Pilots interested in a unique taildragger with economical operating costs should consider this 1976 Beechcraft B19 Musketeer Sport, which is available for $64,995 on AircraftForSale.

Unlike earlier model years, the 1976 B19 Musketeer Sport featured here offers two cabin doors, easing cabin access. Like all Musketeers, it is equipped with plush trailing-link main landing gear that smooths out all but the harshest touchdowns and worst runway surfaces. While outwardly similar to a Piper Warrior, it is both larger and taller with ramp presence that becomes evident when the two types are parked side-by-side.

While the 150-horsepower Lycoming O-320 provides relatively modest power, its 2000-hour TBO bests many other engines. With only 1,273 hours since major overhaul, the new owner of this Musketeer can expect many years of use before reaching TBO. Until then, they can enjoy peace of mind knowing that this engine has good compressions and has had oil changes every 25 hours. In addition, oil analysis reports are availableforo review.

• READ MORE: Beechcraft Musketeer Sport II

With 5,246 hours on the airframe, this Musketeer is well-used, but it has also been fastidiously maintained. Always hangared with complete logs (viewable on aircraftforsale.com) and no corrosion, the current owner has replaced the landing gear’s rubber “donuts” that provide shock absorption. They have also upgraded the landing and strobe lights with modern LEDs and are including a 22-pound aft ballast weight the new owner can install to improve the center of gravity during most flight operations.

Inside, the IFR panel is very cleanly arranged with a freshly overhauled GNS430, a Bluetooth audio panel, and a Stratus ESG transponder, providing ADS-B in and out. The airplane has no known damage history and appears to be a bargain, near the very bottom of our PlanePrice Beta pricing analysis.

You can arrange financing of the aircraft through FLYING Finance. For more information, email info@flyingfinance.com.

The post Bargain Buys on AircraftForSale: 1976 Beechcraft B19 Musketeer Sport appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

The A30 launch was a hard secret to keep. It wasn’t the first new product announcement the company has made in 13 years, and even before I got the inside scoop from Bose, I’d predicted that we’d see a successor to the A20 at Sun ‘n Fun. (It was an impressive prediction; just don’t ask to see my March Madness debacle of a bracket.)

It seems that the A20 was around forever, and 13 years is a good stretch in an aviation marketplace where new headsets appeared from Bose’s competitors far more frequently. The extended reign of the A20 made sense, though. When it hit the airways in 2010, it  immediately displaced the company’s Aviation Headset X as the headset to have in your flight bag. Rightly so. The A20 was a far better headset than the X in just about every way. It was more comfortable, had better passive and active noise reduction, and added features like Bluetooth wireless connectivity. If you were flying with Bose Aviation Headset X’s, you just had to get the A20s. And while Bose improved the A20 incrementally over that time, the bones of the product were great from the get-go. I have worn the A20 for around 1,000 hours in loud single-engine airplanes. It’s a great product.

I know that one big criticism we’ll hear early and often on the A30 is that it’s just a warmed-over A20, and I get it. It looks very similar, it does the same kinds of things, there are no fancy features, just the usual ones, beautifully implemented as they are on the A20. So, should you replace your A20s with A30s? I don’t think anyone needs to. But believe me, people will want to. And once they slide one on, they’ll really want to.  

Features
What is the killer feature on the A30? Nothing. But at the same time, everything. And Bose knew it would be a challenge to update the A20, and to its everlasting credit, it didn’t try to make a whole new headset but, wisely, a whole better headset.

This they did not by focusing on one feature but on all of them, seriously. When you look at the A30, even when you put your hands on one, you’ll wonder how it’s different from the A20 at all. The answer is, it’s different in just about every conceivable way. And better, too.

That said, some of the improvements are specific to certain needs that not everyone will have. The top feature, though—improved comfort over an already supremely comfortable headset—will be one that just about every pilot will love. This they accomplished while still keeping the A30 very slightly lighter than the A20. At the same time, they somehow managed to make it feel, well, not heavier, but more secure. One of the most important tests of any aviation headset is comfort, and for those of us who have been flying small planes for a while have had the unpleasant pain of wearing early-tech noise cancelling headsets on a long day’s flight. The A20s are the most comfortable headset I’ve ever worn for multiple-leg cross countries, and so far, the A30 feels even better. Beta testers tell Bose that they are having the same early impression.

Noise-wise, the A30 is different, and in ways that might or might not benefit you directly. There are three levels of noise cancelling in the new digital chipset that Bose uses—low, medium and high—though pilots of small, single-engine planes will most likely keep it parked on the high setting, which is even more effective than its impressive predecessor at blocking unwanted audio intrusions through the magic of active noise reduction. Unlike the A20, for which Bose’s senior product manager Matt Ruhe used analog circuitry, the A30 is a digital headset, which allowed Bose to target noise more specifically than the A20 can.

The A30’s mic is totally different than the A20’s, and it, too, is an improvement, with better intelligibility and ease of use. Despite the move to a digital design, the A30 keeps the warmth of the sound of the A20, which also helps with fatigue. Another quality-of-life improvement is the new cord, which is better, lighter, more flexible and less noticeable.

Other features that you might or might not use are tool-less interchangeable cord attachment, so you can mount it on the side closest to the jack, and a tap-to-talk feature that lets you make the noise cancelling transparent for easier conversations inside or outside of the cockpit.

The bottom line is, the $1,295 Bose A30 aviation headset is a step up in comfort, utility and features, and while it lacks the bells and whistles of some of its competitors’ premium headsets, it is everything, at least in our book, that a headset should be and nothing that it shouldn’t. The A30 is available now from your favorite pilot supply outlet.

The post Bose’s A30 Headset Shows Off New Design appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Larry Leonard and I roomed together our college freshman year at the Castilian dorm, where I met my future wife, Karin. Before starting our senior year, Larry and I moved into the same Austin apartment complex, each in a one-room efficiency, and Michael Rafferty was in his sophomore year at the University of Texas.

Driving through the west Austin hill country one late summer day, Michael and I spied a hang glider for sale in a front yard. We were both aviation enthusiasts and inspired to take up hang gliding after watching James Bond in the opening scene of Live and Let Die. Although we didn’t buy that particular glider, the owner put us in touch with the Austin hang glider club.

