Pilot Briefing

Modern pilots lack right stuff for Wright Flyer

The original Wright Flyer was a handful, wind-tunnel tests have shown. A group of California engineers constructed a replica of the first powered aircraft and tested it last spring in a NASA Ames Research Center wind tunnel. When the results were used to make a Wright Flyer simulator, they found that they couldn't fly it.

"I hit the ground and flew through some buildings," said Wright Flyer Project Chairman Jack Cherne. The project is sponsored by the Los Angeles section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The data were also fed into a simulator at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and flown by six experienced test pilots. They all had a tough time.

So why were the Wright brothers so much better than Cherne and Air Force test pilots? Simple, Cherne says. The Wrights had three years to fly kites and gliders that had the same center-of-gravity problem as the Wright Flyer.

Air Force engineers are suggesting that the AIAA scientists add a computer-driven stability augmentation system to the model, expected to fly in the summer of 2002. There also will be a different powerplant, a derivative of a Volkswagen engine that can be controlled by a throttle. The engine used on the Wright Flyer had no throttle - it was either on at full power or off.

"We are going to change the airfoil section slightly," Cherne added. "We did some work at the University of Illinois and came up with an airfoil that has some positive pitching stability characteristics."

You may have seen movies of the Wrights in flight, movies that appear to show the pitch problem. What you saw was an improved 1908 model with less severe pitch problems than the Wright Flyer. "You look over Wilbur's shoulder and you see the pilot-induced oscillation," Cherne said. "We had it so much worse. [The Wrights in 1908] had moved the center of gravity forward, and had extended the distance between the center of gravity and the canard. They had also extended the distance from the center of gravity to the rudder."

Cherne's group is now discussing the results with the Air Force, and will use the experience to build a flying replica. Cherne has signed on to be the fourth pilot to fly it. The first one will be Fred Culick, a professor at Cal Tech who helped with wind-tunnel tests. There are going to be some modifications, Cherne said, because "we don't want to kill ourselves."

Cherne said next year's model will use wing warping to turn, but he doesn't expect to make anything other than straight flights. Wing warp-ing was ineffective, he said. - Alton K. Marsh

Eclipse announces airplane, schedule changes

Eclipse Aviation ended months of public silence on the progress of its six-place Eclipse 500 light twinjet with several announcements at EAA AirVenture 2001 in Oshkosh, including some exterior refinements, updated instrument panel and interior configurations - and a revised timetable for first flight, FAA certification, and first customer deliveries.

First flight of the Eclipse 500 is now scheduled to take place in July 2002, one month later than originally planned. FAA certification slips to December 2003, with first customer delivery in January 2004. "What we've done is restructure the program to get the first airplane in the air," said Eclipse CEO Vern Raburn. Eclipse will start cutting metal for the first airplane this September and begin assembly in November. "We're going to fly the airplane next year," Raburn said. "The minute we roll it out, we're testing for credit with the FAA."

In addition, Eclipse has accelerated the transition of airframe development and certification from Williams International. This fall some 125 engineers will move from Williams' facilities in Walled Lake, Michigan, to Eclipse's headquarters in Albuquerque. Raburn attributes the one-month first flight delay to that move, and the six-month certification slippage to financial markets; because those markets are focusing on cash flow and time to profitability in the wake of the "dot-bomb explosion," a flying airplane is important to the company.

The Eclipse 500's engines have been moved forward 19 inches, maximizing separation from the primary airframe structure. To increase interior flexibility, the cabin door has been moved to the right side of the airplane, and other changes provide additional head- and legroom for pilot and passengers. The wings were moved back three inches; new fairings along the wing root will improve the airplane's stall characteristics and allow some systems to be located outside the pressurized fuselage. Modifications to the rear fuselage and empennage improve engine intake airflow, reduce airframe drag, save weight, and allow the addition of a clamshell speed brake in the tail.

