Eclipse jet makes maiden flight
With the first flight of its Eclipse 500 jet on August 26, the company has a lot of work ahead. This begins an aggressive 16-month certification program during which eight airframes will be pushed to the limit or simply destroyed in the name of testing.
The maiden flight came within a few weeks of Eclipse Aviation Corporation's original goal that was set three years ago. Now Eclipse and all its suppliers have to undergo their own testing and paperwork gymnastic routines to meet the next big goal: FAA certification by December 2003. One thing Eclipse has going for it, besides funding and support from a who's who list of business icons, is that the first aircraft was made on production tooling, so it was more than a flight test. Eclipse officials said that it was also a test of the tooling, including friction stir welding that holds 60 percent of the airframe together. Rivets make up the balance.
"What we accomplished today is now part of aviation history. Today we stand together, more certain than ever that the Eclipse 500 will forever change the landscape of transportation," said Vern Raburn, Eclipse president and CEO. Videos, photos, and more information can be found on Eclipse's Web site ( www.eclipseaviation.com).
Wright Flyer is a tough bird to master
Stories about modern-day pilots being unable to control a computer simulation of the Wright Flyer are true. I tried the simulator myself, placing my hips in a cradle to control wing warp for turns, and my left hand on a control stick to control pitch. On a screen ahead was a runway at Edwards Air Force Base in California and a picture of a virtual forward canard that changed pitch as I moved the control stick. Control isn't the right word. The aircraft is constantly unstable in both pitch and roll; I crashed on each attempt — after losing control of either pitch or roll — with my longest time aloft being five seconds.
The project to build and fly an exact Wright Flyer replica in 2003 is directed by retired American Airlines pilot Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Virginia. Hyde declared that I had done "well," despite the absence of a successful landing.
Wing-warping refers to scissoring the top and bottom wing to increase the angle of attack on one side of the aircraft. Both wings are hinged to the center section of the aircraft to allow movement without disturbing the engine and propellers.
As Hyde directs his staff toward the completion of two Wright Flyers — one of which will fly at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina in December 2003 — he is hearing all the controversy that surrounded the Wright brothers before their flight. "It can't fly," he has been told. History tells a different lesson, Hyde notes.
With sponsorship from the Ford Motor Company and the Experimental Aircraft Association, Hyde has built a workshop — some might call it Smithsonian South — on his property. (AOPA made one of the first donations to his project in 1998.) Call it "forensic" aviation — the attempt not only to build a reproduction, but to discover exactly how it was done. To learn more visit the Web site ( www.wrightexperience.com). — Alton K. Marsh
Battle continues over pilots' right to fish
When is an airplane too useful? When it is used to spot bluefin tuna, fish-spotting opponents say. The battle between tuna fishermen who employ pilots as fish spotters and those who don't has simmered for 15 years, and resulted in the grounding of tuna-spotter pilots two years ago. Pilots have fought in federal court for the right to fly, but many think a compromise between the two groups is the answer.
Opponents say the use of airplanes offers an unfair advantage. Their argument attracted supporters in Congress who authored the ban. Fish-spotter pilots say the unfair-competition argument is a "horrible lie."
Now, 15 pilots are out of work from Maine to Massachusetts and must accept the far less lucrative jobs of spotting swordfish 175 miles out to sea or working on boats. Many pilots (most consider themselves fishermen first) parked their airplanes and have gone to other jobs. A few are selling everything they own to survive and are hoping the ban on fish spotters, attached to a U.S. Senate appropriations bill two years ago, can be reversed.
Pilot Tim Voorheis said his goal is to "try to stay alive [financially] until this is over." He's using a Cessna 172 to spot swordfish. Voorheis supplements his income with boat-building work. Pilot Wayne Davis said he also flies for swordfish fishermen but made only $1,100 this past season. A tuna spotter can make as much as $20,000 to $40,000 in a season. Davis works on a lobster boat for extra income. Jonathan Mayhew of the Atlantic Fish Spotters Association — the pilot group fighting to return to the air — said he has lost 50 percent of his income.
A National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) spokesman said that agency had little recourse but to stop issuing fishing permits to those who use spotter aircraft. However, pilots said the NMFS has tried to ban aircraft in the past based on the mistaken belief, fueled by poor data, that the tuna population is being depleted. The Atlantic Fish Spotters Association, representing 35 pilots — 15 of them active — fought the ban on tuna spotters in federal court in Boston but lost on May 22. On July 11 the group appealed the judge's decision; an attorney for the group said that despite further court action planned in October, the issue will drag out and no decision is expected by the courts this year.