The club was run by two Steves—Steve Burns and Steve Stackable, a 1975 U.S. motocross national champion. “Stack” was the ultimate cool dude. This wavy-haired motorcycle star had raced in the Houston Astrodome in the 1970s.

Michael and I entered Austin Air Sports’ small wooden shop and asked about hang-gliding lessons. Through Burns’ connections, we found a great deal. Michael and I split the $800 cost of a 1980 Spirit Electra Flyer, featuring an innovative crossbar, making the large, 200-square-foot hang glider pretty nimble and maneuverable. It had multicolored, earth-tone panels with brown in the center, then orange, tan, yellow, and red ones extending out to the purple wingtips. The entire disassembled glider was relatively easy to transport, fitting into an 18-foot blue canvas bag, about 2 feet in diameter.

Launching a hang glider required a hill to run down, and that meant we needed a four-wheel-drive vehicle. I bought my brother’s green 1978 Subaru BRAT, a tiny two-seat pickup truck with a four-speed manual transmission and a 4-foot bed covered by a white camper shell. Once loaded, our “glider in a bag” extended 2 feet in front and behind the 14-foot truck, but we were in business.

Learning to fly a hang glider required a mastery of taking off and landing first and foremost, much like learning to fly any airplane. We only needed a small hill, and for that, Austin Air Sports used the football field sunken in a shallow bowl at Murchison Middle School. Our beginner’s lessons reminded me of Charlie Brown skiing down his pitcher’s mound. The flights lasted only seconds, but they suited our needs.

Our Spirit glider came complete with training wheels mounted on the control bar. I stepped into the blue harness that ran from shoulders to crotch like an old-fashioned men’s swimming suit. Our knee-hanger harness had two thick 6-foot ropes shrouded in material stitched into it at my shoulder blades and attached by wide Velcro straps just below my knees. This simple style of harness kept our legs and feet free to run down the launch ramp. The two thick ropes, held together with a carabiner, then hooked to the glider frame above and behind my shoulders.
Once safely buckled in and with my white half-shell motorcycle helmet in place, I hoisted the triangular control frame assembly onto my shoulders. My arms were draped around the downtubes of the triangle and my wingtips extended out 17 feet in each direction. I ran a few steps down the small hill, and the large wing became airborne within seconds. For the initial training, my only goal was to fly straight ahead into the football field and belly land. This allowed the wheels to touch—and me to coast to a stop. After a flight shorter than Orville Wright’s famous one back in 1903, I stood up and unhooked the carabiner. Holding onto the pointed nose of the kite, I pushed it up the hill for another go.

Larry joined Michael and me, and we each practiced numerous takeoffs before learning the art of flaring the large kite for a normal landing. As the glider approached the landing zone, I pushed gently forward on the control bar, raising the nose but not enough to climb back into the air. This allowed for a feet-first landing, like a duck settling on water. If I pushed too aggressively on the control bar, I risked climbing 10 feet up in the air, stalling the wing, and crashing to the ground. Hang glider pilots have broken their legs from this sort of botched landing.

After a few weeks of Charlie Brown pitcher’s mound practice, we were ready for a real hang glider flight. The nearest suitable launch location in flat Texas was a 400-foot hill on Packsaddle Mountain, an hour and a half west of Austin between Marble Falls and Llano. Michael and I strapped our bagged glider to the top of the BRAT and set off for the Texas Hill Country behind our instructors, Stack and Steve.

The little 4-cylinder truck bounced its way along a 2-mile dirt county road off Highway 71, finally turning off at the base of an outcropping where two hills merged into one, raised at both ends with the right side higher than the left, giving it the appearance of a horse’s packsaddle. Our launch point was the southern, higher hill, and the truck tackled the rutty dirt trail up to the 400-foot summit.

With the kite fully assembled and my harness and motorcycle helmet donned, I carried it on my shoulders to the wooden launch platform, which was painted like a gigantic Texas flag in red, white, and blue. Stack said the first few attempts would just be sled rides, a simple flight with only mild S-turns from the launch platform to the cow pasture directly below. Given the increased speed of this flight versus the small football stadium hill, I was instructed to just make a belly landing on the training wheels until I gained more experience.

Balancing the kite on my shoulders, I jogged down the 10-foot ramp and was airborne after just three steps. The wind whistled in my ears as the craggy hillside fell away below. Ahead lay a vast pasture used for grazing cattle, which made for an easy landing zone. My inaugural flight lasted perhaps a minute, and I glided toward the dry, brown, summer grass for a soft landing.

Now came the tedious part. During my short flight, Michael drove the BRAT down the bumpy road and into the pasture, and together we partially disassembled the kite, folding the wings together along the central spar and taking apart the aluminum triangle. Hoisting our kite back onto our trusty little pack mule, we drove back up the hill for another flight. Lather, rinse, repeat. Early on, Michael and I would each take three short flights then turn over the kite to the other person for their turn to practice. It became quite a long day for just a bit of flying, but the experience was exhilarating.

After a few more sled rides, I began to get a feel for the handling of our Spirit glider from takeoff to landing. I started to add gentle turns to the flights, cruising back and forth along the hillside in what is called “ridge lift,” created from the southerly wind flowing toward Packsaddle Mountain. As long as the breeze blew and I stayed in a thermal or ridge lift, the glider stayed airborne indefinitely. There were just two things limiting our flight time: Michael was waiting for his turn, and while gliding I was in a front-leaning-rest, push-up position, which became tiresome.

Typically, our flights lasted about 20 minutes, and this was plenty of time to take in the rustic sights of the Hill Country. Like a hawk scanning the land below, I could see the Colorado River to the north and east, divided by dams to form lakes Buchanan, LBJ, and Travis. To the south, I saw Highway 71 snaking its way west toward Llano, and miles and miles of cedar and scrub oak-covered hills. Gliding was very peaceful, with only the soft hiss of the wind in my ears and the creaking and clinking of the aluminum glider frame.

