Trikepilot Social

Hi Everyone,

Just ran across an accident report from Birds In Paradise, HI.  This is a very good examply of why you should always top off your fuel tank before going up. 

Fly Safe,
Gary

Accident report from Birds In Paradise.

 

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20100504X33706&key=1

 

http://www.ntsb.gov/Dockets/Aviation/WPR10CA224/default.htm

 

INTRODUCTION:
Three trikes, a Revo and two Delta Jets headed out of the Tampa, Florida area to first go and attend TrikeFest at Cushing field near Chicago and then attend and display at Oshkosh in the UL area and then fly back to Tampa.
Route in general there and back was as follows:
KZPH---24J---KTMA---KOPN---KCZL---KSRB---KGLW---KFRH---50I---0C8---KUNU---KOSH.
Yesterday the journey back ended. The trikes flew wonderfully. Only 2 trikes returned. One Delta Jet 912, that of Wes and Marsha was sold at Oshkosh.

I am sure Wes and Marsha who are always ready with a filming camera and Sean who flew one way (had to return on a commercial flight back due to a speaking engagement for Elder Law issues) who is like the Gizmo king of our group, will post interesting pictures and photos.

The trip was 2400 miles round trip.
Weather is always the determining factor on such trips and its also the decisions the pilot makes with weather etc. that determine the outcome of such a trip. Fortunately for us although we encountered weather situations, we all made the right calls as needed and no incident happened.

We generally cruised in the 80's the whole trip burning 4+ US gallons per hour doing 2 to 2.5 hour legs before stretching out our legs and filling up at various airports on the way.

TrikeFest at Cushing had terrible weather one day and damaged 2 trikes with high wind gusts. We decided to wait out that day and not go to Trike Fest the first day. A good call on our part. The rest of the trikefest was great. Larry got to test fly the 912XT - SST and we got to see my favorite Airborne WindSports owner, Shane Duncan. I had last seen him in 2007. A super honest down to Earth guy indeed. Shane got to fly the Revo with both Reflex 11 as well as Reflex 13 wings.

Then we headed to Oshkosh on Monday to the UL area. The grounds were very spongy and soggy from the rains and bumpy as well. The weather held out ok and Oshkosh proved to be a great show with 42 vendors in the UL area. Its great to see some of the UL companies return back to life like CGS Hawk which is now operated out of Florida and I know one of the new owners and others. Paul Mather was also present with his M-Squared. We were one of the two trike companies displaying there. So there was Evolution Trikes and Air Creation Tanarg with Bionix wing on display. And yes we got to fly the Tanarg 912 with a Bionix as well.

I hope more trike vendors will consider displaying at Oshkosh next year. There was plenty of interest in trikes unlike recent years at Oshkosh.

Larry won the Eagle award for professionalism at the UL area that has to be returned to Oshkosh next year. This may be a ploy by Airventure to make sure a certain vendor returns the next year :). LOL.

Anyway, we had fun flying this cross country of 2400 miles and I got to train Dan to get into real life cross country diversions and deal with control towers etc. without rehearsing things out first.

More from Wes and Marsha and Sean Scott soon, I am sure.
Abid
http://www.evolutiontrikes.com

GETTING THERE:
The flying conditions were great when we left from Z-Hills. They were in fact great till the afternoon when in Georgia near one of stops we encountered T-Storms. We had had a tailwind for a change till about then. Not a huge one but a tailwind nontheless.

We had to wait for a window of clear weather to head to North Georgia at Calhoun (KCZL). There we made our stay number 1 with Chuck Goodrum. We could have in fact continued further north all the way to Kentucky but decided to end the day because we had hangers as well as showers there thanks to Chuck. These things become luxury items on such trips :).

Next morning was bad so we had a late start and headed out to Kentucky. This was the shortest flight day planned. We stopped at Glascow, KY where we were to meet Gary Beardeu and also hook up with Tony and Greg who were flying P&M trikes. The plan was that from here we would all go north together. Well, that was the plan :).

As usual, all plans fall apart. Because of bad weather (Thunder Storms) Tony and Greg were stuck 18 miles south of Glascow and they had put their trikes away in a hanger and the hanger was locked by the evening when we were able to fly into Glascow airport in KY.

Tony and Greg drove over from the airport they were stuck at (in Tennessee) and all of us flew the Revo and went out to eat and hung out. Good times. Later that night Tony and Greg went back to wait for the morning and fly their trikes over.