AOPA has suggested the warring factions reach a compromise and has offered to help set up meetings in Congress to facilitate any such agreement.
There has been a greater human toll from what one observer called the most divisive issue ever seen in the fishing industry. Lifelong friendships among fishermen have been lost in what amounts to a Civil War at sea. Attempts to discuss the issues with either side draw a torrent of anger and accusations.
Caught in the middle of the battle is the New England Aquarium, one of the few aquariums in the country with a laboratory and research department, according to staff research scientist Molly Lutcavage. She said the aquarium concentrates on studying fish in the wild, and before the ban it used fish spotters to take digital pictures that were linked to a GPS receiver that marked the exact location of the photo. Now even the research planes can't fly because fishermen who oppose the use of fish spotters might see the aircraft and assume they are spotting for other fishermen. The aquarium was creating an unprecedented database about tuna populations that is now stalled. It was badly needed, given the concerns in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s that tuna populations were dwindling, sources said. Pilots say that in recent years tuna have again been in plentiful supply. In 1994 a national science group discovered that tuna are commuters, moving to areas of the ocean where census takers weren't knocking.
Opponents of airplane spotting, many of them in the General Category Tuna Association, have told Congress in past years that their boats have been "dive-bombed" by aircraft trying to drive them off from fish that pilots have found for their clients. One said that the use of aircraft allows a few commercial fishermen to quickly reach the quota set by a 1994 international agreement to avoid overfishing, giving what they called the "recreational" fishermen little time to search for and catch tuna. Proponents counter that fishermen who now oppose aircraft once hired airplanes themselves, but were ultimately "poor fishermen" and want to deny spotting to those who know how to make best use of aircraft. They say the opponents of aircraft spotters are primarily recreational fishermen who simply have paid $27 for a commercial fishing license.
One opponent claimed that when aircraft were used to aid those fishermen who harpoon tuna, the season ended in three weeks because the quota was quickly reached. Without airplanes, spotter opponent Peter Weiss told the news service Townonline.com, the season ran for several months. Weiss represents the General Category Tuna Association. Pilots say that once they locate tuna of the proper size and call in their client boat, they see nonparticipating boats that follow the captain paying for aircraft services.
Fueling the conflict is money from Japan, a country that needs bluefin tuna for its sushi market. Japanese buyers pay an average of $8 to $9 per pound, increasing the competitive pressure to catch as many of the 500- to 1,000-pound fish as possible before quotas are reached. According to the Congressional Research Service in 1991, a Japanese importer paid a record price of $68,000 for a single 700-pound bluefin tuna. The influx of Japanese money starting in the 1970s set off a tuna rush, like a gold rush. — AKM
Squawk Sheet
The FAA in late July extended the deadline to comply with an expensive T-34 wing spar inspection airworthiness directive (AD). The special airworthiness information bulletin (SAIB) extends the compliance deadline of AD 2001-13-08. It also allows owners to continue operating their T-34s (with certain operational limitations) while they await completion of an approved alternative method of compliance. Aircraft manufacturer Raytheon recommended wing spar inspections to prevent possible in-flight wing failure at a cost of more than $12,000 per inspection. AOPA, T-34 owners, the T-34 Association, and others strongly opposed the AD, recommending that the FAA work with industry groups to develop more effective and affordable means of compliance.
Aircraft speed icon Roy LoPresti dies
Roy LoPresti, an icon in the world of making airplanes go faster, died August 7 in Vero Beach, Florida. He was 73. Doctors believe LoPresti experienced heart failure. LoPresti was already receiving medical care after he fell off a ladder a month before his death and suffered a severe head injury. His son, David LoPresti, said he was recovering well and the heart problem was unrelated. David LoPresti added that the night before his father's death, they were talking about future projects. As a pilot and aerospace engineer, LoPresti's motto was, "Life is short, fly fast!" LoPresti's company, LoPresti Speed Merchants, will continue its mission of making airplanes more efficient, David LoPresti said. Seven family members currently work for the company. A memorial has been posted on the Web site ( www.speedmods.com/roybio.htm).
Who has the highest-time Skyhawk?