On occasion, our desire to fly like a bird was enhanced when we were shadowed by a pair of turkey vultures that launched from the surrounding trees to follow our kite. As the pilot, I was rarely aware that I was leading a formation of birds. With the large black birds following just aft of my wingtips, I couldn’t see them, but they made for some excellent photographs.

Communing with nature occurred not only during flight but also during the evening landings. Our landing zone was the preferred dining spot of the roaming herd of cattle. Around 5 p.m., as the sun began to set and we were getting in our last flights, about 30 black cows began grazing right in our landing zone. Just as aircraft used to buzz sheep or cattle, I too took part in that ritual.

After cruising in the hillside ridge lift for a half hour, I flew away from the hill and out of the lifting wind currents to begin a shallow descent to the brown, grassy field below. I gained enough speed to allow for a “go-around” if things didn’t look right before landing. I whistled over the uninterested bovines just 5 feet above their backs. Once clear of the munching moos, I pushed forward on the control bar, raising the nose slightly. I then circled back to a clear grassy spot for a flare, touched my feet to the ground, and shouldered the kite. I loved the calm, thrilling experience of hang gliding.

Unfortunately, my flights didn’t always go as planned. One evening, the winds started to pick up as our day came to an end. Wanting to get in just one more flight, I suited up for a last run. I ran down the launch ramp and became airborne just as a gust of wind hit my left wing and blew me immediately toward the radio tower guy wires about 50 yards to the right of our ramp. I immediately shifted my position to the left corner of the control bar and threw it up and to my right, trying to counter the wind with a hard left turn. Fortunately, my right wingtip missed the guy wires by a few feet, and I cruised away from the tower and into the hillside updraft.

My second incident involved a revolutionary way to launch hang gliders by towing them behind a powered ultralight. Just as airplanes tow sailplanes in soaring, a French company pioneered a tether system for its powered gliders that we used to launch us from the pasture. Part of the three-ring release assembly included a weak link designed to snap if too many G-forces were pulled by the trailing glider. This way the powered leader would not drag a flailing kite, pulling them both back to the ground. Larry and Michael each took a turn, running with the kite for a few feet as the power glider gained speed and towed them safely to altitude for a smooth flight.

• READ MORE: Try These Low-Cost DIY Hangar Projects! 

I suited up in the harness and helmet and gave the towing tricycle glider a thumbs-up that I was ready. As he increased the thrust of his small propeller, I walked then jogged as he gained speed. Just like launching from our hillside ramp, I was airborne quickly, but the cool sensation this time was that I was only a few feet above the grass. I enjoyed the low-altitude cruise at grass-top level as the power glider gained speed and altitude. We flew up to 200 feet, and he began a gentle turn to the left. I must have been looking down or off to my right at the scenery because I didn’t notice his turn, started mine too late, and didn’t aggressively get back into position behind him. Within a few seconds, my kite was straining the tow rope and the weak link snapped as designed.

I now needed to make a quick landing back at the cleared field behind me. It’s a situation I had been trained for in flying small planes, just like an engine failure after takeoff. Needing to immediately turn back to the landing zone, I continued my wide left-hand turn and saw trees and a power line between me and the pasture. Without the ability to add power, I could only hope my descent rate would clear the obstacles as the trees and power line loomed closer. Luckily, my feet cleared the power line, and I successfully landed in the field. So much for that adventure. I was pretty shaken up by that episode, knowing I had caused it by getting out of position. While Michael would go on to enjoy years of hang gliding and soaring in a sailplane, I decided I would stick to powered flight. Give me an engine any day. 

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the September 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine. 

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Sky King was one of the first radio adventure serials to make the jump to TV in the 1950s. It featured the adventures of Schuyler “Sky” King and his niece, Penny, and nephew, Clipper, living on the Flying Crown ranch in Arizona. King was a former military aviator and was often called upon to catch the bad guys and save the day, which usually involved fancy flying in a twin-engine Cessna named Songbird. The show was sponsored by Peter Pan peanut butter and later Nabisco.

Sky King incorporated several aircraft during the show’s run, starting with a Cessna T-50 Bobcat. Later, several models of the Cessna 310 were used. Each airplane had a crown and the name of the ranch painted on the fuselage.

Today, Songbird III is privately owned. Although it was not flown during the show it was used for publicity photos. At AirVenture it was parked in the vintage area. If you wanted a clean photograph, you had to get there at sunrise because this airplane is a rock star. So many people want to pose behind the left wing, recreating the shot used in promotional stills where Uncle Sky is helping Penny off the rear of the wing.

For so many aviators, Sky King wasn’t just entertainment—it was an inspiration. The show spoke to a generation. Proof of this can be found at AirVenture at lunchtime: Go into the crowded burger kiosk in the vintage aircraft area and shout the opening line of the program at the top of your lungs: “Out of the clear blue of the western sky…” And do not be surprised if a great many people shout back, “…comes Sky King!” It will mortify your teenagers and possibly your spouse, but oh, boy, will it make a lot of people smile.

The post Icon ‘Songbird III’ Still King of the Skies appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

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The event will be hosted by the renowned Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, with 17 crews ascending to the skies in pursuit of victory.

Established more than a century ago, the Gordon Bennett race stands as a timeless testament to the allure and challenge of long-distance gas ballooning. The competition attracts highly skilled and celebrated pilot teams from across the globe who come prepared to endure the rigors of a race like no other.

In the unique event, the team that covers the greatest distance from its starting point wins. While it may sound straightforward in theory, the Gordon Bennett race is anything but easy. Victory hinges on exceptional physical endurance, unwavering morale, mental resilience, and an extensive understanding of wind patterns and weather conditions. Pilots face ext reme temperatures, fatigue, and dehydration during their challenging quest for the longest distance flight.

Each participating team consists of two pilots supported by a dedicated ground crew. This year, France, Germany, and the U.S. have fielded three teams each—the maximum allowed. Austria and Poland are represented by two teams apiece, while Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom have pinned their hopes on a single team.

Germany’s Wilhelm and Benjamin Eimers, a father-son duo, are the team to watch. Having secured victory in Albuquerque last year, they are undoubtedly among the most accomplished gas balloon pilots. Wilhelm Eimers boasts an impressive record, having participated in the race a record 29 times with five victories.

