Experimenter

March 2013

Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.

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L i g h t P l a n e Wor l d formation flybys and was a natural attraction for the media. I watched one evening as they taxied out for a performance in somewhat windy conditions with light rain and a low ceiling, and I thought, "What an adventure it must be for those teenagers!" They did a terrific job, and they promote sport aviation every time they fly. The team leader is Mike Zidziunas, who operates a training facility at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in conjunction with the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, the only high school (125 students) in the United States located entirely on an airport. The Breezer is an all-metal, German-built LSA especially designed as a trainer. It was one of the first 12 LSA approved in the United States, and it is available as a kit or ready-to-fly. Watch a Team Breezer video at BreezerAircraftUSA.com. No Big Shakeout Expected Many have marveled that in the short seven-year period since S-LSA production and sales began here in the United States, more than 130 different models have been approved. There is a dizzying array of choices. If you include weight-shift trikes and powered parachutes, there are close to 40 different S-LSA manufacturers. Surely that can't continue, and the number will be trimmed as the buying public votes with its wallet. A few manufacturers might drop out when their turn comes for an FAA audit. Even if the plane is well built, the paperwork, testing, parts tracking, and quality control measures must be in place to continue production. While the expected shakeout may be delayed by the poor economy, I'm beginning to have doubts. The sport plane market has many niches, and the pilots buying for recreational flying have different motives than simply transportation. Your airplane becomes a form of personal expression. Pilots enjoy showing up at the pancake breakfast with something really unique. A small company with low overhead, fewer employees, and a quality product doesn't have to sell dozens of airplanes per year to keep the doors open like a large company does. The conventional general aviation media don't seem to understand this and may have a tendency to think that if a company isn't performing financially like a Cessna or Piper, it isn't a success. Team Breezer, lef to right, Mike Zidziunas, Philip Herrington, Angel Castellanos, and Randy Wildman. Castellanos and Herrington are high school students who earned their ratings at Mike's training facility, which is part of the Central Florida Aerospace Academy on Lakeland Linder Regional Airport. Te U.S. Sport Aviation Expo serves as a gateway to the future of lightsport aviation. I enjoyed my frst visit. 40 Vol.2 N o.3 / M arch 201 3 A review of media reports from the Sebring Expo turned up some gloom-and-doom statements about LSA that can best be attributed to bias or faulty information. One writer complaining about the cost of S-LSA noted the Czech-built Aerotrek is at the low end of the range at about $84,000 but added, "They aren't flying off the shelves either." That's because there aren't any on the shelves. The Aerotrek is a hand-crafted, tube-andfabric LSA with folding wings inspired by the Avid Flyer. Rollison Light Sport Aircraft sells all the Aerotreks it can get, and the wait time is up to six months. The European company that produces the Aerotrek is a small, family-style manufacturer with limited production, half of which comes to North America. Rob Rollison said about half of all Aerotreks sold here are the A220 taildragger version. On the other end of the spectrum, the Tecnam factory in Italy typically has 80 aircraft under construction at any one time, and every aircraft is already assigned to a customer. According to Tecnam representative Phil Solomon, the factory doesn't build for inventory. Neither Aerotrek nor Tecnam (and many others in between) will be cashing in its chips anytime soon because sales

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