems VistaNav 2.0
Mercury Computer Systems calls their VistaNav “the first portable MFD with 3-D synthetic vision.” Hosted on a Motion Computing tablet PC, VistaNav software generates a synthetic 3-D view of terrain, “providing a cockpit-like view regardless of external conditions,” in addition to a conventional moving-map display. The software also provides flight-planning features and can display weather data (including NEXRAD imagery) from a satellite radio receiver.
Prices start at $4,299.
Contact: www.vistanav.com, (866) 627-1671.

Hilton Software LLC WingX 2.0
WingX 2.0 premier edition offers a range of features including weight and balance for hundreds of aircraft, NACO charts (including airport diagrams and approach procedures), route planning (including automatic optimization for best cruise altitude), weather (including NEXRAD radar and satellite imagery), access to airport/facility directory information and GPS-enabled E6B functionality. A SmartTaxi feature not only shows your location on an airport, but also indicates which runway you’re on and how much space is available ahead. Suggested price is $129.95.
Contact: www.hiltonsoftware.com, (866) 429-4649.

Production Software eFAD 1.31
Electronic Facilities & Airport Directory (eFAD) features airport and navaid information, runways, Land and Hold Short Operations, ILS, pilot-controlled lighting, control tower information and weather data (including METAR/TAF, winds aloft, pilot reports and NEXRAD radar graphics). Among other things, airport information includes FBOs, repair stations, parachute-jumping areas, FAA flight standards offices and flight service stations, NOTAMs, special-use airspace, airline service, NTSB reports, tail numbers, approach charts and diagrams, E6-B functions, an aviation dictionary, Federal Aviation Regulations, traffic statistics, location maps, en route radio stations and travel information (including transportation, lodging and restaurants). Suggested price is $79.99 for a one-year subscription.
Contact: www.pspda.com, (800) 818-1168.

ASA CX-2 Pathfinder Flight Computer
Why struggle with an old-fashioned analog E6B when you can have a bright digital display? ASA’s CX-2 offers standard E6B functions, such as true airspeed, groundspeed, Mach number, density altitude, fuel calculations, headings and courses, time/speed/distance calculations and wind, as well as weight and balance. It runs on four AAA batteries, and is accepted for use in FAA and Canadian aviation exams. Suggested price is $79.95.
Contact: www.asa2fly.com, (800) 272-2359.

ASA Flight Timer 2
While many pilots wear an oversized “pilot watch” with chronometer functions, a rough day in the soup is the wrong time to squint at your wrist, trying to figure out which button to push. ASA’s Flight Timer 2 is a dedicated pilot’s timer with a large backlit display, local and Zulu time, three simultaneous timers, digital notepad function for squawk codes and frequencies, up to 12 memorized approach times, audible and visible alarms, fuel timer and a 10th and 100th of a second stopwatch. The suggested price is $49.95.
Contact: www.asa2fly.com, (800) 272-2359.

Jeppesen NavSuite
Since the 1930s, airline pilots have relied on Jeppesen’s loose-leaf airway manual for en route and approach navigation. Today, Jeppesen’s navigational database is available in state-of-the-art software that combines flight-planning, electronic-charting and moving-map functionality. Based on Jeppesen’s worldwide database of terrain, navaids, special-use airspace, airports and other relevant data, NavSuite provides electronic access to VFR and IFR en route charts, approach plates, approach and departure procedures, airport diagrams and much more. It’s compatible with Windows-based PCs for use on the ground, and Windows-based Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) hardware in the air. Prices vary depending on coverage and are generally comparable to those of paper chart subscriptions.
Contact: www.jeppesen.com, (800) 621-5377.

King Schools Pocket PC E6B Software
King’s Pocket PC E6B Software turns Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system into a graphical E6B with some 40 flight-related features including graphical weight and balance, density altitude, speed, distance, Zulu time conversions and dual independent timers that operate in both countdown and elapsed-time modes.
Suggested price is $49.95.
Contact: www.kingschools.com, (800) 854-1001.

Garmin GPSMAP 496
Garmin calls their amazing GPSMAP 496 a “mini-MFD,” and it certainly offers a plethora of features more commonly seen on MFDs in modern glass-cockpit aircraft, including 12-channel GPS-WAAS navigation, moving map, terrain and a simulated control panel that provides emergency instrumentation. Other features include complete databases of navaids, airways, Garmin’s exclusive SafeTaxi feature for more than 650 U.S. airports and data from AOPA’s airport directory. The unit can display weather data from an optional XM Satellite Radio receiver—all in a package that weighs less than one pound.
Suggested price is $2,995.
Contact: www.garmin.com, (800) 800-1020.

Digital Cyclone Pilot My-Cast
Up-to-date weather is critical for every pilot, and with Pilot My-Cast, a customized aviation weather report is as close as your cellular phone. Features include animated color NEXRAD Doppler radar, METARs, TAFs, satellite loops, moving weather maps, TFRs, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, PIREPs, winds aloft and even lightning data. A subscription costs $12.95 per month plus a $9.95 setup fee or $129.95 per year.
Contact: www.my-cast.com, (866) 669-2278.

Earning A Tailwheel Endorsement

Andover Flight Academy’s stick and rudder training brings out the bush pilot in everyone.

Text & Photography By Jessica Ambats




It’s still an airplane,” insisted Damian DelGaizo, as I hesitantly leveled out over a grass strip much shorter than I was used to. “Don’t overthink it.” In the flare, I tried my best to pretend that the Top Cub’s main wheels weren’t actually there, per Damian’s coaching, but it’s not that easy to ignore 31-inch tundra tires. Easing the stick back, I focused on the tailwheel instead. After a dance between altitude, airspeed and imagination, we touched down on all three wheels. But before I could even exhale—“Rudder, rudder, rudder!” exclaimed my instructor. “Stay alive on the rudder.” Although we were earthbound, the landing was far from over. Small jabs—playful yet authoritative—on the rudder pedals kept our yellow beauty pointed in the same direction we were moving. Slowing down, small inputs became large ones, and we rolled to a stop on the bumpy grass.

One wouldn’t expect to go bush flying only 50 miles from New York City, yet with a bit of ingenuity Damian’s school, Andover Flight Academy, succeeds in creating challenging and realistic backcountry settings in rural New Jersey. With parallel grass and paved runways bordered by lakes on both ends, Aeroflex-Andover Airport (which is contained entirely within a state park) can be as challenging as you make it—and Damian does. The school’s training playground extends to nearby strips; one has a path cut out through trees at such an angle that you don’t even see the runway until short final, and all have the potential for wildlife crossings, including bears.

With more than 15,000 hours of mostly tailwheel time, Damian began the “college of taildragger knowledge” in 1987 as an extension of his love for bush flying. For more than 25 years, the tailwheel expert has taught the likes of actors Harrison Ford and James Brolin as well as pilots from Africa and Europe.

Even if you don’t own or ever plan to own a taildragger, the training is still beneficial. Lest you develop bad habits from flying nosewheel aircraft (which are more forgiving), Damian and his team of instructors have the fix. “Over the last 10 years, I’ve noticed a deterioration in stick and rudder skills,” he said. “Students often suffer from a lack of situational awareness, chasing gauges and losing sight of flying the airplane. We provide tailwheel endorsements, but the training encompasses basic airmanship, which is becoming a lost art.”

With most of my flight time in a glass-panel Cirrus SR22, I was anxious to learn what my transition would entail. I spent two intense days training with Damian to find out.

Our learning platform was a 2005 CubCrafters Top Cub, the newest addition to Andover Flight Academy’s fleet, which also includes a Piper J-3 (L-4) Cub and a 1943 Boeing Stearman PT-17. The modern-day Super Cub looks like its predecessor but has a stronger fuselage, a more powerful engine (180 hp Lycoming O-360) and an increased gross weight (2,300 pounds). Optional goodies include Garmin avionics and Bose headset connections, but as is typical of taildraggers, it’s not what’s inside that’s important—instead, the Top Cub is about flying and feeling.

