Splogger (Sport Pilot Blogger) Dan Johnson continues his recap of what he found interesting at this year’s Sun ’n Fun. Today: Engines and powerplants: Lycoming is coming on stronger in the LSA field, with installations on Falcon, Comet, and Tecnam, with hints of more to follow. The O-233 removed 40 pounds from the O-235 model […]
Opinion
Could NextGen ground GA?
WASHINGTON, D.C. — When good developments are made, most people are delighted and few consider the secondary effects. These, however, are often significant. Take the unintended consequences of NextGen. It has been said a secondary effect of the development of the cheap transistor radio was important in bringing turmoil in the Middle East. Prior to […]
LSA news from Sun ’n Fun
Whew! It’s over. Sun ’n Fun can be the busiest six days of one’s life — until the next one. I wanted to skim the very top of what I found interesting at the recently concluded show. Today I’ll cover airframe manufacturers and follow up this week with more. Dave Loveman, my video collaborator, will […]
Don’t forget the little guy
As regular readers of this column may have noted, I often write about airports and administrative issues that effect the municipally owned airports of Polk County, Florida. Because most of the issues that one airport faces will eventually become an issue for others, there is a certain universality to the topics covered here, even if […]
UL91 explained
Last month, Lycoming expanded its support for alternative fuels by announcing that it was seeking EASA approval for operation of many of its engines on the unleaded aviation fuel UL91. The company also announced it was planning to approve its new O-233 LSA engine for autogas, a clear response to engines from Rotax, Jabiru, ULPower, […]
Will this replacement camshaft work in my engine?
Q: I have an O-290-D2 that I am going to use in an Experimental Wag Aero 2+2 that I am building. Although the engine was flying regularly before I removed it from a Pacer and pickled it, I want to open it up to look at the cam. If the cam is pitted, a replacement […]
MMA and Cylinders?
Leave it up to the good folks in at San Antonio-based ECi to write a post for their website titled, “Cage Fighting for Cylinders“. In the post, ECi’s Tim Moreland acknowledges that “ECi has gotten a black eye for some cylinder failures so we went to the gym to toughen up.” Using the growing popularity […]
Performers donated $250K, how much did you ‘donate’?
At a closing day media briefing, Sun ’n Fun president John ‘Lites’ Leenhouts said airshow performers donated $250,000 worth of performances to the fly-in this year. Lites was a few minutes late to the media briefing because he was thanking performers at the airshow safety briefing. “When a group donates $250,000 of services,” Lites said, “I […]
ULPower’s new 6-cylinder autogas engines
Belgian aircraft engine maker ULPower recently announced a new line of FADEC-controlled, autogas-burning six-cylinder engines ranging in output from 140-200 hp. According to Robert Helms, general manager of ULPower North America, “The thrust to weight ratio is appealing to the designers of many aircraft. Whether you are focused on short takeoff, high economy, or high […]