The race pays tribute to James Gordon Bennett Jr., who was renowned for not only founding the now-defunct International Herald Tribune but also for generously sponsoring air sports. Seeking the expertise of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), Bennett organized the inaugural Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett on September 30, 1906, at Paris’ Tuileries Gardens. The event’s immense success led Bennett to entrust FAI with the race’s organization, while his name continued to be synonymous with the esteemed trophy.

Throughout its storied history, the race has seen remarkable feats in terms of both duration and distance. In 2005, Belgium’s Bob Berben and Benoit Simeons shattered a distance record set in 1912 with an impressive flight covering a total of 3,400.39 kilometers. Last year, Wilhelm Eimers and Bernd Landsmann soared for an astonishing 92 hours and 11 minutes to secure victory—an accomplishment that took longer than completing the first Pacific Ocean crossing. Typically, Gordon Bennett teams remain airborne for approximately 50 to 65 hours. 

The 66th Coupe Aéronautique Gordon Bennett promises to be a captivating spectacle, showcasing the unwavering spirit of adventure and enduring legacy of its pioneering founder.. and his dedication to air sports.

The post Gordon Bennett Race to Return for 66th Edition appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Me too.

I look forward to more reporting on aircraft. Nonetheless…

MOSAIC has given us an inside look at how the FAA works. Many improvements resulted when the industry worked in harmony with government officials. Nonetheless, careful study found areas of concern in the NPRM. Recent articles in other publications hit essentially the same points as I did in my talk. Those points were partly my thinking, but I also relied on other experts to whom I had posed a variety of questions.

Still, some of the best commentary has come from non-experts—regular pilots who were concerned about a certain part of the NPRM and explored it thoroughly. With this in mind, I was keen to hear from my audiences at the Midwest LSA Expo 2023.

• READ MORE: The MOSAIC Comment Window Is Half Gone

What follows represents my distillation of a number of questions that were asked in lengthy Q&A sessions following the two presentations. Several conversations developed between people in the audience, and therefore asking you to listen to all of that would not be engaging. I attempted to faithfully reproduce those questions and comments, and my responses, below.

Aircraft Descriptions

If my LSA has been restricted to 1,320 pounds to meet current regulation, will a pathway exist to use a higher weight if the aircraft has been appropriately tested?

The answer depends. If your aircraft is Experimental Amateur Built, you are the manufacturer and can change what you want. So if you want to fly on drivers license medical at a higher weight — so long as you clean stall at 54 knots or less — you can do so. On a Special LSA, the manufacturer will have to redeclare that they meet all applicable ASTM standards at the higher weight and could then start supplying aircraft with higher gross weights. However, that does not mean they will go backwards compatible and make all earlier aircraft so capable. A manufacturer would have no idea how the aircraft had been maintained or operated and they may not want to take on the added risk.

Some producers may not make aircraft specific to the U.S. market…

I agree, but many CAAs, especially in smaller countries, mirror FAA regulations closely. Since the U.S. aviation market remains the largest in the world, many producers cannot ignore American rules.

Will the FAA allow a sport pilot, perhaps by endorsement, to carry more than one passenger?

This represents a good place to urge your comment. If you believe a sport pilot, with added training and an endorsement, should be allowed to fly on a drivers license, say so.

What weight limit is applied to MOSAIC LSA?

No weight limit is specified. Instead, aircraft size is well governed by specifying clean stall at 54 knots. That is VS1 not VS0, clean—not flaps out. The purpose is to limit aircraft size and does not relate to slow flight or landing speeds.

Why the 54 knot clean stall? Why not with flaps?

Understand that the FAA’s point about a 54-knot clean stall is to provide a means of limiting the aircraft size. It works well for that, but this can also be easily defended by the pilot (show the FAA the POH) and verified by the FAA (by examining the POH). It’s a simple solution.

I fly a Beech Sundowner, a [Cessna] 172-like aircraft. The POH states a 62-knot clean stall. If I add vortex generators to it and lower the stall speed to 54 knots, will it qualify even though the POH will still say 62?

Since Sundowner is a Part 23 certified aircraft, it would require an STC to add anything to the airframe. At that time, a modification could be added to the POH but FAA officials in various places will not initially know how to handle this. The problem is, how do you know it stalls at 54 or less, and how do you defend it? The cost to demonstrate convincing evidence that stall is now lower than the POH states may be excessive.

You referred in one slide to “high performance.” That term and “complex” are already defined in Part 61. If it has an adjustable prop, a 200 horsepower engine, and flaps, it is “high performance.” If it is retractable, it is “complex”, although it may not also be “high performance” (ex: a C-172 RG is complex but not high performance).

The FAA perceived a gap between LSA and Part 23 certified aircraft; they evidently see pilot certification similarly in discussing endorsements. While MOSAIC LSA gain many capabilities, sport pilots remain bound by other rules. It was not clarified how a sport pilot qualifies for “high performance” operations. We hope endorsements will suffice; they’ve worked well for 19 years of SP/LSA.

Will aircraft from other countries that have met other certification systems be accepted under MOSAIC?

The commenter refers to a government arrangement called “reciprocity” where one country accepts the methods of other countries. It comes as part of the Bilateral Safety Agreement. While the FAA will accept such approvals, they are still likely to assure an aircraft still meets every line item in ASTM standards for MOSAIC LSA.

Sport Pilot Privileges

If I already have retractable experience or night experience, can I use that as a sport pilot under MOSAIC?

You will have to get an endorsement, it appears, but any instructor who sees a lot of related recent experience in a logbook and flies with you for verification may be willing to endorse your logbook accordingly in short order. If you are not current with those skills, that person may recommend added training.

Is the reason for the medical requirement to fly at night related to color blindness?

The FAA did bring that up at EAA AirVenture 2023, saying that when the states give you a drivers license, they don’t adequately test for this. Personally, I find the argument weak to require pilots to pursue a medical over the relatively remote possibility that they might one day need a light signal from the control tower.

Couldn’t I just go to a doctor and only have my vision checked for color blindness?

That would make a worthy comment and would appear to address the FAA’s stated concern.

Will the opportunity to fly IFR be available to sport pilots without a medical?