“We’ve got the world’s biggest glass cockpit—it’s right outside the windshield,” joked Damian. “I’m not saying that gauges aren’t important, but flying solely by numbers is like paint-by-numbers. At the end of the day, you might have the Mona Lisa, but it ain’t quite the same.” A taildragger demands finesse of its pilot, who learns to feel the aircraft and fly by the “seat of their pants.”

The tandem two-seat aircraft cruises at 127 mph, and vortex generators (which come standard) reduce stall speed to just 48 mph. With takeoffs and landings easily accomplished in 300 to 350 feet, the short-field star makes the 1,981-foot runways at Andover seem to stretch forever.

Our plan was to fly two sessions per day, with plenty of ground school before, between and after. My pre-arrival homework had been to practice soft-field landings in a nosewheel aircraft to get a feel for the sight picture of a taildragger. I practiced in a Cessna 172 until I could do touch-and-goes without ever letting the nose touch down, but I constantly found myself peering over the front of the aircraft, rather than using my peripheral vision. This was disconcerting, as I knew I wouldn’t be able to “cheat” like this with Damian watching from behind.

Ground School

Although the flight school has a casual atmosphere—old jeans and baseball caps are de rigueur—Damian and his staff take training very seriously. In a wood-paneled office cluttered with countless aviation mementos, I sat on a worn-out floppy sofa while my tailwheel guru used a dry erase board and a wooden aircraft model—everything’s “old school” at Andover—during two hours of thorough ground school.

A discussion ensued about the main differences between nosewheel and tailwheel aircraft: ground handling, amount of backstick on landing and sight picture. The geometry and location of the center of gravity in relation to the main gear makes taildraggers less forgiving. Groundloops—to be avoided at all costs—are preceded by a swerve. And should a swerve occur, apply opposite rudder and brake, and follow with a “popping or pulsing” of the throttle while applying ailerons into the swerve. Easy, right? I sank into the sofa.

“A taildragger always wants to rotate into the wind,” explained Damian as I took copious notes, “therefore it’s crucial to use controls properly while taxiing and think ahead of the plane.” If it’s a quartering headwind, climb into the wind; a quartering tailwind, dive away. Because of the limited visibility on the ground, it’s often necessary to taxi using S-turns, but be aware that the tail can hit lights and other objects. When pivoting, use power then brake, but keep the tire spinning so as not to lock it. Avoid high rpm on the ground, which could send too much wind over the elevators.

“You can learn a lot about an airplane just by looking at it,” he continued. “If it has a small rudder and large elevator, don’t get the tail up too quickly.” During acceleration on takeoff, smaller rudder inputs are used, and while decelerating on landing, larger rudder inputs will be required. And apparently, it makes a difference whether you press the rudders using your thighs or ankles—not something I had ever considered. “Put your heels on the floor and flex your ankles,” he advised. “This way you can make faster and lighter inputs—a tap dance on the rudder.”

My task on takeoff would be to concentrate on the ever-important rudder, and not the stick. From a three-point attitude to a two-point attitude to rotation, I should be guided by the edges of the runway out of my peripheral vision.

Power settings and speeds for the pattern were straightforward: on downwind at 2,100 rpm, abeam the landing spot at 1,500 rpm, first notch of flaps at 70 mph, on base throw in the second notch of flaps at 65 to 70 mph, and on final maintain 60 to 65 mph.

I should begin to level off at 10 feet above the ground, and finish leveling off at six feet. That seemed awfully precise, but Damian explained how to manage it by taking control of the sight picture: “Change your sight picture before leveling off. Don’t let the airplane’s position change it for you.” When the runway was made, I was to look down to the end of the runway. And that’s all there was to it—at least on the dry erase board.

In The Air

At first glance the school’s Top Cub can appear intimidating. Sitting atop 31-inch Alaskan Bushwheels (which, Damian thoughtfully pointed out, would make my training more challenging due to the higher deck angle) attached to three-inch extended heavy-duty landing gear, it felt a bit like the aviation version of a monster truck.

The Top Cub is flown solo from the front seat, so my instructor climbed in the back. Right off the bat I had trouble with the heel brakes—it just didn’t feel natural. I was eager to fly, but Damian had more patience. We progressed from high-speed straight taxis to step-by-step (or “bite-by-bite”) taxis, moving from centerline to the right and left of the runway.

For the initial takeoff, I had to keep my hands in my lap and use only rudder. With each subsequent takeoff, we added a new step until I knew by feel when the tail should be raised. We practiced shallow and steep turns, as well as slow flight and stalls.

In the pattern, we worked on three-point landings with full flaps, 50% flaps and no flaps. After each landing, we paused to discuss my performance and the surroundings (“Look at those birds in a thermal on short final. They indicate unstable air, so be prepared.”) before taking off again. These mini-debriefs helped greatly.

During the second session of the day, the focus was on slips and engine outs. With each pattern, the voice in my headset sounded less often, and I flew without any coaching. We practiced crosswind landings and takeoffs with a “snake dance”: roll onto one wheel, then both, then the other wheel
and reverse.

The next morning found us back at the dry erase board. “Wheel landings are like landing a 172,” said Damian. “Use the same flare, but then gently push the nose forward to hold the wheels on the ground.” But as simple as it sounded, I flared too high and pushed the nose forward too abruptly. A few patterns later, it clicked, and after alternating between wheel landings and three-point landings, touch-and-goes and full-stops, Damian announced that I had successfully completed the course. His endorsement in my logbook represented a secret code to a formerly inaccessible world, and I felt, well, kind of cool.

You can learn a lot in one weekend, but not everything. It’s important to fly often and under different conditions to keep your skills sharp. Andover Flight Academy offers an Advanced Tailwheel/Bush Flying Course, focusing on extreme short- and soft-field techniques, and operating in confined areas. Transition training, biplane checkouts and aerobatics training are also provided in the Stearman.

As I headed back to California, I wondered if the tailwheel experience might somehow interfere with or contradict my training in the high-performance Cirrus. But what I found was that even though the Top Cub has completely different handling characteristics, lessons learned in a taildragger can be applied to any aircraft. Always keep coordinated, fly using sight pictures and most importantly, stay on top of the rudder.

10 New Planes Under $100K

The benefits of LIGHT-SPORT Aircraft extend beyond sport pilots to recreational and private pilots as well

By Dan Ramsey

Until recently, buying a new aircraft meant shelling out $200,000 or more—even if all you wanted to do was get into the air for some fun flying, either solo or with a passenger. Of course, you could opt for an older aircraft, but airworthiness directives and maintenance costs quickly boost the actual costs. Or you could build your own airplane for much less—provided you took a year off from work. Fortunately, the many new light-sport aircraft (LSA) coming to market offer you cost-effective options.

Since the sport-pilot/LSA rules went into effect in 2004, approximately 40 models have appeared! And they’re not just for folks with the new sport-pilot certificate. Private pilots can buy and fly them, too.

What’s an LSA? First off, an LSA isn’t a type-certificated aircraft like your Cirrus, Columbia, Cessna or Piper. In fact, so many new aircraft are available in the marketplace because the FAA changed the rules to allow aircraft manufacturers to agree on safe construction standards, called consensus standards. All LSAs are built to comply with standards established by the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM). Building an ASTM-compliant aircraft places most of the burden on the manufacturer, but it saves them the millions of dollars it would have cost to develop an FAA type-certificated aircraft. LSAs are safe aircraft, just not as expensive.


