Ultralights

The AUF representatives gave evidence at the Sydney hearing of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport Safety’s enquiry into Sports Aviation Safety. It was suggested that a meeting between the AUF, the DofA and the Committee should be held in an attempt to bridge the gap between the AUF’s requirements and those of the Department.

The first batch of certificates, totalling 63, were issued in February.

These include some CFI recommendations for DofA approval and instructor, pilot and student pilot certificates. Several hundred more applications are being processed. In addition, many ultralight pilots have received their copy of the AUF operations manual (required under both ANO 95. 10 and 95. 25).

Studies of overseas and Australian accidents show that loss of control through stalls and spins is a major factor. Accordingly, a demonstration of a pilot’s ability to handle stalls and spins is a requirement of the AUF, expressed in their operations manual, for the issue of a pilot certificate. This requirement has caused many people to express concern at the idea of trying to recover from training spins from 500 feet AGL or, for that matter, even attempting spins in their ultralight aircraft. The DofA have agreed to allow 2000 feet AGL, in approved areas, for training. Furthermore, only spin-approved aircraft should be used for this training, the GFA have kindly agreed to assist in this regard. In addition, Bill Dinsmore has written articles on this subject in recent AUF newsletters.

On a less positive note, the DofA are several months late in providing the first half of the AUF’s grant for 85/86. We may see some interesting actions/reactions to this situation.

Mangalore 86

The ultralight aircraft area had been relocated this year to the 18/36 runway, with the runway south of the temporary control tower available for use. The grass area on the west of the runway was mainly used for takeoff and full-stop landings, while the sealed runway was used for touch-and-go landings. There was ample room for both commercial displays and non-commercial aircraft parking.

The number of aircraft (about 35) was less than half that of 1985, mainly due to the problems with 95. 25, but partly due to the industry dropouts.

Operations went quite smoothly, due to several factors: The relocation, the smaller number of aircraft, the experience of the operations team (enhanced by the monthly fly-ins at Mangalore) and the obvious high standard of the participating pilots.

The ‘Balloons Aloft’ company had 2 balloons at Mangalore. Their chief pilot, Judy Lynne, allowed 3 of us to fly with them early Saturday morning and take photographs. There were 2 stipulations: no closer than 50 feet and not over the top of the balloons. It was literally a fantastic experience to fly so close to something so big. During Saturday evening, they inflated a tethered balloon near the administration building and gave joy rides; the appearance of the balloon when the gas was fired was magnificent-like a gigantic Japanese lantern. The ultralight pylon race must surely be an Australian first. It was run over a rectangular course of about 2 miles or 3km. The 6 aircraft were lined up at the end of the runway and took off straight ahead in quick succession, with the ‘slowest’ aircraft first and the ‘fastest’ aircraft last. The pilot’s race technique played a part in the result, as the field did not finish in the expected sequence. The winner was Don Bowd in his earlier version Sapphire.

Meanwhile, Bill Knight flew his Sorrell Hiperlight from the Queensland Gold Coast in just over 10 hours of flying time (spread over 2 days). Bill had arranged with DofA to get a dispensation to fly at up to 5,000ft AMSL over the whole route. He said that navigation was so much easier at the higher altitude. Bill received the SAAA’s award for the longest ultralight flight to Mangalore.

Charles Ligeti had his Statos in operation at Mangalore. Although the Stratos has accumulated over 100 hours, many people had not seen it in operation before. The sleek lines, small size and relatively high speed continually attracted attention.

Ian Ferguson brought his Shadow over for the Sunday display. This is the first one that Ian has brought into Australia. It carried UK registration letters as it had been registered before being exported. This enables Ian to operate it here, quite legally.

Dave Belton had 2 Geminis at Mangalore. These aircraft virtually only stopped flying while the runway was closed for the airshow. Apart from training circuits for experienced pilots and TIF’s for student pilots, Dave and his instructors did a lot of training with intending instructors.

Max Kremke had his Staggerbipe on static display (almost a regular feature of Mangalore). The workmanship and finish are superb.

Howard Hughes had brought his prototype Lightwing. It flew almost as frequently as the Geminis. The inflight handling at both low and high speed appears to be quite good. Since it was still flying its test 50 hours, Howard was not able to give any training. The finish on the prototype was not as good as its performance. However, this could have been caused by the rush to be ready for Mangalore.

Max Peters had prepared a mock-up of the Karatoo fuselage, using mild steel tube. The result was quite effective and certainly gave everyone an insight into what the real thing would be like.