Given the FAA’s attachment to medicals, that seems unlikely. However, the same response about the weak relationship between medical possession and aviation safety remains.

As pilots age, insurance companies want more frequent medical visits (even if the FAA may not). Will the insurance companies accept drivers license medical on MOSAIC LSA?

That’s a worthy question but not one about MOSAIC. Insurance companies are private and can require any evidence of medical fitness their contracts specify. They have accepted LSA use on drivers license medical and as I keep saying, no one has presented compelling evidence that possession of an aviation medical assures the flight is safer. What insurance companies do in the future is more a matter of the reinsurance market than an FAA regulation. At present, any pilot over 75  will find challenges getting insurance, regardless of that person’s health.

Have any parts of sport pilot flight instructor been changed?

That is not an area on which I am as well informed but, yes, I saw several references to SPIs. I urge you to use the USUA/LAMA study guide and use its search capability to look up that part more fully yourself. Then, please comment. 

• READ MORE: Your MOSAIC Study Guide

Are you still saying that, assuming no change in the 90-day comment window, this will not go live until the end of 2024 or early 2025?

Yes, although an extension may be granted to a group of maintenance companies in which case the rule will be pushed back at least an additional 90 days.

If multi-engine is being allowed, how do you qualify for that?

This is another of those clues that this NPRM seems a bit rushed to market. FAA Aircraft Certification will permit multiple engines/motors, but the Flight Standards Group did not address pilot qualifications. A conventionally-acquired multi-engine rating is far less applicable today because designs include multiple electric motors, advanced computer controls, and many other technical capabilities the FAA never confronted.

What do you mean by “equal work” for powered parachutes or weight shift?

This refers to NPRM language that effectively discriminates against those aircraft types. A pilot cannot take advantage of the opportunity to use LSA for aerial work because a commercial pilot certificate is required and none is available for those aircraft types. They should have equal opportunity to perform aerial work; they may be perfectly suited to some tasks.

How fixed is the FAA on one passenger only? Could the agency be convinced otherwise?

First, the restriction is on the pilot not the aircraft. A private pilot with a medical could use a four-seat mLSA with four people on board, assuming weight and balance allows. Regarding the FAA’s flexibility on this, given its tight cling to medicals even though the evidence for them is weak, I suspect convincing the agency to let sport pilots fly three passengers is a long shot, but you can certainly comment if you have reasons to believe this is wrong.

What was the YouTube address for the MOSAIC Masterclass videos?

Go to YouTube and search “@EasyFlight.” Some may find it easier to consume MOSAIC through a series of videos.

Maintenance

Could you take two seats out of a six-seat legacy GA airplane, so it only has four, assuming it has a clean stall of 54 knots or less?

This is a “What if”-type question that can go on too long, but essentially if the aircraft has four seats and a clean stall of 54 knots, it can qualify to be flown by a pilot using sport pilot privileges, although only with two persons on board. In order to modify a Part 23-certified aircraft, however, you’d have to get a STC and your local FSDO or MIDO will not be up to speed on MOSAIC initially, so they may not understand the request.

Can a second owner of a LSA take a course to do maintenance on that aircraft?

This can happen today but some questions have been raised under MOSAIC. Rainbow Aviation expressed reason for concern on this. It is more expert on maintenance and I deferred to the company’s knowledge. 

It appears it will be more restrictive, will take more effort to get LSRM credentials. Any such action will reduce mechanics, already in short supply. Existing A&Ps don’t have enough experience or training on Rotax or Jabiru.

You appear to understand correctly. This is an area where I defer to those with greater knowledge so I have been recommending the Rainbow Aviation YouTube channel as it has been outspoken on this.

Are We About Done with MOSAIC?

Yes! Of course, I will continue to report on MOSAIC developments and news but now it is time for me to formulate my own comments to the FAA. I hope you found all the MOSAIC information useful. I hope you will comment.

The post A MOSAIC Q-and-A appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Everybody has memories of the original Microsoft Flight Simulator software versions. Then not too many years later, computer programmer Austin Meyer developed his Archer II simulator which morphed into the famous X-Plane simulation program we fans have grown to know and love. Today, when talking of PC civilian sims, most of us immediately think of just two. MSFS2020 and X-Plane 12 dominate the market. However, others exist for military and civilian fans and won’t be neglected in future articles.

But I want to focus on how both X-Plane and MSFS can benefit newly certificated pilots and students alike, so I will look at a few scenarios the fairly new pilot would benefit from flying virtually in a snapshot of both sims, both pros and cons.

Slow Flight, MCA, Stalls, and Spins

For this scenario, I started by using X-Plane 12, basing the simulation at Alpine Airport (46U) in Wyoming, for a somewhat high-altitude challenge (airport elevation is 5,600 feet msl), along with variable weather conditions. After starting up the Cessna 172XP in a realistic manner—partially leaned for takeoff and using live weather—I climbed up over the local area to roughly 2,000 feet agl to practice slow flight and minimum controllable airspeed (MCA). I noticed the X-Plane 12 Cessna handled all this quite realistically from what I remember years ago as a CFII: full flaps, with speeds in the 50- to 60-knot range. Then I flew some MCA with the stall horn beeping and mushing controls, watching the vertical speed indicator stay at zero with power but not too much back pressure to induce a stall—just an aerial dance of working feet, pitch, and throttle.

Slow flight and MCA were extremely realistic and accurate in XP12 as if the aircraft was alive and reacting to the world as it should.

Soon I decided to go all the way into some stalls at a fairly unsafe altitude. At only about 1,500 to 2,000 agl, I started with power-off and power-on stalls, both in turns and straight ahead. Then it was time to see if the airplane spins as I remember from CFI training days. The feeling of the flight model during this was very high and precise.

Power to idle, then back pressure into a squealing stall horn and a turn rolled me rapidly into a left-hand spin—shockingly real and startling.
Sure enough, the back pressure in a turn did the trick, with a fully breaking stall—horn screaming—and bam, the rapid roll into a spin was shockingly real. The recovery inputs felt natural and realistic—slightly sloppy but well modeled—and I recovered at about 300 agl after probably two rotations. It’s certainly not the way we teach in the real world, but having poor risk management skills is the norm on a PC. The fluidity of X-Plane 12 aerodynamics is on full tilt here.