An LSA is defined as a single-engine (nonturbine) aircraft with fixed landing gear (amphibians can have retracting wheels) that’s designed to transport two occupants. Maximum gross weight (plane, pilot, passenger, fuel, luggage, lunch) is limited to 1,320 pounds. Maximum airspeed is 120 knots (about 138 mph) and maximum stall speed is 45 knots (about 51 mph). Among the new LSA models you’ll see everything from Cub-clones to composites. Some are modern versions of designs that have been proven in classic aircraft, while others are imports from Europe and Australia where lighter aircraft have been in the marketplace for more than a decade.

The really good thing about LSAs is that—if you’re willing to accept some of their limitations—you can purchase a brand-new, two-seat, fast-enough VFR aircraft for less than half of what you’d pay for a type-certificated four-seater. The 10 new best-selling LSAs shown here are all priced under $100,000 for a basic, ready-to-fly, VFR aircraft. And many of them are under $80,000—less than the price of a high-end SUV.

If you already have or are working toward your private-pilot certificate, an LSA is a great flying option. You don’t have to hold a sport-pilot certificate to fly LSAs. In fact, your private ticket will let you do more with an LSA than a sport pilot is legally allowed. Sport pilots can’t fly in controlled airspace without additional training and endorsements. They can’t fly above 10,000 feet MSL. They can fly VFR during the daytime, but not at night. And, for now, they can’t fly outside of the United States.

If none of these restrictions bother you, and you don’t yet have your pilot certificate, or the medical has expired (not been revoked), you could opt for the less-expensive but more-restrictive sport-pilot certificate. Why would you? Because it’s simpler and cheaper—just like LSAs.

There are about 40 ready-to-fly LSAs available in the marketplace, with more released monthly. The models presented here are the 10 most popular LSAs per the FAA Registry and the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA). Other great LSAs, such as the Remos G-3 and CubCrafter’s Sport Cub, are relatively new to the market and as such, didn’t make the list. Prices listed in this article are for basic models and will vary depending on equipment and, in some cases, monetary exchange rates. If you don’t find what you want here, check out the other 30 models, or consider one of the hundreds of experimental aircraft, ultralights and classic aircraft that qualify as LSA under the new rules.

You can even equip an LSA for IFR, and a private pilot with an instrument rating can fly it IFR. A private pilot can fly an equipped LSA at night, too. Just remember that the plane itself is limited to you and one passenger. If that works for you, go for it—and keep the change.

Whether you fly with a sport-pilot, recreation-pilot or private-pilot certificate, LSAs are more economical to buy, rent and operate than most other aircraft. If costs are important to your flying, consider an LSA for your next aircraft.

1. FLIGHT DESIGN CT (www.flightdesignusa.com)
Built in Germany by Flight Design GmbH, the CT models (CT2K and CTSW) are proven designs that have earned airworthiness certificates in the United States as LSAs. Built of formed composites (carbon fiber and Kevlar) and powered by a Rotax 912 ULS (four-stroke 100 hp) engine, the CTSW cruises at 120 knots with a range that’s more than 1,000 miles (at 90 knots). There are about 300 CTs flying worldwide. Basic VFR versions start at about $93,000 including a BRS parachute.

2. LEGEND CUB (www.legend.aero)
Constructed in Texas, the Legend Cub is based on the legendary Piper J-3 Cub of the 1930s that’s still popular with low-and-slow pilots. Cruise speed is 95 mph and stall speed is 38 mph. The engine is a Continental O-200 (100 hp) or a Jabiru (120 hp). Range is about 270 miles in this tandem-seating classic. Prices start at about $85,000 (depending on the engine) plus radios.
3. TL STINGSPORT (www.sting.aero)
Built in the Czech Republic and shipped to the United States for final assembly, the TL StingSport is an all-composite aircraft with a variety of options available. Even so, the StingSport stays under our $100K maximum price tag, unless you start loading on IFR and other non-LSA stuff. It’s available with Rotax 912 UL (80 hp) or 912 ULS (100 hp) engines.

4. FANTSASY AIR ALLEGRO (www.fantasyairusa.com)
The Allegro 2000 has a composite fuselage with metal wings. Power is from a Rotax 912 UL or ULS engine. The basic VFR, ready-to-fly model is priced under $60,000. Cruise speed with the 912 ULS engine is 112 mph. The Allegro is designed and built in the Czech Republic and shipped to North Carolina for finishing. Mostly done kits are also available. There are about 500 Allegros flying worldwide.

5. TECNAM SIERRA & BRAVO (www.tecnamaircraft.com)
From Italy comes the Tecnam aircraft: Sierra (low-wing) and Bravo (high-wing). Both are all-aluminum, powered by a Rotax 912 ULS (100 hp). The ready-to-fly VFR prices for each of these sisters begin at about $75,000.

6. EVEKTOR SPORTSTAR (www.evektoramerica.com)
Another European entry, the Evektor SportStar uses the standard 100 hp Rotax 912 ULS engine with a 1,500-hour TBO. The all-aluminum aircraft is bonded and riveted for strength. The price for a fly-it-home VFR SportStar begins at about $100,000.

7. ZODIACH 601 XL (www.newplane.com)
Designed by Chris Heintz, the Zodiac series was a popular experimental kit aircraft well before LSAs were approved. The CH 601 model and its variations are all-metal, two-seat, Continental-powered, low-wing aircraft. The kits are built by Aircraft Manufacturing and Development in Missouri, and the ready-to-fly craft is built by American Manufacturing and Development (AMD) in Georgia. Prices for the basic VFR version start at about $80,000. The IFR version is about
$15,000 more.

8. INDUS SKYSKOOTER & THORPEDO (www.indusav.com)
The SkySkooter and Thorpedo are the same plane (based on the proven Thorp T-211, at one time certified by the FAA) with different engines. The SkySkooter is the 85 hp version, and the Thorpedo has a 100 hp engine. SkySkooter is priced at about $80,000, and the Thorpedo is $5,000 more. Both are also available as experimental LSAs (E-LSAs), which are 90% complete with the new owner finishing it at the Dallas, Texas, factory at a savings of $7,000 each. On the other end, IFR versions add about $16,000 to each model.

9. RANS S-7LS (www.rans.com)
From Kansas comes the RANS S-7LS, based on a kit aircraft that has been around for more than two decades. Powered, as are many LSAs, by a Rotax 912 ULS (100 hp) engine, the S-7LS, also known as the Courier, features tandem seating and aluminum-frame, fabric-covered wings. Cruise speed is 118 mph. The RANS S-7LS is ready-to-fly starting at $80,000—or sold as a you-build-it kit for about half that price.

10. KAPPA KP-5 (www.kappaaircraft.com)
Designed and built by Jihlavan in the Czech Republic, the Kappa KP-5 is a popular all-metal aircraft with a useful load of 583 pounds. Powered by a Rotax 912 ULS 100 hp engine, the Kappa KP-5 has fowler flaps and trailing-link landing gear for short-field operations. A wider cockpit makes it easier for large pilots to fly. Maximum cruise speed is 138 mph. Ready-to-fly prices start at $94,000.

From The Editor - Never Ending Learning Process

By Steven D. Werner

Trainer planes come in all shapes and sizes, as do pilots. But all aviators seem to be dreamers. Fourteen-year-old Jonathan Strickland set a goal, worked hard and made his visions a reality. We traveled with Jonathan to Canada, where he soloed both a Cessna 152 and Robinson R22 on the same day, becoming the youngest person ever to do so!

Senior Editor Bill Cox reports on the Liberty XL-2, a two-seat trainer powered by a FADEC-controlled Continental IOF-240B. The roomy aircraft has a conventional stick, but brakes are controlled via a finger lever on the center console. For more advanced students, the Piper Seminole is a popular choice among entry-level multi-engine trainers. Students and instructors love the aircraft’s gentle handling
characteristics; schools love its easy maintainability.