A primary flight display (PFD) for the copilot and Michelin radial tires - suitable for use on unimproved runways - have been added as standard equipment. The Eclipse 500's price of $837,500 (in June 2000 dollars) is unchanged. Suppliers have been selected for the landing gear, wheels, tires, and brakes; fuel system; and exterior lighting. For more information, visit the Web site ( www.eclipseaviation.com). - Michael P. Collins

Personal jet race heats up

A third company has announced its entry into the personal jet race. Bearing some resemblance to both the Eclipse 500 and the Safire S–26, McCotter Aviation's MC 2400 is designed as a composite six-place jet.

But there is one crucial difference. Unlike the aluminum Eclipse and composite Safire that are still on the drawing boards, a four-seat prototype for the kitplane market is already flying. McCotter, of Penrose, Colorado, is applying what pilots have learned in nearly 200 hours of test flying to the certified model.

Called the Maverick TwinJet, the kit is powered by two reliable but thirsty General Electric helicopter engines that were converted from turboshafts to turbojets. (Company officials said other jet engine manufacturers were interested only in the certified market.) Each engine is derated to produce 750 pounds of thrust. An AOPA Pilot editor flew the jet at Oshkosh and saw how the airplane can be propelled effortlessly to speeds up to 388 knots and climb rates of 4,000 fpm. With electronic flight information system (EFIS) displays by Sierra Flight Systems, it was relatively easy to fly provided that the pilot manages the tremendous speeds with respect.

The MC 2400 is designed to achieve a maximum cruise speed of 413 knots with a range of more than 1,500 nm. Company officials are currently discussing engine options with manufacturers and hope to certify the design in late 2003. While Eclipse and Safire are promising prices in the $800,000 range, McCotter doesn't think that it can do it for less than about $1.5 million, based on what the company has learned through testing. For more information on McCotter, see the Web site ( www.twinjet.com).

Mooney declares bankruptcy

After manufacturing more than 10,500 airplanes over half a century, Mooney Aircraft Corporation filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The announcement on July 27 came 10 days after Chris Dopp resigned his post as the company's president and CEO. Under the federal bankruptcy code, Mooney retains possession of its assets and is authorized to continue management and operation as a long-term recovery plan is prepared and submitted for approval. A search is under way for a new president and CEO.

Mooney's day-to-day affairs are now being handled by Michael McConnell, Mooney's senior vice president of strategic planning; Tom Bowen, vice president of engineering; and Mike Baldridge, vice president of operations. Paul Dopp, who also owned Mooney in the early 1970s, remains as chairman.

Mooney cited a softening economy among the causes of its troubles, even though it has become more efficient and could eke out a profit on reduced production. Mooney plans to deliver 70 airplanes from its Kerrville, Texas, facility this year, down from 100 last year. In its heyday, the company produced as many as 760 airplanes in one year.

"This is our opportunity to finally right the ship," McConnell said at EAA AirVenture. He emphasized that Mooney will continue to support Mooney customers and their airplanes.

OSHKOSH NOTEBOOK

Superior Air Parts Inc. has been named as the exclusive sales representative outside of Europe for two turbodiesel aircraft engines that run on jet fuel. The engines are produced by Thielert Aircraft Engines of Lichtenstein. One engine has received certification in Europe while the other has accumulated 1,000 hours on a Piper Cherokee. Both engines feature 3,000-hour TBOs and full authority digital engine control (FADEC).

 

The first new production AG–5B Tiger in nearly a decade was delivered. Bob Crowley, CEO of Tiger Aircraft, presented the keys to Herb Hortman of Hortman Aviation, which operates a flight school - and new Tiger Sales Center - in Philadelphia. Tiger Aircraft, which has made minor changes to the venerable Grumman design, anticipates production of 1.5 aircraft per week by next year and announced three Tiger sales.