George Markey, the AUF President, flew his Ultrabat (registration VHANT) several times, showing its aerobatic qualities. Since he has a 500ft aerobatic endorsement, he was able to demonstrate it close enough for everyone to see quite well.

New Ano’s

Earlier this year, the DofA issued ANO 100. 55 and 101. 55 in the Aviation Regulatory Proposal (ARP), or draft, form. This is to provide the aircraft industry with the opportunity to study the drafts and submit comments, for possible inclusion in the final version. These ANOs are 2 of the 3 (no draft for ANO 95. 55 has yet been issued), which are intended to replace ANO 95. 25, which was issued as a temporary ANO.

Both ANO’s deal with ultralight aircraft which do not fit ANO 95. 10, ie. the empty weight exceeds 115kg and the maximum all-up weight does not exceed 290kg for single-place or 400kg for two-place aircraft.

ANO 100. 55 details the maintenance requirements for these ultralight aircraft, while ANO 101. 55 is concerned with airworthiness requirements. The airworthiness requirements seem to be rather similar to those of ANO 95. 25, which is a continuing concern. However, the maintenance requirements are somewhat surprising. Maintenance facilities in the aircraft industry may be pleased to see the chance of some extra business moving their way. Unless the ultralight aircraft owner can get approval to do his own maintenance, he may find some of the ultralight cost advantages disappearing. Training and club or group-owned aircraft are subject to more stringent rules, as to who would be allowed to perform the maintenance than an aircraft owned by an individual.

Of course, with the current lack of progress on 95. 25 type approvals, 100. 55 is not very relevant now. However, if this concerns you, get a copy of the ANOs and submit your opinions to the DofA.

Australian Ultralight Aircraft Developments

In spite of the ANO situation, there has been a steady rate of ultralight aircraft developments:

Max Kremke’s Staggerbipe had its first flight in February. The test pilot indicated that he enjoyed its flying qualities, but suggested that it may not be an entry-level aircraft. The Staggerbipe is a single-place, negative stagger biplane, with a tail wheel arrangement and a VW engine.

In Western Australia, Composite Technologies have been working on their Eagle X-wing project for several years. The company acquired the rights to use the Dragonfly design. So far, a single-place prototype has been built, although the main intention is to develop a two-place machine. From a videotape that I saw, the prototype flies quite well. In addition to the airframe, the company has been doing some engine development.

Composite Technologies see its market in rural Western Australia, in the form of a low-maintenance, low-cost farm runabout, which would also be suitable for cross-country work. Whether the two extremes of design criteria can be combined into one aircraft, which is also easy to fly, is yet to be seen. Government subsidies, of several hundred thousand dollars, have enabled the company to proceed with a long development programme.

Meanwhile, Hughes Engineering of Ballina in northern NSW have been developing its two-place design – the Lightwing. The fuselage is of welded steel type construction (with some aluminium formers), while the wing ribs, spars and D-nose are constructed of aluminium. All surfaces are covered with fabric using the Slits process.

Some manufacturers and importers have decided that ANO 95. 25 is either too difficult/expensive or inadequate/inappropriate for type approval of their aircraft.

Max Peter’s company (Australian Aircraft Works) is distributing the range of aircraft manufactured by Grover Aircraft of the USA. The range includes the J-3 Kitten and the J-4 Sportster (both 95. 10) and the two place Karatoo. Max plans to offer the Karatoo as a kit for amateur building under ANO 101. 28, even though it fits ANO 95. 25. His plans were a little delayed due to some difficulties in the USA (Grover were facing a lawsuit following a fatal accident in a J-3 Kitten, apparently due to an in-flight failure).

Australian Sports Aviation Council

At the February meeting, ASAC members expressed interest in the AUF and concern with some of the problems in the ultralight movement. Although many members said that they would like to help the AUF, particularly in its dealings with the DofA, they were hesitant as to how far they would commit themselves through ASAC.

House of Representatives Enquiry on Sports Aviation

During the Melbourne hearing by the Standing Committee on Transport Safety, one of Col Winton’s designs, the Sportsman, was mentioned. It is perhaps unfair that the Sportsman was singled out. There are other types which have been involved in more accidents and which deserve to have been mentioned. However, within the context of this hearing, witnesses could not do much more than answer the questions put to them. No committee member asked for a list of aircraft with suspect features. The whole incident was, to some extent, taken out of context and proportion. The witness was trying to make the point that our libel and defamation laws make it virtually impossible to issue warnings about suspect aircraft. This point may well have been lost on the committee during the resulting furore.

