Experimenter

September 2012

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 other light aircraft.

Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/81495

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hardware developers are active, and AirVenture is a venue where those concepts are developed and presented. Photo by Jim Raeder T e celebration of the 30th anniversary of FAR 103 that created the ultralight category brought several original ultralights out for the party. Ed Sweeney added his Gemini twin thrust engines to improve the safety of the original Hummingbird designed by the late Klaus Hill. Ed fl ew this Hummingbird at Oshkosh 1983 and had fun re-creating that fl ight again this year. The importance of engine development to the advancement of aviation is deserving of reinforcement. Steam engines powered the industrial revolution. Steam-powered fl ight had been attempted but was not successful. Manned fl ight existed for more than 100 years; on October 15, 1783, a manned, two-person Montgolfi er balloon fl ight took place before the Wright brothers added a gasoline engine to begin the era of powered fl ight. Aircraft and engine development proceeded hand in hand from that day forward. Reliable radial engines made airliners practical. Development of the fl at four did the same for light personal aircraft. The availability of lightweight, high-speed, two-cycle engines empowered the ultralight movement of the 1980s. Today, high-power turbine engines are available for worldwide air commerce and transportation as well as advanced military hardware, and they are making their way into the homebuilt community, too. The days of inexpensive avgas are gone. The future of 100LL is in question. Modern light aircraft engines of 200 hp and under are being developed to operate on auto gas while larger piston engines are being developed to run on turbine fuel. Advances in battery technology, high-strength permanent rare earth magnets, and compact electronics have converged to create electric power systems suitable for small aircraft propulsion. These are areas where the experimenters and aviation It is not possible to adequately cover all aspects of a show the size of AirVenture in an article such as this. The hyperlinks included will help to fi ll in the details to the extent desired in most cases. However, spending a full week is not adequate to accomplish a complete assessment of all the activities available. That is just one of the reasons so many enthusiasts return year after year to the greatest aviation spectacle on earth. Photo courtesy Sky Cycle Even easier to store than the Aerolite 103, the Sky Cycle and similar North Wing ATF both off er WSC ultralight fl ight on a limited budget with unlimited fun factor. Grant Smith, EAA 19944, attended his fi rst EAA fl y-in at Rockford, Illinois, with his Baby Ace, Little Toot, in 1967. He soloed a Cessna 140 in 1959 and has worked as an engineer, professional pilot, and fl ight instructor. He began hang gliding in 1972 and has worked with fl exible wings, powered paragliders and ultralight vehicles, and with the ASTM Light-Sport standards. He has written for several aviation journals. EAA EXPERIMENTER 39

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