Even if you already have every rating you’ve ever wanted, you can still train to keep your skills sharp. Budd Davisson walks us through the Practical Test Standards as he challenges pilots to perform checkrides on themselves. And if you’ve got the pre-checkride jitters, you’re not alone. We take our checkride in a Cirrus SR22 and realize that it’s normal to be nervous before meeting the FAA examiner.

Also in this issue, author John Ruley reviews Microsoft Flight Simulator X, which features aircraft from a J-3 Cub to an Extra 300 and a Boeing 747. With several airplanes, the Garmin G1000 glass cockpit is an option.

In continuing our increased coverage of light-sport aircraft, we bring you the Czech-built Skylark. The all-metal aircraft has a large cabin with a forward-sliding canopy and conventional stick.

Dova Skylark LSA

SPECIFICATIONS

Base price: $100,600

Engine make/model: Rotax 912S

TBO (hrs.): 1500

Horsepower@altitude: 100@SL

Fuel type: 100/100LL

Propeller type: Fixed Pitch

Landing gear type: Tri./Fixed

Max ramp weight (lbs): 1320

Gross weight (lbs.): 1320

Landing weight (lbs.): 1320

Empty weight, std. (lbs.): 653

Useful load, std. (lbs.): 667

Useful fuel, std. (gals.): 24

Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.): 523

Wingspan: 26 ft.

Overall length: 21 ft. 7 in.

Height: 7 ft. 5 in.

Wing area (sq. ft.): 101

Wing loading (lbs./sq.ft.): 13.1

Power loading (lbs./hp): 13.2

Seating capacity: 2

Cabin width (in.): 43


PERFORMANCE

CRUISE SPEED, 75% power (kts.): 117

FUEL CONSUMPTION, 75% power (gph): 4.0

MAX RANGE (nm):
75% power: 457
60% power: 543

Vso (kts.): 37
Service ceiling (ft.): 14,000
Best rate of climb (fpm.): 1200
Takeoff ground roll (ft.): 500
Landing ground roll (ft.): 530

Liberty XL-2: Trainer With A Difference

Cross-country comfort and performance enter the two-seat, flight-training class

By Bill Cox • Photography By Jessica Ambats

Two-seat general aviation airplanes have had a checkered career at best. For every Cessna 150/152 or Citabria that’s had a model run of 30 years, there have been a half-dozen other types that only lasted for three or five.

The short-termers may have been no less viable as trainers or fun two-seaters, but they nevertheless failed to survive. Fact is, two-seaters are generally a tough sell, even if statistics prove that most of us rarely use all four seats in our quartet airplanes. (It’s been 12 years since I’ve filled all the seats in my Mooney.)

Truth is, flying with two seats empty is an expensive habit that too many of us simply accept as normal. (“Yeah, but I can carry all the baggage I want, even 100 Swiss Army Knives, large bottles of shampoo and an oxygen bottle.”) Four-seaters are inherently more costly for a number of reasons. By definition, they’re larger airplanes, with more wetted area and usually greater equivalent flat-plate area, therefore more drag. Similarly, they weigh more than an equivalent two-seater, which means they need more power to preserve acceptable performance, which means increased fuel burn, which demands larger tanks, which adds more weight, which subtracts from payload, which often necessitates a larger wing to support the load, which means…you get the idea.

All these factors elevate hourly operating costs and make it impossible to produce a four-seater at anywhere near a two-seat price. The bottom line is that those of us who choose to fly four-place airplanes, with only two of those places occupied, pay for the extra two empty seats anyway—in spades.

In fact, we all know two seats would work just fine for the vast majority of general aviation missions. In some instances, even business travelers could utilize two-seaters. Years ago, the National Business Aircraft Association surveyed its members on how they use their airplanes and determined that the average stage length was less than 400 nm, typically carrying only 2.54 passengers.

Liberty Aerospace of Melbourne, Fla., hopes to capitalize on those numbers with an airplane that’s very different in several important respects. It brings to the two-seater market an uncommonly large cabin, along with near four-seat/fixed-gear performance and a level of fail-safe design that would be the envy of a NASA engineer.

First, the XL-2 isn’t a one-trick pony. True, it’s designed to carry only two folks, but those two aren’t confined to instructor and student. They can as easily be husband and wife on vacation, two buddies in search of the $50 breakfast or possibly two business associates making the rounds.

The Liberty XL-2 is loosely based on the Europa design born in the U.K. in 1992. In this case, “loosely based” is an exercise in understatement. Park the two aircraft side by side, and you’d note a myriad of differences. Despite the Europa’s acknowledged innovations, the Liberty design is light years ahead in virtually every area.

Ivan Shaw, an Airbus engineer, designed the Europa, and his concept was to produce a “light touring aircraft.” The Europa was Shaw’s experimental, Rotax-powered kitplane, essentially a motorglider that balanced on a single wheel with outrigger wheels to keep the wingtips from dragging on the ground. Some 1,000 kits were sold in 32 countries during the 1990s. The Europa was a revelation for the time and won a number of awards in Europe.

The Liberty was launched at the turn of the century and developed over the last half-dozen years in search of its FAA certificate. The Feds issued that authorization last spring, making the XL-2 the first two-seat piston aircraft certified in the United States since the Piper Tomahawk. (Before Diamond fans object, consider that the C1 was first certified in Austria, then, approved in America under reciprocal agreement.) The Liberty also has the distinction of being the first piston airplane fully approved for FADEC (full authority digital engine control) operation.

The XL-2’s structure is about as 21st century as Liberty could make it. Its fuselage is pre-preg carbon fiber, and the 4130 tube-steel frame absorbs loads from the engine, nosegear, main gear and wing attach points. The XL-2’s wing is also a little unusual. Designed by European aerospace engineer Don Dykins, who had a hand in choosing sections for the Concorde wing, the Liberty’s relatively small 112-square-foot airfoil provides a cruise of more like Mach .20 than Mach 2.0. (As partial compensation, the XL-2 burns only about 6 gph, compared to about 8,000 gph on the Concorde.)

The XL-2’s wing is a true natural laminar flow (NLF) airfoil, maintaining attached laminar flow far back on the chord. Dykins also fitted the XL-2 with multiple sets of vortex generators on the outer wing to help preserve aileron response at high angles of attack, providing better roll control when approaching, and actually in, the stall.

Motive force on the Liberty is a four-cylinder, Continental IOF-240B engine driving a fixed-pitch Sensenich prop. You’ll notice the letter “I” at the beginning of the model number, designating fuel injection. That’s an unusual technology for such a small engine. Fuel injection is a relatively expensive feature, normally applied only to engines of 160 hp or more. The overriding benefit of fuel injection is that it allows very precise fuel distribution between cylinders, and that translates directly to reduced fuel burn. Injection in place of carburetion was necessary to accommodate the Continental’s PowerLink FADEC system.

True to its promised “full authority,” FADEC operates through a computerized electronic ignition system. The FADEC scans all aspects of engine operation several times a second, evaluating temperature, air pressure, CHT, EGT, fuel and manifold pressure, the phase of the moon and your astrological sign; then, it automatically adjusts mag timing and mixture for all stages of flight, from takeoff and climb to cruise, descent and landing.

From the pilot’s perspective, FADEC is totally transparent. Once you start the engine, you merely push forward to go and pull back to stop. FADEC does the rest.

Engine health reads out through a Vision Microsystems VM1000 that serves as an EICAS—airline speak for Engine Instrument Crew Alerting System. The system reads power in percentages, and it automatically warns the pilots if any parameter approaches tolerance limits.