I tried the MSFS2020 Cessna 172XP, at the same airport for the same tests, and the same live weather, only this time as MSFS interprets it.

MSFS never used to model spins nor have a really high-fidelity flight model, but in this test the modeled airplane produced a realistic spin. This was prompted by a power-on stall that resulted in a rapidly winding spin. Sounds of the stall and spin were pretty much on par with X-Plane 12, with the exception being the stall horn X-Plane 12 sounded more realistic and dynamic.

Once airborne in the MSFS 172, I tested slow flight, MCA, and spins in the same manner. Where the MSFS franchise was never known for realistic flight modeling in the past, it is clear this newest version represents a breakthrough. It felt very similar to X-Plane 12’s reactions, with still a wee bit of the “flying-on-rails” feeling we know from previous MSFS versions—but a massive improvement overall in flight modeling for this scenario. I was impressed it spun—and spun well. Recovery was realistic and responsive.

Failure and Emergency Training Scenario

No pilot training would be complete without failure and emergency options, and this is where X-Plane has always smashed the competition, with hundreds of possible failures and emergencies you can either precisely set to occur or randomize each and every option for a nerve-wracking experience.

In this example, I set up a bird strike to occur at exactly 200 feet agl. Despite this setup, I was still startled when it happened. The results were unknown until the engine oil pressure and temperatures started trending to the bad side. I cheated by looking outside and was shocked to see fire and smoke trails.

The scenery is compelling, but the overall lack of failure scenarios and a slightly less fluid flight model makes the emergency practice slightly less beneficial and startling. It’s too predictable since you must pretend a failure or emergency is unfolding. But the visual beauty and accuracy of the world around you are awesome. You’ll gain knowledge, crisis handling, and emergency off-airport planning in either sim.

The birds came out of nowhere fast in the simulation. I had nowhere to go and was coping with a big startle factor at that. You could cope in real life far better by having had the ability to experience that sudden event in simulation.

This engine had really taken a hit. Time to secure and shut down or choose to delay your response to see what might happen next.
I aimed for a road along the shore with some scrubby areas that could provide a safe landing site, although there were houses and bigger trees at the far end of the view.

With a comparable setup in MSFS2020 but without failure modeling, I cut the engine at a similar location and altitude. The scenery is more realistic as it’s based on true Earth images that load by default as you fly. Subscribing to Ortho scenery photorealistic terrain is possible on X-Plane 12 as an option.

I made a safe touchdown in MSFS in a grassy area, dodging road traffic. This is where MSFS takes the cake, “off-roading” with very photorealistic scenery by default. X-Plane will provide similar scenes via downloads and simple installations but by default isn’t as sharp as MSFS.

Convective Dangers and Weather Modeling

Simulating thunderstorms is a thrill, especially when the danger and risks involved can be simulated realistically. Fortunately, both simulations do this quite well now—a new breakthrough for MSFS and an old tried-and-true risk/danger model for X-Plane reworked and improved for X-Plane 12. I manually set up thunderstorms to begin developing, with a trend toward deteriorating weather, so storms would slowly increase in coverage and intensity, making for some cloud shots as well as danger. I know X-Plane has an advantage here.

I looked toward the bad weather and compared it to what I saw on ForeFlight. It’s easy hooking up any X-Plane session to ForeFlight to get the exact thing you’d see in real life. ForeFlight can be added to X-Plane 12 readily.

The depiction on radar, based on my area, was pretty realistic, I must say. What I really wanted to test was the weather over time, and a particularly fun exercise in X-Plane 12 is to park somewhere, use the outside view, and watch and wait. You’ll see and hear the weather forming around you and moving in.

MSFS does something similar, yet I felt the special effects, especially the audio world of these storms approaching, in X-Plane 12 was a bit more dramatic. The things that really caught my attention were the violent wind and rain noises. The rain sounds in X-Plane 12 are loud, especially in flight. Hitting rain at twice highway car speed is dramatic; at 500 knots in a jet it is mind-blowing. I recall once icing up so severely during an X-Plane 12 session that I had to set it down in the bush, with smoke billowing about. I waited, listened, and heard severe wind, rain, and hail lash the cockpit. The water was pouring over my view outside my broken world. The view out the window was scary, and I was trapped and needed rescue.

Iced-over windows as thunderstorms in high altitudes can quickly turn rain into snow and hail as happened to me in this manually set scenario.

What is this?! I had left for lunch while “tied down” as storms were approaching only to return to my horror to see the severe weather had dropped the temperatures from 20 degrees Celsius to about 5 degrees with snow or hail covering the ground. The windows actually had some ice clearly on them. The airplane had been blown far off the ramp into the grass. What amazing realism, danger, variability, and great fun this was. I wish I had stuck around to watch. On second thought, another advantage in X-Plane 12 is replay mode.

Convection building in MSFS2020 is okay. There are great skies and graphics for sure—just slightly less exciting and it just quite doesn’t have that feeling of danger I got with X-Plane 12.

Both sims have amazing weather. The realism of storms in X-Plane 12 wins in my opinion. The turbulence and dangers are genuine, with consequences. The daytime chop, thermals, and under-cumulous base roughness are all better modeled in MSFS2020, which recently had a massive weather engine redo. The cloudscapes and textures looked almost photorealistic in MSFS currently and are beautiful, but thunderheads in X-Plane 12 form, tower up, and stand more realistically than MSFS.
In X-Plane 12, using live weather was far too smooth in thermals, or sunshine versus shade. I felt that a few jumps, jarring, and/or nauseating motion was needed in X-Plane 12 when flying on a sunny day down low. All this can be tweaked by manually setting conditions.

Our two front-runner civilian sims undergo frequent enhancements and refinements. By using either sim or both, as many of us do, any level from beginner to airline pilot can find something to enjoy and use as a tool of proficiency, exploration, and adventure.

There’s never been a better time in the past 40 years to enjoy this hobby since almost daily there’s something new to discover.

