We were joined by Lee Crevier, the AirVenture ultralight
chairman, to take a look at the long-term plans for the
convention site, including new roads and buildings and the
possible expansion or relocation of our runway to better
accommodate LSA. The southeast corner of the site (the
ultralight area) will become one of four major "nodes"
created by new roads.
The council had an interesting meeting with EAA Vice
President of AirVenture Features and Attractions Jim
DiMatteo. Jim is head of a "dream team" of air show
experts tasked with reviewing the entire AirVenture
experience from the ground activities to the flying
components. We talked to him about getting ultralights
and LSA into the afternoon showcase prior to the air
show, as had been done many years ago. We were not
disappointed. He said ultralights and LSA have terrific
appeal to the youth and also to sponsors oriented to that
demographic. This retired Navy Top Gun pilot with 5,000
hours in fighters says we have the fun and excitement that
will best appeal to the youth. He wants to have a "pit area"
at air show center where all types of aircraft including
ultralights, LSA, and rotorcraft can be featured and
demonstrated right "on the 50-yard line," as he put it. Jim
was the international director of Red Bull Air Race for six
years and knows what it takes to make a great show and
how to make it happen. Watch for it at AirVenture 2013.
Taras Kiceniuk Jr. – Technology Innovator
EAA Hall of Fame recipient Taras Kiceniuk Jr. set the
hang gliding world buzzing in 1971 when he began
flying his Icarus II rigid-wing biplane hang glider. It
outperformed the Rogallo wings of the time by a huge
margin. Despite phenomenal performance, rigid-wing
hang gliders never made it into the mainstream. However,
the Icarus opened a door that made ultralights possible.
The Rogallo wings were not suitable for motorizing due to
their poor performance.
In 1975, John Moody put an engine on an Icarus-inspired
design developed by Larry Mauro, called the Easy Riser,
and the ultralight movement was born. Taras later served
as chief engineer on the Gossamer Albatross project for
human-powered flight across the English Channel. For his
contributions to ultralight aviation, he was inducted into the
EAA Hall of Fame in a ceremony held November 15, 2012.
There is a short video about his award—also check out the
Taras Kiceniuk with the RG-2 research vehicle built to study regenerative electric fight.
Photography by Jason Toney and courtesy Taras Kiceniuk, Jr.
EAA Experimenter
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