Oshkosh 2011

The new Aerostar Jet and gyrocopters made their debuts, while flying cars gained traction and a flock of aircraft designed by Burt Rutan helped pay tribute to the master designer.

The event founded by kitbuilders is where Composite Helicopters of Auckland unveiled its KC518 Adventourer. “We had an awesome launch of Project KC at Airventure 2011!” says founder and president Peter Maloney. “The Rolls-Royce 250T63‑700 and -720 engines have opened up an entirely new opportunity for the amateur build market,” he explained, with 320 and 420shp (238 and 313kW) options enabling “specifications, cabin space, luggage space, endurance and overall capability that staggered all. ” The six-seater cruises at 135kt with up to 530 litres of fuel and a 660kg useful load and 1. 02 cubic metres of storage. The KC518’s designers boast how they’ve built the world’s first all carbon and kevlar composite frameless helicopter fuselage. There is no riveting and no bolting of joints for the customer’s fuselage construction. Large composite pieces speed up assembly of the A$328,000 kit. After engine, battery, paint and avionics purchases, that price reaches $386,500.

Maloney had owned Heli-Pod international before selling it two years ago to fund the project he began six years earlier. The basis of the design is FAA FAR Part 27, with plans to pursue a type certificate using the RR300 for a low cost entry level corporate helicopter. “Testing continues. [On August 9] we satisfactorily tested the MRB cuff and spindle bearing assembly to 150 per cent load to simulate a significant rotor overspeed. Such high margins of safety being in line with our design philosophy of redundancy and reliability,” says Maloney. Flight testing could begin in mid September. Several sales were made at Oshkosh and more will be signed after flight testing starts.

Sikorsky’s X2 high speed pusher helicopter was also on display, but its flying days are behind it. “The KC518 is just getting started,” says Peter Smyth, sector manager of New Zealand trade and enterprise for the Aviation Industry Cluster. “They have taken a large number of expressions of interest and the helicopter hasn’t even flown yet. ” The Cluster’s first big year at Oshkosh was a success, Smyth says, in promoting NZ aerospace and its products. “We were able to meet a whole bunch of potential business partners or clients in a very short space of time. ” New Zealand, he points out, is an innovative aviation country. “We were one of the first to fly. ” Smyth and the other kiwis were able to build interest in NZ Flair 2011, which runs from October 13-15 at Te Kowhai Airfield in Hamilton. Auckland startup Duke Engines will be there with the engines they introduced at Oshkosh. Response has been overwhelming, the company says. Smyth praises the Duke model 2’s 180hp (134kW) at 6250rpm with a weight of 45kg. The output shaft is ‘geared down’ to five-sixths of the piston reciprocating speed, allowing the “engine-out” torque to be higher and the maximum torque to develop at lower speeds.

Duke claims the Duke Engine is the only commercial four stroke axial piston sparkignited engine available. It has no valves and runs on both mogas and kerosene.

Ultralights and UAVs will benefit from its breakthroughs, including a unique counterrotating motion that cuts vibration almost entirely and overcomes previous limitations in axial engine power and speed. Partial cancellation of gyroscopic torque reduces stress. Duke Model 1 hits 103hp (77kW) and needs no gearbox. As Duke got started, not too far away Rotax was celebrating delivery of its 40,000th 912/914 engine.

At the Cluster booth a model of the amphibious Shearwater 201 showed off that four-seater’s innovative hydroski and a smooth design that promise easy handling on the water. Shearwater Aircraft of Auckland spent years perfecting the laminar flow that promotes “comfort and good handling at all speeds. ” Wing area of 13. 15m2 bringswing loading of only 112kg/m2 at maximum weight. The fast-finish kit can be assembled in 1000 hours, but first delivery is “18 to 24 months after we achieve investor capital,” according to a company statement.

The Shearwater 201 is mostly fibreglass, with carbon fibre used as needed, and stainless steel and titanium fittings making the aircraft saltwater tolerant. It has no floats.

The aircraft will ease into water landings on the retractable ski that’s designed to absorb energy on splashdown.

The show’s international tent was visited by 85 New Zealanders. Of the 541,000 attendees, 2098 were from 68 foreign countries.

There were more Australians there than the 297 who put their pins on the map, but that showing was second only behind Canada.

GippsAero has started construction of a new assembly facility at its base in Morewell, Victoria, to develop two new aircraft – the GA18 18-seat multi-role turboprop twin and the GA10, a stretched version of its successful GA8.

Rolls-Royce signed an agreement with GippsAero in Oshkosh to jointly integrate the M250 B-17F/2 turbine engine into the new GAF Nomad based GA10. Its prototype is being designed now. Rolls-Roycle will aid certification efforts that should begin in March 2012 for possible entry into service in 2013. GippsAero expects sales of the 10-seat turboprop to reach as high as 20 aircraft per year worldwide. “The aircraft will offer lowest cost per seat in its class and best in class STOL capability,” says CEO Terry Miles.

The manufacturer announced in Oshkosh that the hunt is on for its first North American manufacturing facility to build ten GA10s per year. A new dealership network is being set up to boost sales in that market. General manager for North America Randy Juen notes that 75 per cent of the world’s general aviation aircraft are in North America, but, “only 16 per cent of the GA8 fleet is in North America. A striking imbalance that we’re keen to remedy!” It’ll take US$50m (A$48. 6m) in investments to bring the new Aerostar Jet to production.