 

Avidyne Corporation announced the successful demonstration flight of its Highway in the Sky (HITS) technology. The 30-minute flight in a Lancair Columbia 400 departed Oshkosh and flew a GPS approach into Fond du Lac Airport before return.ing for a VFR approach back into Oshkosh. The flight was conducted entirely by reference to the HITS display symbology developed by Avidyne as part of NASA's Advanced General Aviation Transport Experiments (AGATE) program.

Diamond Aircraft made its first deliveries on the North American continent of the new four-place Diamond Star. The keys to seven DA40-180s were presented to their new owners.

The FAA has approved the use of the Teledyne Continental full authority digital engine controls (FADEC) single-engine power control on 28 models of the Lycoming O-360 engine. Aerosance, of Farmington, Connecticut, will provide the FADEC system. The system can be retrofitted in the field and will cost $6,000.

Adam Aircraft named its six-place, twin-engine, centerline-thrust aircraft the Adam CarbonAero. The Denver-based company hopes to certify it in 2003.

UPS Aviation Technologies (UPSAT) announced upgrades to its popular MX20 multifunction display. Called Chart View, the upgrades will let pilots view Jeppesen instrument approach plates, terminal area charts, and airport surface charts on the MX20's moving map display.

Liberty Aerospace announced that it would make the Continental IOF-240 engine an option on its upcoming XL–2. The engine offers a 2,000-hour TBO and employs a FADEC system.

eBay, which claims to be the world's largest online marketplace, has realized the importance of aviation. The company announced that it is creating an aviation category on its Web site for airplanes, parts, and memorabilia.

Pilots show the world to Downwind Duck

Sitting in the hangar on a rainy afternoon, the talk sometimes degrades to a spirited debate about which pilot in the assembled group has flown the widest variety of aircraft. Most of us lose this contest to some old bird who logged his time in wars past, or to a seasoned instructor perhaps. Imagine losing to a toy duck.

Downwind Duck is the brainchild of Todd Ross, once a flight crewman on a naval P–3 Orion, and now an interior installer for Pilatus Business Aircraft in Broomfield, Colorado (see " Personal Pilatus," p. 94). Ross began recording the hours flown by a teddy bear given to him for good luck while he worked on crew logs in the Navy. From there, Ross hatched the idea of creating an ambassador for aviation. Downwind came into Ross' hands from a Hallmark store in 1990, and after some initial adventures in Operation Desert Shield, when the duck flew along with a pilot in an Air Force C–29, his journeys really began in 1995. At that time, Ross worked for Aero Ventures, an FBO in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and he sent Downwind with a pilot who was buying an airplane in nearby Afton, Wyoming. "A month or two later, he came back in a shoebox in the mail. I used to stick money in his hat - a $5 bill - but every time he comes back, it's still there," Ross said.

Pilots have really taken to the little guy, whisking him away on a wide range of aviation adventures. His logbook now shows more than 1,000 carefully recorded hours, along with the signatures and well wishes of the pilots who have helped Downwind on his quest.

And the duck's flown in some pretty famous company. The Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds each have given him a ride, as have former Colorado Gov. Roy Romer, country music performers Clint Black and Reba McEntire, and Dick Cheney - though there were no formal introductions made between the future vice president and the duck. Downwind has jumped with the Golden Knights and the Elvis Demo team; he's carrier-qualified and has completed ejection training. He's also soloed a tethered hot air balloon - he apparently was exempt from the regular requirements for solo "because of his avian background," Ross said. He flew in a Beech King Air with the Drug Enforcement Agency in South America, and can only disclose the fact that he was there when a 500-pound cocaine bust went down. "They gave him a badge for his service," Ross said. Downwind has pulled nine Gs - his G suit is a rubber band that straps him to his logbook.

Is there any limit to where a duck representing the dreams and goodwill of pilots around the world can go? "If he ever gets on the space shuttle, he's going to retire," Ross said. - Julie K. Boatman

Russians do well in World Air Games

It took a decade of planning, thwarted from time to time by world politics, before the first World Air Games (WAG) - fashioned after the modern Olympiad and including gold, silver, and bronze medals - was conducted in Turkey in 1997. Now the second of the quadrennial events has been completed in Spain and the aeronautical version of the Olympics seems well established.