In the July issue of AOPA Pilot, we invited readers to participate in one member's search for the highest-time Cessna Skyhawk. David Lister of Portland, Oregon, had originally put forth his airplane (N5930R) as the top dog with, at the time, 19,715 hours. However, the responses to our invitation were surprising. This is one venerable model.
Lister received e-mails from several owners who had more than 20,000 hours. The highest reported time was 23,507.4 hours by John Greif of Belize in Central America. He said the aircraft is used for scheduled charters and flies about 120 hours a month. The second-place finisher was Jerry Held, a fish spotter in southeast Virginia. Held said he had 22,158 hours on the airframe and has owned the aircraft since 1987 when it only had about 5,000 hours. We must caution that the search was completely unscientific, so the actual highest-time Skyhawk might still be out there somewhere, rapidly accumulating hours.
ePILOT HEADLINERS
Recent news from AOPA's weekly e-mail newsletter.
Aviat develops new plane, new factory
Aviat Aircraft engineers are working quietly at their factory in Afton, Wyoming, to develop a monster four-seat Husky tailwheel airplane the size of a Cessna 206 Stationair. It will be called the Husky For Four Magnum, but the more important story, Aviat President Stu Horn said, is that there will be a new automated manufacturing process to go with it.
Visionaire in talks with investors
Officials at Visionaire Corporation, a Chesterfield, Missouri, company that hopes to continue development and then certify its Vantage entry-level business jet, say they are talking with European investors about a $130 million infusion. The investment would arrive in stages with a first installment of $30 million to $50 million that is needed immediately.
Lancair trims costs
In a move to stem financial losses, The Lancair Company in July laid off 207 employees, leaving about 50 at the Bend, Oregon, facility to continue building Columbia 300s. TLC President Bing Lantis said the move was necessary to reduce expenses while the company continues its efforts to line up funding to further increase production.
Lycoming develops more powerful engine
Lycoming has developed its most powerful normally aspirated four-cylinder engine. Dubbed the IO-390-X, the 390-cubic-inch-displacement engine features fuel injection and develops 210 horsepower. The engine is made of factory-new parts and has a 2,000-hour TBO. Initially it will be offered to the homebuilt market.
GA aircraft shipments
Total shipments for general aviation aircraft have dropped by double digits so far this year, compared with a record year in 2001. Piston airplane shipments fell by 13.4 percent — 737 units compared to 851 last year — for the first half of 2002. There was also a decrease in jet and turboprop sales, according to figures compiled by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA).
Photographer, wife die in crash
Galen Rowell, a 61-year-old wilderness photographer who was named one of five "Masters of the Landscape" by Outdoor Photography magazine in August, died with his wife, Barbara, in the crash of a privately owned 1973 Twin Commander 690A near their home in Bishop, California, on August 11.
To sign up for the free AOPA ePilot or to view the archive, see AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/epilot/).
Members in the news
John Miller, AOPA 058843, has published Flying Stories, a chronicle of aviation stories that originally appeared in ABS Magazine, published by the American Bonanza Society. The book covers everything from air racing to forced landings. The hardcover book sells for $50 through the ABS Company Store and all proceeds will go directly to the ABS Air Safety Foundation. The book can be ordered through ABS, telephone 316/945-1700, or on the Web site ( www.bonanza.org).
Amy Gray, AOPA 1375991, won the women's title in the first annual Centennial Airport 10K in Denver with a time of 42:02 minutes. The race was run partially on the runways and taxiways at the airport to celebrate the reopening of Runway 10/28. The race, along with a companion 5K, benefited St. Anthony's Hospital Flight for Life program. The top three winners won rides in various historic aircraft; as grand-prize winner, Gray's ride was in a Hawker Sea Fury. Gray currently works as a notams analyst for Jeppesen.
Lonni Sue Johnson, AOPA 1220180, a watercolor artist, has created a line of T-shirts and greeting cards with an aviation theme, including the design "Freedom Formation" in remembrance of the September 11, 2001, attacks. "We wanted to express both the deep feelings of despair and the need for hope for the coming year...and the wish for our total flying freedom," said Johnson. T-shirts are $20; cards are $16 for a box of eight. For more information, see the Web site ( www.lonnisue.com).
David Morgan, AOPA 428345, was honored by the Santa Clara County Medical Association for "outstanding community service for 2002." Morgan is a 2,925-hour pilot who flies his Cessna 182 for volunteer medical care and services missions to people in northern Mexico. He helped establish the Flying Doctors in 1974.
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