The hottest links to visit often for X-Plane and MSFS include www.x-plane.to, www.x-plane.org, and www.flightsim.to. Don’t forget to grab the Honeycomb Starter set from our friends at Sportys as well to launch your sim into the next level of realism and precision.

Finally, I am a huge advocate of both XPRealistic and FSRealistic add-ons, as both sims need that extra sound, vibration, head action, and motion thrown in. 

Editor’s note: This story originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of Plane & Pilot magazine. 

The post Dueling Flight Sims appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

My presentation was a distillation of 318 original pages into a 45-minute presentation. Some described it as “drinking out of a fire hose.” The question and answer session added 30 minutes. Pilots in the audience helped me better understand this MOSAIC monster. I hoped that would happen, and I’m pleased it did.

After going through the entire document twice and multiple times for some portions, more is yet to be discovered (though I’m getting weary of studying it).

• READ MORE: Opening Day at the Midwest LSA Expo

Beyond MOSAIC

After a vigorous discussion about the FAA’s new rule, I was keen to get outside among the airplanes I enjoy. In particular, I wanted to get a closer look at Direct Fly’s Alto NG. This is not an entirely new airplane to Americans—we’ve seen Alto 100—but the brand suffered from ineffective representation and was in danger of fading from the scene in the U.S.

In swooped KenMcConnaughhay from Searcy, Arkansas, on the same airfield as longtime Aeroprakt importer Dennis Long. Long has been assisting McConnaughhay as he takes over importing, sales, and service of Alto NGs.

McConnaughhay is a multi-talented pilot who has done crop dusting for many years and flies a King Air 350 as a corporate pilot. He admits that the light weight of Alto NG was a learning experience but he is very impressed with the machine.

While I’d say Alto NG is a bargain, that’s one of those loaded phrases like “affordable.” So let’s state right up front that as equipped as seen in the pictures accompanying this article, Alto NG sells for $147,500.

Finding that price affordable is a subjective evaluation. You buy what you can afford, of course. Yet an aircraft that looks this way and costs $147,500 in 2023 could be compared to perhaps $120,000 only a few years ago. You know everything costs more today than it did in 2018. Airplanes are no different. Producers have been tossed around by inflation, supply chain challenges, shortages of materials, and labor, war, increasing regulation, along with many other expenses that are troubling all kinds of businesses.

That explanation may not help you afford Alto NG but $147,500 for a handsome, well-equipped aircraft with a large Dynon SkyView, Dynon radios, ADSB in and out, and Dynon autopilot is fairly priced in today’s market. Alto NG comes standard with the Rotax 912 ULS, and a three-blade Kiev ground-adjustable composite prop.

The interior was color-matched by Direct Fly to coordinate with the exterior paint scheme. Clearly, Direct Fly is accomplished at painting and other finish work. The closer you look at this airplane the more you notice the details.

When I asked McConnaughhay to describe some of the performance criteria of the airplane, he summarized, “It’s not the fastest airplane in the LSA fleet but neither is it the slowest.” He related that he commonly flies at altitudes of around 7,000-8,000 feet, and at that altitude he will see 108 knot cruise from his power setting of 5,000 RPM, and he reported burning about 6 gallons per hour. Long advised McConnaughhay that operating at 4,700 or 4,800 RPM brings burn rates closer to 4 gallons per hour.

“The advantages of Alto lie in its simple and comfortable piloting, which is guaranteed by the design of the wing” Direct Fly said. “The rectangular wing plan and the profile with a blunt leading edge provide predictable stall characteristics and behavior.”

“It’s suitable for a beginner pilot because of its gentle flight qualities,” McConnaughhay added. “However, I’m proof that it’s also satisfying to an experienced corporate pilot.”

With good looks and a beautiful finish, benign and satisfying flight characteristics, and what must be described as a fair price tag in 2023, I suspect we will see more Direct Fly Alto NGs in the future.

Why wait two years for a MOSAIC aircraft of your dreams (which will probably come at a significantly higher price), when you can have this beauty today? If you’d been at Midwest LSA Expo, you could’ve bought this handsome airplane and flown it home.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
Direct Fly Alto NG

(All information supplied by the manufacturer)

• Length — 21 feet
• Height — 7.4 feet
• Wingspan — 26.9 feet
• Wing area — 114 square feet
• Cockpit width — 43.3 inches
• Fuel tank capacity — 24.3 gallons
• Powerplant — Rotax 912ULS
• Take-off distance over a 50 foot obstacle — 1,345 feet
• Landing distance over a 50 foot obstacle — 968 feet
• Empty weight — 705 pounds
• Maximum takeoff weight — 1,320 pounds
• Never Exceed Speed — 140 knots
• Cruising speed— 97 knots (Ken commonly achieves 108 knots at 5,000 RPM)
• Stalling speed, landing configuration — 41 knots
• Stalling speed, clean configuration — 47 knots
• Load factor — +4/-2
• Maximum Climb Speed — 1,000 feet per minute

The post Midwest LSA Day Two Report appeared first on Plane & Pilot Magazine.

Here is a glimpse of what you can see if you can attend on Friday and Saturday. For those who cannot come, this will provide some taste of what happens in Mount Vernon, Illinois, in early September. Hopefully, you can make it in 2024.

Every vendor highlighted here brought two, three, or even four aircraft to show. That’s very rare, even at EAA AirVenture or Sun ‘n Fun.

• READ MORE: Affordable Aviation News of the Week

What this illustrates is that the Midwest LSA Expo (about an hour’s drive east of St. Louis) has become a standard-bearer in the aviation calendar. Indeed, this is Midwest LSA’s 15th event, tying it with the longest-running prior such show, the Sebring Sport Aviation Expo. After catalyzing these LSA-focused shows, Sebring concluded its 15-year run in 2019.

Who’s Here?

AeroTrek returned after a few years’ absence and it came in force. As of opening day, three aircraft had arrived and two more are expected. In addition, the company showed off its new open trailer ,which looks enormously easier to load and secure so long as you’re not trying to drive all the way across the country. For transportation in a local or regional area, this looks like a great choice with significantly lower costs.