Climb into the cabin through the twin gull-wing doors, and you’ll find a space that’s surprisingly roomy for what we’ve come to expect from a two-place machine. Old-generation two-seaters, such as the Skipper, 152 and Tomahawk, made do with internal cross sections of 40 inches or less. In stark contrast, the Liberty offers a comparatively huge cabin that measures 48 inches at the elbows. Cabin height also is a generous 46 inches. Liberty claims the cabin can accommodate a pilot and passenger as tall as six feet, six inches. The idea was to offer more than just barely enough room. This is, after all, supposed to be a “sport touring” airplane rather than strictly a trainer, so you should be able to sit in it for longer than an hour without feeling claustrophobic.

Control and panel layout is reasonably conventional—a stick for roll and pitch and the usual pedals for yaw control. One interesting variation for ground control is finger brakes. The nosewheel is full-castering, but rather than mounting toe brakes for differential braking, the Liberty utilizes two small levers on the center console that work exactly like toe brakes except with the first two fingers of the pilots’ inboard hand. There’s nothing especially difficult about the system, but you can’t help wondering what was wrong with the more conventional toe brakes. The throttle is center-mounted, so it’s not a major trick to have your outboard hand on the stick and control both brakes and power with the inboard hand. Still…

With FADEC on the job, engine starts are nearly guaranteed the first time every time. Taxi is similarly simple, and the airplane is ready to fly nearly as soon as you are. Push power full forward for takeoff, and acceleration is better than you might have expected. That’s partially a simple function of power loading. The XL-2 sports 125 hp to lift only about 1,650 pounds; the Skipper, 152 and Tomahawk all employed 115 hp or less to do roughly the same job.

Accordingly, the XL-2 records the shortest takeoff distance in the class, 750 feet. Climb typically settles in at about 700 fpm, and the little wing keeps on keeping on to a service ceiling of 14,000 feet.

On the way uphill, you can’t help but notice the XL-2’s excellent visibility. The windshield is wide and tall, and side windows in the clamshell doors wrap well back past the pilot and copilot shoulders, opening up the view to the top and through at least the front 240 degrees. It’s not quite as open as a bubble canopy, but that’s probably just as well. The overhead and side post structure provides shade that’s sometimes missing with a sliding hatch.

Put together a small, slick, efficient, NLF wing, reasonable horsepower and a lightweight airplane, and you have the makings of a quick machine for the horsepower. Sure enough, the XL-2 offers cruise more appropriate to the four-seat Cessna Skyhawk and Piper Archer. The company suggests 132 knots with everything optimized, but even 125 knots would be excellent performance with only 125 hp under the bonnet.

With 28 usable gallons in the tanks and a burn of around 6 gph at max cruise, you could reasonably expect to linger aloft for 3.5 hours and cover nearly 450 nm in the process. For those strange people who enjoy flying slow, the XL-2 will reach out to more than 500 nm at 55%. This is more than enough for training purposes, VFR or IFR, and private owners should be pleased with the combination of economy and range.

Whatever the stage length, the XL-2 makes a comfortable conveyance—roomy, modestly quiet and well ventilated. Vibration is modest with the FADEC-controlled Continental out front, and the combination of reasonable speed, good visibility and high wing loading for a better ride in turbulence contribute to a pleasant in-flight experience.

At the opposite end of the trip, the Liberty’s wide track and low CG contribute to good manners during landing. Stall with the full 30 degrees of flaps deployed is only 43 knots, so approaches as slow as 55 knots present no great challenge. Landing ground roll is less than 850 feet, which is reassuring if you fly into a short strip.

Prospective buyers are sometimes a little apprehensive about dealing with a single-product, start-up company—there’s often a greater feeling of security buying from Piper/Cessna/Beech/Cirrus/etc.—but Liberty’s backing is about as solid as it can be. While the company doesn’t have unlimited funding, it’s backed by the Kuwait Finance House of Bahrain, which owns 75% of the assets. Such solid ownership suggests reasonable financial staying power.

Base price for the XL-2 is $159,000 before avionics and other options. Liberty has embraced Garmin International’s line of radios, with the top options being the GNS530 and Mode S 330 transponder, with the GNS430 and 327 transponder as less-expensive alternatives. Plan to spend about $180,000 for a reasonably equipped VFR airplane, $200,000 for a full-on IFR machine.

The recent AOPA Convention in Palm Springs, Calif., suggested a new optimism among general aviation pilots, and the Liberty XL-2 is ideally placed to benefit from the resurgence. It’s a trainer, it’s a cross-country traveler, it’s two planes in one.

Test Yourself

Let’s play the Practical Test Standards Game again

By Budd Davisson

There’s a wonderful line in a Toby Keith song that laments, “I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as good once as I ever was.” It’s a bar room tale complaining about the aging process and the awful fact that it can’t be stopped. Luckily, that’s not necessarily true of pilots. Flying isn’t about party stamina but about skill, and that doesn’t have to slide downhill just because time is passing—assuming, of course, a pilot wants to halt that erosion.

With flying, we know, for a fact, how good we were when we started because we had to pass an entrance exam that serves as a reference point to measure from. Even better, rather than the checkride being a random obstacle course of bats, flaming dragons and boiling moats, it was guided by the same map we were given as students that, if followed, would lead us through the maze to the other side: We were trained and tested according to the Practical Test Standards (PTS) guide. Basically, if we could decipher and satisfy the gods of the PTS during our training, we’d be guaranteed (more or less) to survive the test ride. That little booklet can still come in handy because, when we ask ourselves “Are we as good now as we once were?” we can fall back on the PTS and make up our own checkride.

In case it’s been a while since you looked at one, the PTS is arranged in a chronological order that starts asking questions and setting tasks long before the candidate gets in the airplane. So that we don’t get caught up in minutiae, we’re going to ignore much of the preflight stuff except for a few goodies that we should be asking ourselves more often. From that point on, we’re off on a flight of self-discovery: we’re looking for the pilot we were at the moment the examiner handed us our ticket with the ink still damp. Hopefully, we’ll find we’ve improved with experience in all areas, But, maybe not.

Preflight Questions To Ask Ourselves

• What documents must be in the airplane and how many have to be renewed?
• Can you recite the size, configurations and equipment/weather requirements for all of the air spaces
(A, B, C, D, etc.)?
• Do you ever refer to the POH performance charts, or do you just wing it?
• Can you still work a CG problem?
• Do you know which over-the-counter medicines are on the FAA’s list of no-nos?
• When you preflight an airplane, do you actually look at it carefully, or are you just walking around it, giving it a cursory once-over while looking for parts hanging off?
• Can you explain the basics of how the different systems in the airplane work, including, but not limited to:
- trim
- flaps
- control system
- electrical system
- brakes?

Familiarity with the way the systems work is invaluable in the case of a failure in flight.

Before Taking Off

• Can you get it started in almost any weather?
• Do you know how to handle hot starts, if it’s a fuel-injected engine?
• The FAA loves checklists. Are you using yours? Checklists are a good way to avoid forgetting anything important.

Takeoff

The PTS contains some interesting and slightly contradictory language concerning takeoffs. For one thing, it mentions using “the most efficient lift-off attitude,” which we interpret as letting it run on the main gear and flying itself off, rather than pulling it off—something with which we wholeheartedly agree.

The area in this section that raises questions, however, is the suggestion that the climb speed, in this case Vy, should be in the range of five knots below to 10 knots over the prescribed speed. Every airplane has a specific climb speed that’s affected by various environmental factors (altitude, temperature, etc.). If this is why the FAA has such a wide allowable range, the PTS should state so. However, if, in a given situation, an airplane has climbed above or below the optimal number, it loses efficiency and won’t climb as well. Similar margins are applied throughout the PTS, and the same statement about efficiency applies in all cases.

So, on climbout, do you know what the climb speed (best rate or angle) is supposed to be? Do you hold it plus or minus two or three knots (not minus five or plus 10)? If you want max efficiency, you need to know and fly that number.

And do you, as outlined in the PTS, manage to correct for crosswinds, both during the takeoff and on climbout, so you’re always on the runway centerline?