The general impression gained, from the atmosphere at the hearings and from reading the proceedings, was that the committee were generally interested in the ultralight situation. Naturally, their main concern was safety. However, they did not suggest that safety was synonymous with no flying. Rather, they seemed to be interested in identifying the factors which would optimise freedom and safety.

Ano 95. 25

The two-place Thruster Gemini received its DofA approval of type under ANO 95. 25 on 6. 2. 86. Unfortunately, the DofA did not have its act together at that time – they had not made any arrangements for proof of compliance with type. This meant that it was some time before any approved Geminis could be delivered. Fortunately, this problem has now been overcome.

Since it was necessary to do some redesign in order to get type approval, previous versions of the two-place Thruster do not comply with type and so cannot be approved as this type, without modification.

Scott Winton has not been so fortunate. The Sapphire went through all of the testing and all but one of the approval stages specified in the ANO (after considerable cost and effort). Its data package then languished with the DofA for several months. The DofA then required the engineer involved to certify that a number of factors have satisfactory strength or performance. The engineer found this additional requirement to be unacceptable.

Scott Winton has decided to desist in his efforts to gain type approval, at least for the present. He has redesigned the Sapphire to fit ANO 95. 10, using fabric-covered wings and other weight-saving features. The weight is down to around 100kg, which was necessary to fit the wing-loading limits of 95. 10. Although the wing is not quite as strong as the earlier version, it now has less overall weight to support. Compared with the earlier version, which also uses the Rotax 447 engine, the climb performance is noticeably better, but top speed is down slightly.

During the course of the test programme on the two-place Chinook, the wing structure failed. On 13. 1. 86, the DofA sent a letter to the AUF, which circulated it in the AUF newsletter. It seems that the operation of a fully loaded two-place Chinook, without additional reinforcement to the wing spar tubes, is hazardous.

Engine Tuning Aid

The Colortune tuning kit seems to be very useful in diagnosing the state of tune of your engine’s carburettor. The kit utilises a transparent spark plug, plus a light shield and mirror and enables you to view the combustion process as it occurs inside the engine cylinder. If you see the colour of ‘a clear blue sky’, then the gas-air mix is correct. If the mixture is too rich, the colour is yellow and if too lean, white. The kit is suitable for both 2 and 4-stroke engines.

Ear Care

An aspect of ultralight aircraft flying that is sometimes overlooked is ear protection. Any sound over 60 can have some damaging effect on one’s hearing. Unfortunately, the damage is cumulative, ie; the ears do not recover after a period of rest. The noise heard by a pilot is the sum of the engine exhaust (and intake to a lesser extent), the propeller (often with close to supersonic tip speeds) and the relative wind from the forward motion of the aircraft. Since many ultralight aircraft have noise level readings of 90db or more, it is obvious that this area needs attention.

A well-insulated helmet, particularly the type that uses independent earcups (see March AA), goes a long way towards reducing the level of noise that impacts the pilot’s ears. In addition, earplugs are usually necessary to cut the noise down to an acceptable level. Ear plugs are essential for any engine run-ups or tuning which are done without a helmet. The most effective form of ear plugs are the waxy foam cylinder type.

Sea Panther 2 Plus Now Qualified From Rotec

Float flying has always been a joy for any pilot. Generally, a lake airport provides landing in any direction and has the sound and feel of fun. The new Panther 2 Plus on floats provides the joy of float flying for 2 people at speeds in excess of 80mph.

Rotec’s new Panter 2 Plus assembles in 70 hours and comes standard with the 503, 48HP, gearbox engine. Only simple hand tools are required to attach floats to the air shock-equipped landing gear which can be done in less than 10 min. The standard air shocks remain on the landing gear assuring smooth takeoffs and landings. The twin-cylinder 503 engine lifts the float-equipped Panther 2 Plus off the deck within 350ft. Rate of climb for two people on board is a steady 500ft per min.

The handling qualities of the Sea Panther 2 Plus are only slightly changed. The roll response is mildly decreased while the longitudinal stability remains positive and the dihedral effect is unchanged. Taxying on the water is easy since the prop blast is blown directly over the rudder.

Panel instruments approved include aircraft quality airspeed Indicators. Cylinder head temp gauge, tachometer, compass, directional gyro, airtel cial horizon, instrument panel fuel gauge and an hour meter.