Russian pilots captured top spots in both the men's and women's powered aerobatic competition during the World Air Games in June. Mikhail Mamistov, a 36-year-old pilot and instructor from St. Petersburg, and Svetlana Kapanina, 32, were named world champions.

Kapanina, originally groomed in Russia to be an Olympic gymnast, now uses her tumbling skills to send an aircraft end over end. She is a previous world aerobatic champion. Mamistov won his second World Air Games title, having won the world glider championship at the World Air Games in Turkey.

Mamistov and Kapanina both flew Russian-built Sukhoi 31 tailwheel aerobatic aircraft. The Sukhoi's highly sensitive flight controls allow the aircraft to gyrate wildly through precise maneuvers with very little movement of the stick.

Coming in second overall in powered aerobatics was American Robert Armstrong flying a French-made CAP 231. Armstrong made a name for himself in a predecessor to today's WAG when, forced to compete on a shoestring budget, he turned in stunning performances in a patched and beat-up aerobatic biplane. American competitor David Martin finished seventh in the WAG flying a French-built CAP 232. The U.S. men's team came home with bronze medals for its overall total point score. The U.S. team has always struggled for funds to compete, time away from jobs to train, and transportation to the games, while other countries like Russia provide government sponsorship.

The games included competition in a variety of aircraft, including gliders, paragliders, balloons, hang gliders, and parachutes. - AKM

Squawk Sheet

The FAA issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD) on June 29 that mandates the installation of a placard prohibiting the use of UPS Aviation Technology's Apollo SL30 radio for VOR navigation. Localizer and glideslope navigation are not affected, nor is the SL30's com function. The FAA stated that an error in the unit's digital signal processor software may, in circumstances where the VOR signal deviates from the standard signal, cause incorrect radial bearing information to be displayed. Because the error is dependent on the signal coming from the VOR ground station, and not the SL30 itself, a pilot may not be aware of any course indication error. Sources at the company indicate that a software fix is currently under review by the FAA. The company has said that it will cover the cost of the required software upgrade.

Restored Jenny takes flight

On June 9 the Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum's original 1918 Curtiss JN–4H Jenny took to the skies for the first time since its restoration. The 83-year-old aircraft was said to perform flawlessly. The restoration, by a small team of people headed up by the museum's own Ken Cassens, took more than three years. It was first restored by Cole Palen, the Aerodrome's founder, in the mid-1960s and performed in airshows until 1997. The Jenny will be used in weekend old-time airshows at the Aerodrome, in Rhinebeck, New York, through October 14. For more information, see the Web site ( www.oldrhinebeck.org).

PILOT HEADLINERS

Recent news from AOPA's weekly e-mail newsletter.

Lancair plans to ramp up production

The Lancair Company added 200 employees to its production staff and plans to ramp up production to one airplane a week by the end of the year. There is also talk of a new design.

Grob designs four-seat turboprop

The first flight of the new Grob Aerospace G140TP, a four-seat turboprop with an anticipated cruise speed of 213 knots, is scheduled to occur in September. A prototype was completed in June.

Crew ditches at sea

American pilot Mike Smith and three Japanese crewmembers ditched at sea on July 2 off the coast of Russia in a Pilatus PC–12 following engine problems. They were part of a group of AOPA-Japan members who successfully completed an around-the-world trip.

Chelton acquires Sierra Flight Systems

Sierra Flight Systems, manufacturer of synthetic-vision flight displays, was acquired by Chelton Avionics, of Prescott, Arizona. Chelton is a subsidiary of Cobham plc, a $1.5 billion international aerospace conglomerate.

P–51 flies in honor of Tuskegee Airmen

Following an 11-year restoration effort, a rare North American P–51C Mustang was unveiled in Minnesota in honor of the Tuskegee Airmen. The airplane is one of two of this type flying in the world.