The twin piston was first introduced in the 1960s and Aerostar Aircraft of Idaho had a prototype fly into Oshkosh with two Pratt & Whitney PW615F jets under the wings. The jet topped out at 400kt. It cruises at 340kt with a potential range of 675nm.

The new LSA designed for aerobatics is a snap. The Italian made Dallair FR-100 Snap single-seat taildragger debuted with a cruise speed of 130kt from a 130hp (97kW) engine built by EPApower on a Rotax 900 series base. Range is 455nm and its MTOW is 430kg. Bill Canino, president of American distributor SportairUSA, explains: “The Snap! is the first purpose-built aerobat to incorporate lower-cost technology and methods learned from the light sport industry, and to be flyable by any licensed pilot, with or without a current medical certificate. ” The HoneyBee G2 LSA gyro buzzed into the show and a grand reception, says CEO Jim Fields. A$16,300 buys the slim one-seater. “The G2 as it is referred to has a significant styling change but addresses the need for an even lighter structure that includes an electric softstart pre-rotator, hydraulic nose wheel brake, hydraulic rotor brake and a host of other improvements,” says Fields. The Michigan manufacturer also offers a slick enclosure that gives the gyro an entirely different look.

Two seats and a lot of power put the two-seat Turbo Golden gyro out of the LSA sector. The production model was unveiled at Oshkosh, five years after designer and owner Larry Neal built the prototype around a 227hp (170kW) engine. The new WRX STI Subaru engine makes all the difference, Neal says, “they’ve come out with the same engine but it’s got 500 more ccs. It’s a 2. 5 instead of 2. 0 litres. Now it has 305hp (227kW). ” That power, along with the prerotater, let the new gyro launch after rolling just over 90m. Typical gyros need at least 600m to fly, he says.

Private pilots as heavy as 135kg can fly it.

“It has a bigger payload than any other gyro that I know of at 700lb (320kg),” he adds.

Side extensions lock on for 0. 7m3 of storage.

The Turbo Golden is sold by two Australian dealers for A$49,300.

Kolb Aircraft ships to Australia, and general manager Travis Brown would be glad to team up with a local dealer to sell the new Firestar II SS. This LSA kit’s main new feature is a switch from traildragger to tricycle gear. “It’s basically the Firestar with a wider fuselage instead of the original tandem arrangement,” Brown explains, “It can also still be flown in the taildragger configuration. It can be both. ” This kit costs A$13,200.

That’s a fair bit less than A$79,000 for the Maverick LSA, but this powered parachute’s cockpit is a dune buggy that’s street legal.

The fifth airframe is being built a year after the Maverick was seen at Oshkosh, giving it an edge over the Terrafugia Transition and its folding wings. That fixed wing aircraft isn’t developing as quickly as predicted, but it is earning special weight and safety consideration from regulators for performance in the air and on the roads.

Flying cars earned more attention than ever this year, and even Burt Rutan is in the mix. The iconic designer enters retirement from Scaled Composites as he shows off his latest design – the bipod flying car. It wasn’t at Oshkosh, but he shared details after its first flight was publicised in July. “The most recent version had the propellers only on the tail, not on the wings,” Rutan told the Experiemental Aircraft Association. “It was designed to have a 10 minute, no tools, single person changeover,” Burt said. “The wing weighs only 50lb (23kg), so you can pull it out and it has a skateboard wheel on the wing spar. So then you walk around and treat it like a wheel barrow. A single person can position it between the bodies and get up and snap it into place. ” Rutan says the prototype twin fuselage flying car has driven at 70kt with a 35kt crosswind. “It’s also flown just with wheel power launching it,” he says. Lithium iron phosphate batteries are the power source. If investors turn up to support the Bipod, then gas engine generators will be installed.

Another famous aviation name announced the Honeywell TPE331-14GR will power the Kestrel turboprop. Kestrel Aircraft CEO Alan Klapmeier also unveiled a new cabin mockup that tapers from 15 to 20cm wider than the prototype’s interior.

The spar disappears from the cabin floor thanks to a new 5cm drop.

When this version flies it won’t have the recovery parachute Klapmeier demanded for the Cirrus SR22, but that feature is coming.

In fact, the long term goal of installing recovery parachutes in cargo and commercial passenger aircraft comes a step closer for BRS Aerospace following a partnership with Kestrel Aircraft to design a recovery system for the six-seat turboprop.

“We absolutely have the technology to do it,” says BRS Aerospace CEO Larry Williams. “It’s a question of, what’s the best way to do it?” Klapmeier co-founded Cirrus Aircraft and made recovery systems mainstream after insisting they be installed in the four-seat SR20 piston. BRS helped the SR22 become the world’s top selling four-seat piston aircraft. Klapmeier eventually expects to offer a recovery chute as a standard Kestrel option. He and Williams have signed a research agreement to make it happen. William says: “We’ll do a number of drop tests and we’ll do a number of studies to determine the best way to do that. ” BRS is already researching recovery chutes for unmanned systems, and the Kestrel research will be a step toward even larger airframes. The recovery chute for Flight Design’s new C4 will be the first with an electrical trigger.

Energy and good cheer always dominate the show, but this year the forced furlough of 4000 FAA workers meant uncertainty lingered underfoot. A budget fight in the US Congress let the last of 20 short term FAA funding bills approved since 2007 actually expired. Speaking at his ‘meet the administrator’ forum, FAA boss Randy Babbitt apologised for the smaller contingent with him, but he assured listeners that AirVenture would not be affected. “This is the place where the FAA becomes personified to many of you – not a web link or a button on a phone, but real people working with real aviators,” he said.