Oshkosh

More than 10,000 aircraft flew to the region, with about 7000 on site around the world’s busiest control tower. Of those 7000 aircraft, the amazingly nimble A380’s flying display cast a shadow over almost the entire city of Oshkosh and its 70,000 residents, while the public debut of White- Knight Two was something of a sensation.

Clearance was given to WhiteKnight Two as it buzzed the massive crowd before it landed to applause and electric excitement. WhiteKnight Two will carry SpaceShip Two aloft before the latter rockets into space, and was the talking point of the show, but the renowned designer and Scaled Composites founder Burt Rutan may have gotten even more attention, which is fine with him after years of secret development.

“All of a sudden to bring it to Oshkosh, and you’ve got all these cameras as well as all the public and so on, it’s a real thrill to be able to show people what you’ve sweated so hard to do over the years!” Rutan beamed. He braced for a full schedule of forum speeches and autograph signings, giving freely of his time and reciprocating much of the respect that makes him the undisputed top celebrity at Oshkosh, even more revered than actor Harrison Ford.

Standing before the massive wings of WhiteKnight Two, which stretch as wide as those of a B-29, Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn pointed out, “This is also a vehicle that’s capable of launching a satellite into space at much lower cost and much greater efficiency than has ever been done before. Space science as well as space tourism is crucial to our future. More and more people are saying today that we need to be in space if we’re going to survive on this planet. ” The satellite launch system will be developed in cooperation with Aabar Investments, which took partial ownership of Virgin Galactic at the show. The firm’s home of Abu Dhabi will receive its own spaceport as part of the deal.

After signing that deal and smiling broadly for the cameras as he does so often, Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, was strapped into the flight engineer seat for his first ride in the mothership he had paid for. “NASA has done some incredible things,” he said, “But they haven’t planned to send ordinary people into space, and this plane will enable, hopefully, thousands of people over the next 20 to 30 years to go into space. ” Branson watched the June 21 2004 flight of SpaceShip One break into space, and his commercial spaceliner SpaceShip Two is due for rollout in December. “If it pays its way, we’ll be able to go from suborbital flights to orbital flights to hotels in space.

This, hopefully, is just the beginning of the most fantastic program,” he remarked.

More down to Earth, but hoping to catch just as much imagination, Samson Motors debuted its Switchblade mockup.

Its wings fold under the three wheeled fuselage to convert into a road vehicle. CEO Sam Bousfield was thrilled when “Things took an unexpected jump forward,” and the company received its first deposit.

The tent right next door hosted that same dream, but is further along. Terrafugia’s Transition is backed by a team from MIT and celebrated the flying car’s first flight on March 5 this year with 27 additional flights completed over thenext several weeks. Work is underway on the second prototype and first delivery is expected in 2011.

“We did some drive testing to verify that we could get the ground performance we needed,” says COO Karen Mracek Dietrich.

Folding the wings into an M-shape is the easy part, she adds, and the conservative flight tests are encouraging. “Just basic flight stability, mild stall. We wanted to really validate those aerodynamics, make sure we’re on the right track. Not to mention that it has four wheels and it does drive. ” In the air, the two-seat Light Sport Aircraft Transition is aiming for 100kt cruise and a range of 390nm.

A far more established, and conventional, LSA manufacturer, Tecnam of Italy, proudly debuted its four-seat P2006T in the US.

Garmin G950 avionics are ready to join the analogue version. Two Rotax 912 engines quietly pull the aluminium aircraft into the training market as well as toward private owners. “We can run the engine with avgas or mogas fuel, so this gives us the flexibility to fly in any area of the world,” says CEO Paulo Pascali.

Electric power continued to gain interest in the education centre of the Experimental Aircraft Association, the event’s host.

But diesel fuel will power the first Liberty XL2 after it has been proven to fly with a Wilksch Turbo Diesel.

Customer inquiries led the way, says Paul Bartlett, chief operating officer of the Florida manufacturer. “If they can get avgas it is very, very expensive. And often they can’t get it at all,” he says.

No orders are being taken yet, and there’s no price. Bartlett predicts in 18 months they may be ready to go, but that’s no certainty. Wilksch Airmotive formed in 1994 in the UK and counts on a twostroke diesel operating cycle along with a four-stroke style multi-valve cylinder head.

Valve timing can be optimised, allowing a turbocharger to provide scavenging and boost over the whole power range.

Technology, not fuel, is the new factor for Teledyne Continental’s Turbo FADEC 550. Airframe manufacturers wanted high horsepower with advanced electronic controls, and tests of the TSIOF-550 have been encouraging in flights on a Lancair IVP that have totalled 550 hours. At Oshkosh Teledyne announced it has received FAA certification for the engine.

The FAA also approved the Model List Supplemental Type Certification (AML STC) for Garmin’s G500. Garmin shared that news just days after introducing the G500 and its displays of critical flight data on dual LCD displays. Its initial cost is US$15,995. The FAA’s approval allows the G500 to be installed in nearly 600 different makes and models of normal and utility category Part 23 Class I and Class II aircraft, which are defined as single and twin engine piston and turbine engine aircraft under 2725kg.

The Piperjet is not on that list, but is now counted among dependable aircraft, says Piper VP of marketing Bob Kromer.

“We’ve really proven the performance we have promised on the airplane – 360kt true airspeed cruise, 1300nm of range and cruise altitude of 35,000ft. The most impressive part of the Piperjet is its raw performance,” he adds. “It climbs at 200kt or 0. 5 Mach, that’s a real jet-like number that enables you to fit into the climbing altitude of other jets. ” While the single engine jet was on display at AOPA Expo last year, its two flying displays in Oshkosh were the first time it had been seen in the air in public.

There’s money for new hires and development, Kromer stresses, with Piper’s new owners Impremus giving full support.

Meanwhile Cirrus Aircraft co-founder Alan Klapmeier has lately shown more excitement over the single engine SF50 jet than the company that’s developing it. His efforts to raise investments and buy the jet away from his own company first seemed to be gaining favour with Cirrus, but by the end of the week officials announced Klapmeier had come up short and would not be welcome to return as a board member.

Scant investment resources was a frequent conversation topic among the 907 media, 41,000 campers, 1023 homebuilt aircraft, 1007 vintage aircraft, 355 warbirds, 116 ultralights, 99 seaplanes, 36 aerobatic aircraft and 16 rotorcraft.

It may have been one reason so many aircraft seemed to fly out earlier than normal, leaving vast open spaces in the even more vast fields of aircraft.

Oshkosh isn’t all about business, though, and the love of aviation refused to be hampered. There was plenty to be excited and fascinated over, and more people were in the middle of it all than were there last year.