Raytheon gets green light

Raytheon Aircraft Company has received its production certificate for the Premier I business jet. It enables the company to add the $5.3 million airplane to its inventory of other aircraft produced at its Wichita facility.

To sign up for the free AOPA ePilot newsletter or to view the archive, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/).

Members in the news

Craig D. Neubecker, AOPA 1120087, a Coast Guard helicopter pilot, was honored, along with his crew, for the dramatic rescue of 26 sailors from the decommissioned cruise ship Seabreeze I, 225 nautical miles northeast of Virginia Beach, Virginia. Lt. Neubecker was the copilot of a Sikorsky HH–60 Jayhawk that was launched into a violent storm on December 17, 2000. A second helicopter rescued the remaining eight people on the foundering ship. For their heroic acts, Neubecker and his crew - Lorne Green, Dan Molthen, and Darren Reeves - were honored at a ceremony in the National Air and Space Museum as Aviation Week and Space Technology's Operations Laureate. The award was presented to the crew for the most outstanding operational use of aviation during the previous year. The crew also was honored by the American Helicopter Society.

John Obradovich, AOPA 1130595, has self-published Western U.S. Pilot's Guide, an airport travel guide for the 11 western states. More than 135 airports are included, each with color aerial photographs. Included are 300 pages of travel photos, hotels, recreation sites, and maps. Obradovich published the Bahamas & Caribbean Pilot's Guide. To order, call 800/521-2120 or 760/742-2281, or send $34.95 plus $6.50 shipping to Pilot Publishing, Post Office Box 88, Pauma Valley, California 92061.

Arvin Schultz, AOPA 1089540, publisher of America's Flyways magazine and Sky Harbor Airport News, has been elected president of the Arizona Pilots Association (APA). A retired Northwest Airlines captain, Schultz has worked as a flight instructor and operated an FBO in Arizona. Schultz replaces Jim Timm, AOPA 324406, who served as APA president for 19 years. Timm becomes executive director.

George Sigler, AOPA 1139828, has published Experiment in Survival about two Navy pilots who voluntarily crossed the Pacific Ocean in 1974 in a rubber raft to test survival techniques and equipment. The two pilots, Sigler and Charlie Gore, left San Francisco with no water and only six pounds of food. For 56 days they were totally on their own - with the exception of a VHF radio - and battled a 40-foot rogue wave and sea creatures. The book was written to separate fact from fiction and give castaways hope for survival by focusing on the most immediate concerns. The book can be ordered from Amazon.com or by calling 561/770-2252. It sells for $12.95.

Drew Taylor, AOPA 2727342, has completed his first book, Fire From the Air: Air Corps Attack Aircraft 1919 through 1940. The book is about the development of U.S. military attack airplanes. The book was published by the History Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Albert Lee Ueltschi, AOPA 1359308, chairman and CEO of FlightSafety International Inc., is the recipient of the 2001 NBAA American Spirit Award. It recognizes an individual within business aviation who "exemplifies the courage, pursuit of excellence, and service to others that characterize men and women who created and nurtured the American aviation community." Ueltschi soloed at age 16 and later flew for Pan Am World Airways. He established the pilot training company at New York's La Guardia Airport in 1951.

Vincent F. Cipriano, AOPA 407460, (above) received an award for heroism from the FAA. The award was given in consideration for Cipriano's work as an aviation safety counselor and as a major in the Pennsylvania Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. Cipriano is based at the Quakertown (Pennsylvania) Airport and has been a pilot for more than 30 years. Arlene B. Feldman of the FAA presented the award.

Theodor Brown, AOPA 1101245, and Norman Heldman, AOPA 903784, of New York have formed American Wings, Inc. supplying flight schools and university flight programs with a variety of aircraft. The company specializes in leasing aircraft to flight schools, or purchasing aircraft already owned by the schools to lease back to them, freeing capital for the schools to use for other improvements or operating expenses. For more information, see the Web site ( www.flyamericanwings.com).