Air Work

The PTS has a lot to say about various maneuvers in the air, including steep turns, S-turns across a road, rectangular patterns and turns around a point. In all of them, emphasis is placed on:

• Splitting your attention between the ground track and controlling the airplane, both of which are actually tied together. This is an excellent test of your ability to actually control the airplane.

• Without saying so, the PTS requires knowing when the groundspeed is increasing and decreasing and what effect that has on the ground track in any maneuver, whether it’s an S-turn, rectangular pattern or turn around a point. It allows altitude margins of plus or minus 100 feet, which is okay. The real question is whether you can still remember what effect changing groundspeed has on your ground track. Go out on a windy day, and see if you can still fly the maneuvers the way you did on your checkride.

In the stall section of the PTS, the FAA clearly says that you’re actually going to stall the airplane, both power off and power on, and won’t recover until the stall has actually occurred. Good for them! But how long has it been since you’ve actually practiced stalls—especially takeoff and departure stalls in which the attitude and resulting attitude change is more abrupt?

Although the FAA is clear about its desire to have the candidate experience a true stall rather than just the buffet, when it comes to spins, it goes just the opposite way. The language is “Objective: to determine that the applicant exhibits knowledge of the elements related to spin awareness by explaining…” and it goes on to talk about aerodynamic factors, situations in which spins might occur and procedures for spin recovery. This is a controversial area and one for which many CFIs think students should tiptoe right up to a spin and demonstrate that he or she can keep his or her head and fight the urge to pull. Being able to explain it is one thing. Being able to maintain your cool when it’s actually on the edge of departing is something else.

Flying The Pattern

The PTS mentions a lot of generalities about exhibiting knowledge of airport procedures, collision avoidance and other basic info. Then it states that it gives points to the candidate if he or she:

• Complies with proper traffic pattern procedures (Well, do you?)

• Maintains proper spacing from other aircraft (No one actually tailgates, do they?)

• Corrects for wind drift to maintain the proper ground track (Meaning, do you wander around on downwind or on final?)

Then it says, “maintains traffic pattern altitude, plus or minus 100 feet, and the appropriate airspeed, plus or minus 10 knots.” This last point, downwind being a 200-foot-high window, is something any self-respecting pilot should be able to tighten up easily. Half that distance is easily attainable and, in reality, most of us should stay within 25 feet of our altitude unless the weather is beating us up.

There has been an interesting change in the last few years in one part of the PTS. In the explanation of the parameter for flying the pattern, there was once a line that read, “Establishes an appropriate distance from the runway, considering the possibility of an engine failure.” That line is no longer in the PTS. Does that mean engines no longer fail? This is another issue for which a pilot should use his or her own judgment and improve on the standards set down by the PTS.

Approach And Landing

The PTS goes through all the takeoffs and landings—soft, short, normal and crosswind—clearly spelling out what’s expected of the applicant, although there’s still that 15-knot spread on approach speed with which some instructors disagree.

Interestingly, the PTS landing section states that, in every landing scenario, the applicant is expected to touch down no more than 400 feet past a selected point. Considering the wide range on the approach speeds, this is an interesting contradiction. If you’re on the high side of the PTS’s approach speed range, you’ll float like crazy. If on the low side, you’ll drop through ground effect much more quickly. Regardless, can you put your airplane down repeatedly just 400 feet past a given mark on the runway? Since you must have done it as a student pilot, you definitely ought to check to see if you can do it today.

Few to none of us are the vibrant young souls we were decades ago; however, by following the PTS in giving ourselves a checkride, we can find our weak spots and work to fix them. We’ll never be younger than we are right now, but there’s no reason that we can’t fly like we’re young.

Learn To Fly

A 14-year-old boy, trained in Compton, solos both a helicopter and fixed-wing Aircraft!

Text And Photography By Jessica Ambats

If anyone thinks that they can’t do what they put their mind to, they should meet Jonathan Strickland. Like any typical teenager, his vocabulary gravitates toward words such as “yeah” and “cool.” But what sets him apart from the rest is quite extraordinary. Jonathan can’t drive a car yet, but he can fly both an airplane and a helicopter!

In June 2006, the 14-year-old carved a place in aviation history by soloing a Cessna 152 and a Robinson 22 on the same day. To accomplish this goal, he had to travel to Canada (where the age requirement is 14, as opposed to 16 in the United States). But Jonathan didn’t mind—“it’s just another excuse to fly,” he said of the 32-hour round-trip journey in a Robinson 44 from Southern California to British Columbia and back. The momentous trip earned him four world records: the youngest person to solo both a helicopter and airplane on the same day; the youngest African-American to solo a helicopter; the youngest African-American to fly a helicopter internationally; and the youngest African-American to fly a helicopter on an international round-trip.

Accompanying him was Robin Petgrave, an accomplished helicopter pilot, with more than 11,000 hours logged flying Hollywood stunts, sightseeing tours, flight training and ferry flights for his company, Celebrity Helicopters (www.celebheli.com). Robin also runs Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum (www.tamuseum.org), using proceeds from his other businesses as well as donations. The nonprofit organization at Compton/Woodley Airport in Los Angeles provides mentoring and outreach programs to motivate economically disadvantaged minority children.

At the museum, kids perform community service, such as cleaning planes and running an on-site cafe, in order to earn museum dollars that can then be used to purchase flight time. Children can start training as young as eight years old. “At an earlier age, they just catch onto it real quickly,” said Robin.

But the organization is far more than a flight school. By filling a void of after-school activities (there’s a computer lab with flight simulators) and offering positive role models (the Tuskegee Airmen serve as mentors), it helps keep youth off the streets and out of trouble. To remain in the program, participants must maintain good grades.

As a child, Jonathan lived near Los Angeles International Airport and enjoyed watching the air traffic, an interest that grew when his mother bought him a flight-simulator program. After seeing a television feature about two young boys, Jimmy Haywood and Kenny Roy, who trained at Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum and became two of the youngest pilots to solo, Jonathan was inspired to join the program. After more than two years of community service and maintaining B grades, he earned his dream trip.

I joined Robin and Jonathan on their quest in Canada. Upon arrival, Jonathan passed two written tests, scoring in the 90s on both. “It can get confusing because the emergency procedures between a fixed-wing and helicopter are totally different,” said Robin. “To pass both exams on the same day is something else!”

Not to mention that Jonathan, who had just used his passport for the first time, had a few culture-shock distractions. “I can’t find a Taco Bell anywhere,” he lamented. “And, where are the cops? I’ve only seen two in Canada.” He giggled at Canadian accents with each use of “eh?!” and the novelty of replacing “point” with “decimal” when stating frequencies.

The young dreamer soloed in the fixed-wing aircraft first. At Pacific Flying Club (www.pacificflying.com) at Boundary Bay Airport in Delta (just outside of Vancouver), British Columbia, he flew a Cessna 152 alone. While Jonathan was in the air, Robin was a little bit tense on the ground: “I feel like a nervous hen! That kid worked his butt off, and here he is setting the world’s imagination on fire.”

Although Jonathan was supposed to do three patterns, he did four—a victory lap, Robin decided. Did he lose track while having too much fun? At the time, Jonathan couldn’t explain it. But looking back, he is thankful for the miscount: “After the trip, it was two months before I flew in a 152 again, so I’m glad I got the extra flying time in.”

Upon landing, the solo star was greeted by newscasters. How did it feel up there all alone? “I looked to the right and I didn’t see anyone and I was, like, cool!” smiled Jonathan. “No one was there to tell me how to land, so I did it my own way.”

The next stop of the day was Heli College at Langley Municipal Airport (www.heli-college.com), where only 2.5 hours after his Cessna 152 solo, Jonathan soloed in a Robinson 22. To fly alone, oil cases were loaded for additional weight. “You have to weigh 130 pounds to solo,” he explained. “I only weigh 90 or something.”