Rob Rollison, the longtime importer of this successful brand of modestly-priced LSA, has long maintained a steady rate of business because his supplier in Europe has maintained an prudent approach to business. This has helped the manufacturer remain very stable but it also means delivery times now reach about one year. Rollison indicated most customers are willing to wait. It was good to see him back in Mt. Vernon with his handsome airplanes and new trailer.

Texas Aircraft appeared at Midwest LSA some years back when its Colt LSA was a new entry in the game. Now the company reports it just delivered the first batch of airplanes to a nearby flight school and it is excited about the future of MOSAIC with its new four-seat Stallion model already flying in Brazil.

In some ways, the Texas company, which is directly associated with the Brazilian organization, is ahead of the game because Brazil’s ANAC has already created a very MOSAIC-like regulation with minor differences. Approving that aircraft in its home country should make for a much easier entry to the U.S. market and this Hondo, Texas organization is ready to roll.

Bristell representative Piston Aviation reports running an active flight school operation. I plan to discuss this further with the company to see how its flight school operates with the LSA of today. In the MOSAIC preamble, the FAA said extra weight was needed to make LSA into viable flight school aircraft, but I think it’s missing that these aircraft are already working well in that environment, assuming good flight school management and properly-qualified instructors. (To be forthright, Piston also operates Piper Cherokees.)

• READ MORE: The MOSAIC Comment Window Is Half Gone

Joe Ord’s company operates at Creve Coeur airport (1H0), Maryland Heights, Missouri, in the St. Louis area. It offers a wide range of flight instruction and lists its prices right on its homepage. You can tell that this company has a sense of style and it had handsome, custom-painted aircraft on display. Again, you see the commitment people make to the Midwest LSA Expo if Piston Aviation will bring aircraft that could be in flight training to display for you at the show.

Vashon brought two of its Ranger LSAs to Midwest LSA perhaps five years ago, and the company has been back every year since—and it doesn’t come with just a single airplane. I hope you’re starting to get the message that these companies like this show and they don’t come here just to bond with their fellow vendors. They know they will meet people like you. Likewise, people who come to this event tend to be serious and ready to take their aviation interest to the next level.

While Vashon’s prices have risen slightly over the last couple years–along with virtually everything else you buy—they are still affordable to a wide range of pilots, and have particular appeal to some by virtue of the use of a Continental O-200 powerplant. Lots of pilots and mechanics are familiar with that engine and, combined with a new and spacious airframe, the company is finding customers. Clearly, it finds some of them right here in Mt. Vernon, Illinois.

TL Sport Aircraft had two of its four models on display at Mt. Vernon. After a couple of U.S. distributors didn’t work as well as expected, Trey Murdaugh’s company is bringing a more business-like approach. At Midwest LSA, he appropriately had on display a TL-3000 Sirius and an S-4 Sting. The latter (in an earlier model) was the #5 aircraft accepted by the FAA as a Special LSA out of 158 now on our SLSA list.

However, Murdaugh is also nicely positioned for MOSAIC with two other aircraft that did not travel to Mt. Vernon. One is the tandem-seating Stream, which I flew with him after Sun ‘n Fun 2022. That was a fine experience in a beautiful-flying aircraft. I look forward later this year to a flight in the company’s side-by-side MOSAIC-ready entry called Sparker that is the highest-performing of their line. Of course, prices follow capability, so the Sirius or Sting may be the more affordable buy, but this company has got choices for you.

Zenith arrived with two of its popular sport pilot-eligible kit aircraft, the Cruzer and Super Duty. Probably most readers are aware that Zenith is the leading kit builder in the light aircraft space (as only one Van’s model can presently qualify as an LSA). This should surprise no one as these aircraft are highly proven, and the manufacturing of Zenith kits has become quite sophisticated under the leadership of Sebastien Heintz.

The Mexico, Missouri-based kit producer also hosts one of the largest events of its kind in the country, in fact, drawing even more people to it than the Midwest LSA Expo. Now in its 32nd year, “Homecoming” is a must-go for any Zenith enthusiast. I’ve never been able to make it because it occurs right after the Midwest LSA event but I hope many of you can and will attend. You can learn a lot at the event plus enjoy the camaraderie of others with similar interests.

Magni Gyro rep Greg Gremminger brought two gyroplanes, as he often has. Gremminger is one of those regulars that has made every Midwest LSA event, along with a handful of others. It helps that he’s based nearby, but this has proven to be a good event where he can give rampside talks about gyros to people who are interested. He’s done this for years, and every time I’ve seen quite a collection of people listening intently as he describes his rotary-winged aircraft and how they fly.

A couple years ago my wife and I each took a flight with Gremminger, and had a marvelous experience. I’m not qualified to fly gyroplanes solo, but I have learned from some experiences and I see the magic that so many enjoy. Gremminger was one of the original people to fight for 10 years asking the FAA to finally allow fully-built gyroplanes. He didn’t get a yes, but when Roy Beisswenger and I started our advocacy work, we took up the case again. Between Gremminger’s efforts and ours, I’m pleased that we will finally have factory-built gyros available for enthusiasts.

All this and more was available on opening day, despite weather challenges to the east, holding up the arrival of some aircraft. BushCat is expecting two aircraft, as is Jabiru. What I believe this list shows is that these companies are all willing to spend the money and take the time to bring multiple aircraft to the Midwest LSA Expo. One of the main reasons the show is popular and successful is the great ease of getting a demo flight in an airplane. Get on the schedule and when it’s your turn, it takes literally a few minutes to get airborne. Marvelous! Plus, entry to the show and parking are FREE.

MOSAIC and More

I will have more on other aircraft that are at the show and other activities that I observe. In addition, the whole place is buzzing with talk of MOSAIC, as you might expect a month and change after the FAA dropped its new proposed regulation on the U.S.

These members of Midwest LSA Expo’s orange shirt brigade worked to keep flight demo operations humming and safe. Thanks to all the orange shirters!

I look forward to the question-and-answer session at the end of my two talks (Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. Central). I’m pleased to give out what I believe is good information on the new proposed rule, but the most valuable interplay comes from pilots expressing their concerns and opinions. If you’re in the area, please join us. If you can’t make it. I will plan to record it and I’ll get the video up as soon as I can.

Stay tuned for more from the Midwest LSA Expo 2023!

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