Next morning was another start with Thunderstorms. But the storm cleared and the 3 trikes departed north to Illinois. At this point, we had switched Revo pilots and Larry and Amy were flying the yellow Revo and me and Dan were driving the RV. Honestly I would have rather flown than driven in the RV. As we were pulling out of Glascow airport in the RV I saw Tony and Greg approach the airport in their P&M trikes on final. I thought, great now they can join our trikes to Cushing field in Illinois.

Anyway, we drove off. As it turned out Tony and Greg decided not to continue their flight further because there were heavy thunderstorms and rains in the forecast for Cushing field and the rest of the Chicago area. Indeed on this leg to Illinois from Kentucky they did run into weather (T-storms) and had to divert and wait at Lafayette, IN (a class D airport). Larry was the most panicked since he was flying circles instead of a straight line around the Delta Jets and thus used up more gas and had only 1.5 US gallons left in the tank with a wall of thunderstorms in front of him and a diversion to decide on and excute to Lafayettee. Later however, a clearing of weather allowed the trikes to reach Kentland airport in Illinois. This was our stop number 2 to hanger and shower at Curt Shoaf's house.

Here we met an interesting Florida triker named Masoud (an Iranian American) who was flying an old Air Creation GTE 582 with KISS 450 wing (whose sail needs changing - BADLY!!!) and he had been flying his 45 mph cruise speed trike for days without any pre-planning. A true gypsy and an interesting character. My hats off to him if he would only decide to change his wing sail before it kills him.

We were going to head over to Cushing field but looking at the weather decided not to till the next day which was a good call because that evening, two trikes and many tents got damaged in gusts up to 50 kts at Cushing field and many people slept in wet ground in their tents.

Next afternoon was however great and we headed over to Cushing field. A great time to display our trikes and hang out. Dave Wallace, a local triker actually got married there that day.

Larry participated in the competition while I flew 4 guys from Israel who had come to trike fest before Oshkosh so that they could fly the Revo. Revo and Larry won all the competitions at trikefest which included S&L flight clocked at 116 MPH with a radar gun, the 3 takeoffs and landings in the shortest time in a 100 foot box (in record time) and the spot landing contest.



Don Cooney gave a presentation that night about trikes being used in Cambodia with archeologists and now for tourist flights as well and how many bribes they have to give to local Cambodian authorities to be able to fly legally there.

We also got to check out the 912XT with SST wing there and meet Shane Duncan from Airborne. Shane got to fly the Revo as well.

After Trikefest, the next stop was Oshkosh UL strip where we had a booth lined up but not so fast. Oshkosh runway was closed because of all the heavy rains there. We had to wait till Monday to be able to fly there. I flew there with Dan and landed at the UL field which if you don't know is a blind field because per NOTAM you have to approach from 5 miles out at 300 feet only and you follow the instructions but you never see the runway till all of sudden you are on short final and the runway is right there. Honest. Its like IFR but by pilotage navigation. The trees hide the runway and each year they have grown taller and EAA cannot cut them down. They are significantly taller now than I remember in 2007.

That's the story of getting to Oshkosh.

WHAT HAPPENED AT OSHKOSH:

Well in a word "LOTS".
The UL area was in a revival mode with 42 vendors present. This is in contrast to last year's 9 vendors and the year before 12 or similar. Even in 2007 when I was there last, the vendor as well as foot traffic in the UL area was essentially on its last legs.

No one is exactly sure of why vendor or end user participation increased by many folds this year but it was great to see Paul Mather (M-Squared), BeLite 103, CGS Hawk, Air Creation, Us (Evolution Trikes), Flight Design CT, Titan Aircraft and many other old stays come back to life at this show. One reason was probably that Oshkosh gave 50% off for all spaces to vendors that probably encouraged more vendors to setup shop in the UL area.

Even though the grounds were soggy and spongy, the runway was downhill and uphill dropping or rising by 9 feet over its 1200 foot length, trees sorrounding the runway taller than ever before; there was plenty of flying going on. The rains had left the runway very bumpy and the sponginess did not help taking off any the first two days of the show. Slowly the grounds dried some and more people started to fly by the third day.

There were 20 aircraft in the small 300 foot AGL pattern that had both "left and right" turns in it. Yes both left and right turns. On the first day of briefing me and Larry attended, we couldn't help but snicker when they described the pattern to us. I remember thinking, how do they expect someone to remember all these turns (a dozen of them) in one pattern while getting knocked around behind someone's wake turbulence. In fact not many did, including me. Many pilots started with ovals and heights well above 300 feet that made the flying for pilots who actually remained at 300 feet very very interesting. But I guess that's Oshkosh. I would say that the idea unlike few years back of asking faster traffic to pass on the inside of the pattern was a bit outlandish and dangerous. Its always better for faster traffic to pass on the outside not the inside. Larry handled the pattern very well and remembered all the weird turns for the most part. I do have to say honestly that Oshkosh UL guys are still visibly biased towards fixed wings a bit. Trikes seem just a mystry to them. This is very much unlike for the shows in Florida (Sebring Expo and Sun N Fun).