On the ground, the crowd of flight instructors and media fell silent in awe and nervousness as Jonathan hovered and flew a traffic pattern. “It was phenomenal. This kid was the sole manipulator of the controls,” said Robin. “His destiny was in his hands right then and there. I was looking at it, and I still don’t believe it. To solo both an aircraft and a helicopter is a tough order, but he did it. He’s an inspiration to everybody, not just African-Americans.”

As for Jonathan’s modest take on the event: “Anybody can do it. It just takes a lot of hard work.”

I sat backseat as Jonathan flew a Robinson 44 back to Los Angeles from Canada. He piloted through mountains, around the Space Needle, along the Golden Gate Bridge and low over California’s coast. In Malibu, we hovered in a friend’s yard for an early-morning wake-up surprise. At the time, the young aviator preferred flying the Robinson to the Cessna: “Helicopters are cool. If you see something, you can just stop and look at it. In a plane, you’d have to make circles.” (Today, however, it’s evident that he has caught the speed bug: “Planes are cooler because they’re fast. Even cars pass helicopters.”)

Smooth and steady on the controls, Jonathan flew and navigated like a pro. Because of extensive media coverage, people recognized Jonathan at our fuel and overnight stops. I definitely had a hero-in-the-making as my pilot.

Two days and 1,000 miles later, we touched down at Compton with great fanfare, greeted by Jonathan’s friends and family, media, Compton Mayor Eric Perrodin and former Tuskegee Airmen. The Air Operations division of the Los Angeles County Fire Department arrived in a Black Hawk helicopter, and during a ceremony for Jonathan, presented him with a job application for future employment consideration. “It feels good,” was Jonathan’s typical unassuming brevity when addressing the crowd. “I’m a little tired, though.”

By now, Jonathan has caught up on his rest, is midway through freshman year in high school and is rarin’ to go. This March, he’ll take the written exam for his private-pilot license. The results remain valid for two years, and Jonathan is already planning to take his checkride on his sixteenth birthday, March 1, 2009. What’s after that? “I want to fly commercial,” answers Jonathan without missing a beat. “I’ll fly CRJ’s for a bit and then move on to the bigger planes like the 747.” Not bad for a little kid who dreams big, eh?

From The Editor - Fun, Rediscovery & Diversions

By Jeff Berlin

There’s a great old photograph by Jacques-Henri Lartigue that captures the charming innocence of aviation’s early days. Lartigue’s photo, from 1910 and titled, “The ZYX 24 Takes Off,” epitomizes the passion and fascination people have had for flight since the dawn of aviation. I imagine if you’re reading this magazine, and my column, you have at least a bit of that fascination and understand at least a bit, or a whole lot, of that passion.

It seems to me that some of us are well on our way to entering another era of rediscovering that innocent purity and joy of flight, but on a much larger scale than back in Lartigue’s day. While in the photo they look like they’re having quite a kick, with the new light-sport aircraft available today and the sport-pilot license, a similar kick is now within reach to a much more diverse group of present and future aviators. In this issue, Tim Kern discusses the ins and outs of the sport-pilot license. A great thing about the sport-pilot rule is that so many aircraft qualify under it’s rules; pilots who like classics can tool around in planes like the CubCrafters Sport Cub, reviewed in this issue by Bill Cox, and pilots with more of a techy bent can fly any number of more modern designs, which we have been reviewing, and will continue to review, in future issues of Plane & Pilot.

And talking about flying for the pure fun of it, a while back, I went flying with a friend in his Aviat Husky. It wasn’t the new A-1B-200 that Budd Davisson flew for his article, but since we had full tanks and didn’t have to be anywhere at any particular time, we did some of that other type of IFR flying, following roads and trying to keep our shadow over the cars passing below. It was some of the most fun I’d had in an airplane in a long time, and it was also a real challenge trying to follow the roads’ twists and turns and keep our shadow from drifting onto the adjacent fields. Airspace and terrain allowed this dillydallying, of course.

Those who may question the wisdom of my escapades in the Husky should note that this issue also includes information about the importance of decision-making on the go. So much is written about the pre-takeoff go/no-go decision that it seems the equally important decision of whether to abort while in flight is often overlooked. After spending two weeks the past couple of summers flying a cowboy friend of mine to professional rodeos all over the American West, the dynamics of the in-flight decision of whether or not to continue became particularly interesting to me as we had a hectic schedule to keep (45 hours’ flight time in one week) and we flew some rather long cross-countries in the SR22 that I usually fly. As such, I asked Bill Cox to tap into his experience to discuss this important and timely topic, because with the coming summer flying season, the atmosphere will be more lively, the weather more unstable in the afternoon heat and the need to divert for pop-up storms will be that much more prevalent. I’ve written a fun little story about those trips to the rodeo, which appears in Plane & Pilot’s sister publication, Pilot Journal. Please pick it up and let us know what you think. You can reach me at jtberlin@wernerpublishing.com.

CubCrafters CC11-100 Sport Cub

SPECIFICATIONS

Base price: $89,500

Engine make/model: Continental O-200

TBO (hrs.): 1800

Horsepower@altitude: 100@SL

Fuel type: 100/100LL

Propeller type: FP/two-blade

Landing gear type: Fixed/Conv.

Max ramp weight (lbs): 1320

Gross weight (lbs.): 1320

Landing weight (lbs.): 1320

Empty weight, std. (lbs.): 825

Useful load, std. (lbs.): 495

Useful fuel, std. (gals.): 24

Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.): 351

Wingspan: 34 ft. 8 in.

Overall length: 23 ft. 3 in.

Height: 8 ft. 5 in.

Wing area (sq. ft.): 176

Wing loading (lbs./sq.ft.): 7.5

Power loading (lbs./hp): 13.2

Seating capacity: 2

Cabin doors: 1

Cabin width (in.): 30

Cabin height (in.): 50


PERFORMANCE

Cruise speed, 75% (kts.): 92

Fuel consumption, 75% (gph): 4.5

Best rate of climb, SL (gph.): 800

Stall speed, dirty (kts.): 31

Service ceiling (ft.): 14,000

Takeoff ground run (ft.): 250

Takeoff over 50-ft. obstacle (ft.): 950

Landing ground run (ft.): 200

Landing over 50 ft. obstacle (ft.): 1000

The Huskier Husky

An old friend with a bigger engine

Text & Photography By Budd Davisson

The first flight in a new airplane is exciting, even when it’s an old friend with a bigger engine. I had flown Huskies many times, but never the new 200 hp Aviat Husky A-1B-200, and as I started to throttle up, I was watching the edge of the runway for any indication that the airplane was trying to turn; it wasn’t. Also, I had a plan: I was going to do a standard Husky three-point, short-field takeoff rather than lifting the tail in the normal manner. What’s the fun in flying an airplane with a big motor if you’re not going to go for the gusto?

Short-field takeoff technique in any Husky is pretty rudimentary: a) suck the stick to your navel and hold it there, b) feed in the power, c) try to keep from yelling “yahoo” when the main gear comes off first and d) release back pressure to the edge of the bungee-induced stick pressure. That’s it! Pretty hard to screw up. That was the plan anyway.

Flaps full down, stick full back, throttle full forward. As the runway began streaking past, I was hyperattentive to my butt: I was looking for the telltale feeling that, as the wings started to lift, the gear was extending and was getting ready to fly. In 180 hp airplanes, you can feel it coming. In the 200 hp bird, however, there was virtually no warning. We ran down the runway for a few seconds, stick back and tail down, when the airplane simply leaped off the runway, main gear first, with just the slightest warning. When I started to release the back pressure, however, I found I wasn’t being rushed to get the stick forward as in small-engine airplanes.

I’d expected more performance with the bigger motor, but I hadn’t expected the short-field takeoff to be even easier than it already was. Incidentally, we were almost at gross weight, wind was probably at three knots, and it was 85 degrees, yet I didn’t see the second runway light as we left the ground, so we were off in 250 feet.

The addition of the 200 hp IO-360-A1D6 is yet another step in the development of what started in 1983 as the A-1 Husky. By the time Aviat got to the 1B-200 version, they’d made some substantial changes, most of which were aimed at not only improved short-field capabilities, but also better handling and more utility; not that there was anything wrong with the way the aircraft handled before.

Included in the “B” designation are a basic 2,000-pound gross weight and a wing that has been continually improved and tinkered with. The slotted, Fowler flaps with their external, head-banging pivot points were made 13 inches longer on each wing, so we’re talking about a whopping two feet more of flap. The ailerons were shortened, but their chord is now four inches deeper, resulting in an aileron of the same area, or bigger.

The ailerons use Curtis Pitts’ “Super Stinker Technology,” which he introduced on his Model 11 Super Stinker in the mid-’90s. This makes the ailerons much lighter and more effective without having to hang spades on them.

The “B’s” also feature additional baggage area. The right-side door to the normal baggage compartment is now accompanied by a left-side door high behind the wing, which opens into a nice little compartment in the fuselage’s upper portion. The CG is set so you can put 180 pounds in each of the seats, 50 pounds in the baggage compartment and 30 pounds in the aft baggage area.

When they hung the 200 hp IO-360 on the airplane they made additional changes up front. For one thing, the engine installation is a solid 38 pounds heavier. A good chunk of this is because the 200 hp IO-360 is an angle valve engine, as opposed to the parallel valve arrangement of the 180 hp O-360. These jugs offer increased heat dissipation because of their better finning but are, consequently, heavier. Another few pounds comes from the extra oil cooler, so now there are two coolers, one in each of the rear baffles.

As part of its cooling program, the Aviat factory fitted the airplane with cowl flaps, which our test pilot and host, Mark Heiner, said are necessary to get the heat down, but are good for five mph in cruise when closed.

Pitts pilots with sharp eyes will recognize the aluminum, compound curved cowl doors as fugitives from the single-seat S1T Pitts, which used the same engine. The cylinder assemblies make the IO-360 five-eighths of an inch wider than the 180 Lycoming, so the cowling had to be bumped out for clearance.

The airplane we flew was actually the original 1985 prototype that the factory uses as their test mule. Some of the more obvious test items on it, when we flew, were the unpainted, carbon-fiber nosebowl, wingtips and floorboards, which collectively knock 18 pounds off the airplane’s empty weight.

Unfortunately, nothing in aviation is free, including performance that’s the result of increased horsepower. In the case of the A-1B-200, the empty weight has gone up a total of 70 pounds over its 180 hp brethren, so the useful load has drifted down to 680 pounds, even though it’s licensed with the lighter, composite MT-Propeller. If you use the FAA-mandated 170 pounds for each passenger, that leaves just enough room for the 52 gallons of gas and 30 pounds of gear. However, if you’re talking about “real” people (and both Mark and I are very “real”), chances are pretty good that in some situations you won’t be able to fill both tanks. Aviat, however, has a solution for that (see the sidebar).

On that first takeoff, as the airplane clawed into the air, I begrudgingly let the nose down slightly, to hold the 73 mph best climb-rate speed, which still put us at a ridiculous climb angle. At gross weight, this gives a climb of 1,700 feet per minute, which calls for another “yeehah!” In most real-life situations, once you’re over 50 feet, few people are going to feel comfortable at a nose attitude that high because they’re stone blind. At a more reasonable angle, we were seeing around 1,300 fpm, which is still pretty respectable.

Incidentally, during the taxi and takeoff, you can just about see over the nose (taller pilots can probably see the centerline). This makes no difference, however, because the view on the ground around the nose is excellent. Also, the ground handling isn’t even worth discussing—it’s so easy, and on takeoff, it launches so quickly, you’d have to work to get into trouble. The only thing of note in that area is that the instant the gear begins to leave the ground, you need to get some right foot into it immediately to counteract P-factor or you’re going to be sliding left.

In cruise, the visibility is, as you’d expect, hard to improve on—this is the ultimate sight-seeing airplane. It is, however, also a fairly useful cross-country bird. Aviat quotes 138 mph at 55% power, which is a change from most factory spec charts that quote unrealistic 75% cruise speeds. When asked about the 55%, Mark said it was because using any more power was a waste of gasoline. To increase the cruise speed exactly one mph over 138 requires an entire gallon per hour extra, so 55% is the most efficient setting. The airfoil is the old, flat-bottom Clark “Y,” and when it hits its drag rise, there’s no use trying to push it faster.

In the air, the ailerons, which are designed to be effective at slow speeds, make themselves known with a little more adverse yaw than most pilots are accustomed to. That’s not a negative and will only be noticed by feet-on-the-floor Cessna or Mooney pilots. Those who fly Cubs, Champs and their ilk won’t even notice the adverse yaw.

Pull or push it 10% off trim speed in cruise, then let go, and it will start back to neutral and be dead stable after two fairly weak cycles. This is better than many supposedly more stable birds. Pull the nose left and right with rudder and let go, and it will slowly regain straight-ahead flight.

Stalls, as you’d expect with an airplane like this, don’t amount to much. Even with full flaps, you only get a gentle nod, and if you hold the stick dead against the stop and leave it there, the nose just hunts up and down a little. You do have to baby (or avoid) the ailerons in that situation because, if you ask too much of them, you can feel them trying to stall. This, again, is nothing out of the ordinary. All stalls are in the very low 50s to mid-40s, and recover as soon as back pressure is released.

As we turned final for our first landing, I again found one of the items on the Husky that has always bothered me, the bungee trim—and I’m certain I’m not alone. Rather than the trim running an actual trim tab, the wheel simply biases pressure on a set of bungees that push or pull on the elevator-actuating tube. No one at Aviat likes the system any better than the customers do, but, when certifying the Husky, the FAA demanded a dual-trim system and this is what they came up with.

The net result of the trim design is that you’re always fighting the bungees. If you trim it up on downwind and chop the power for landing, the trim is “about” right for the 60 mph you want over the fence, but only “about” right, and when landing the airplane the first few times, that causes a minor irritation.

You want 60 mph over the fence and not two mph more than that or the airplane will float like crazy. I don’t fly Huskies often enough to master the trim requirements right into the flare so I’m always a few mph too fast and, therefore, have enough float that I can’t hit the point I want. The very last part of final and flare is best done with a hand down by your left thigh constantly cranking the trim back, but if you’re fast to begin with, it isn’t easy. Indeed, it was painfully obvious that I needed more practice.

Ground control after touchdown is, again, hardly worth discussing. It’s moving so slowly that, as long as you don’t have dead feet, you’d have to switch your brain to the “off” position to have problems. If there’s a big gust spread, the gusts make the airplane want to balloon, but that’s just part of flying a lightly wing-loaded airplane. Super short rollouts are also part of flying a light airplane. The POH lists a 398-foot ground roll at gross, and we can verify that.

I truly love the Husky, but I’d give anything to see how much easier the airplane would be to fly on final if it had about 15 degrees more flap (it has 30 degrees), so that they could generate more drag, and if it had a different trim system (or an electric top-hat trim switch on the stick).

A point worth mentioning is that the Husky is probably one of the better-detailed airplanes being built today, but don’t let all that finesse fool you. This is a working bird. Put some 8.50 x 6’s on it and bring it home with mud streaks on the bottom of the wings. That’s what it’s made for.

To learn more about the Aviat Husky A-1B-200, visit Aviat Aircraft’s Website, www.aviataircraft.com, or call (307) 885-3151.