The main area at Oshkosh was well attended as always despite the early rains but the new to Oshkosh night show was not at par with Sun N Fun's night airshow. Oshkosh is probably 1.5 times the size of Sun N Fun in terms of things to look at and people who visit. Oshkosh could learn some lessons though in how their showers are setup from Sun N Fun. Sun N Fun you get a shower as well as a small changing room that's private. At Oshkosh, you have no privacy. I had to see things in those showers no man should ever have to see :). A request guys ... if you are old and decide to change outside the shower, do not bend over to put your pants on and then fart in other people's direction. That is NOT COOL!!!!! I don't need to smell or see your insides ... PLEASE!!!!

There were some interesting aircraft like tip jet single seat helicopter that uses H2O2 or Hydrogen Per Oxide and no combustion to rotate its rotors and its by product is water.




In terms of trikes, Air Creation was present in the form of  SpiritsUp Aviation from Petaluma, Ca with ever smiling Canadian French gentleman named Mike. Mike is definitely a character but he is always smiling and cool. It was nice to meet him. Larry flew the Tanarg 912/Bionix combo with Mike from the front seat on the last day just before we left. I looked at the Bionix carefully, definitely different way of solving the problem of speed range.

To see a comparison of Air Creation Tanarg 912/Bionix and AirBorne 912XT/SST click here.

Lots of serious interest and links with people. Airborne and others may want to think about attending this show next year with us.

During the airshow by co-incidence, I attended conference calls with some USAF officers interested in training their pilots on trikes and some RDECOM US Army engineers interested in getting trike profiles for their radars. More on that later as things develop.

ON THE JOURNEY BACK:

Well, the short-form is that Wes sold his trike at Oshkosh and Sean Scott had to take a commercial flight back to Tampa due to pre-arranged speaking engagement so me and Dan flew the yellow Revo, Wes and Marsha flew the silver Delta Jet and Larry and Amy drove the RV and trailer back 1200 miles to Florida.

But of course its never that simple, is it :)?

The plan was to fly the Revo and Sean's silver Delta Jet out of Oshkosh and into Kentland, IL and put the trikes into the hanger there and go take showers at who else but Curt Shoaf's place. Then drive to Grand Rapids, Michigan to the factory and pick up 3 Revo kits and one Revo carriage to take back to Florida in the trailer attached to the RV. Then drive back to Kentland and fly the trikes back 1000 miles to Florida and Larry would drive the RV back to Florida.

So our journey started by the trikes flying out of Oshkosh UL strip 2-up (me and Dan in the Revo and Wes and Marsha in the Silver Delta Jet) and heading south around noon on Sunday.
We had to stop at an airport in South Wisconsin because a very serious perspective (Herb) had asked us to stop by so he could fly the Revo more and give his wife a ride as well and discuss some business. So we obliged.

This airport was uncontrolled but was wedged in between two class D airports and not too far from Milwauki Class C either. Anyway, the flights and business discussion went great but took longer than expected so Wes and Marsha decided to continue on towards Kentland, IL and we would catch-up in the Revo.

After everything was settled there, me and Dan fuelled up the Revo and blasted off south again going through the two class D airspaces and going by close to Milwauki, our next stop was Morris, IL near Chicago. The weather was a little bumpy but nothing to worry about. We landed at Morris, fuelled up, streched our legs and then blasted off again towards Kentland again.

Now headwinds about 10 MPH. So I cranked the electric trim to around 93 mph (its fastest setting on this trike) and started cruising at around 95/96 MPH IAS and 86 MPH ground speed. This was burning around 5.25 US gallons per hour 2-up with full fuel. A bit more than I had planned with but there should be enough to get us there unless headwinds increased, which they thankfully didn't.  We had to go under class B of O'Harre to head south more directly. Keep your eyes peeled, its busy with some heavy metal flying overhead.

We reached close to Kentland and saw a trike flying 2000 feet below us. We were at 3000 feet. At first I thought that must be Wes and Marsha but they should have reached there hours ago. Curiosity got the best of me and I decided to dive down and check them out. This trike was too slow to be Wes and Marsha. It was cruising at around 50 MPH. It was an Air Creation GTE 582 with a Kiss 450 wing. Who else but Masoud.

Masoud is a true trike gypsy from Florida. So this was the second time we were catching him at the same airport. The kind that does not have a club or is known. Just someone who starts flying whereever and whenever he wants. His philosophy is -not- to plan but truly let the journey guide itself. He does not have any idea where he would end up tonight, he lets the events dictate his journey as long as he is making headway towards his eventual destination a bit. He flew this trike from Jacksonville, FL to Oshkosh and was flying it back with his cousin. My hats off to him. Just get that sail of the wing changed my friend and I have said this before in this blog too but never enough warning about safety :). Your daughter needs you alive. Its time to let that sail go :). Just let it go, you can do it :).

We did 3 circles around Masoud and then headed to the airport and landed there. Five minutes later Masoud's trike landed there as well. Wes and Marsha had already been there and were waiting for us in Curt's van. We secured all the trikes in the hanger, including Masoud's and decided to go eat nearby. After supper, Masoud and his cousin went to stay at a nearby motel till next morning and we headed back with Wes and Marsha to Curt's house to take showers and get cleaned up. We were 1000 miles from Tampa, Florida but we were not going to fly the next day. The next day was planned to drive in the RV and the trailer to Michigan and pick up the "LOOT" :).

The RV arrived past midnight because the Oshkosh staff would not let them out till past 5 pm on Sunday (last day of the show). We finally went to sleep at 1 am.

Next day (Monday) as planned we went to Michigan with everyone in the RV and loaded up the trailer and secured everything and drove it all back to Illinois. We relaxed a bit the rest of the evening and took showers etc. as next day begins our 500 mile legs to Georgia and then another 500 mile leg to Florida.

Morning seemed calm but with 7 mile visibility. We blasted off out of Kentland towards Glascow, Kentucky. But it is not that simple. At first we had a nice 7 mph tailwind and reasonable visibility and then the soup just kept getting thicker and thicker. Wes and Marsha tried to climb above it but gave up at 7500 feet as it just never seemed to end. Visibility was now around 3.5 miles and we diverted to dodge some really heavy haze and started following an interstate south. IFR = I follow roads :). Visibility here was around 3.5 miles and reference to the ground was maintained but we had to constantly think about diverting to another airport in case visibility became worse. This was no longer the shortest route to Glascow, no longer a straight line. Well what fun would it be if it was exactly as planned, right :).

Once we passed TerraHaute, IN (Class D), we sat the trikes down Glascow. We fuelled up and took off again towards Calhoun, Georgia with stop planned for lunch and fuel at Cumberland Upton in Tenneessee. Visibility started getting a bit better now but the white puffy clouds started to develop vertically and the normal southern mid day bumps started. Nothing bad. Flight to Upton was uneventful and we landed there around 1 pm. Hunger churning our stomachs.

I also noticed that the Revo's brakes were not working as well. There was a leak on the main right brake fitting and the remote master cylinder reservoir was almost completely empty. The FBO guys at this airport remembered us and wondered what had happened to the third trike. Of course it was sold at Oshkosh. I borrowed some 5606 milspec brake fluid from the local A&P and Dan helped me fill the reservoir up so it would last the trip till we get to Florida and change the fitting in the caliper. We borrowed their courtesy van and went out to grap some lunch at local Arbys and took our time eating and relaxing. Next leg was to be to Calhoun where we would make our night's stay.

On the flight to Calhoun, we came across some rather high developing cumulous. They started to look more nasty as you got closer to them so we decided to remain under and go slightly around them. I had called Chuck Goodrum and told him we would be in Georgia in a few hours. Visibility again started getting worse but still legal and doable. We went over the ridges that run from TN to north GA and under Class C airspace of Chatanooga's outer shelf. This was TN's Cumberland Pleautau. On a clear day it would provide some nice pictures but the haze would not do it justice. We arrived in Calhaun in the evening where we found Chuck waiting for us at the FBO.

THE LAST DAY of flights was the most exciting. Why? Weather. Why weather here because we went through South Georgia and Florida. Northern flyers don't get to experience flyable weather like this. They either get severe storm days with warnings (read not going to fly today) or flyable days that are decently benign. Here you get weather every flyable day. You can fly but you better be ready. T-Storms develop in what seems like minutes not hours. Rains can come up on you and they are scattered so better watch out. Bumps are more powerful in normal mid day summer than anything up northeast/midwest.

We left Calhoun and headed to our next stop (KOPN) in the morning. Wasn't too bad but towards the end of this leg, things started to cook just a bit. After a brief fuelling and resting exercise, we left for our next stop (KTMA).

This is where we dealt with some more pure fun bumps from the mid day in the south in the dead of summer. Cumulus vertical development started taking a rate that made you think twice about trying to climb on top of that innocent cloud in front of you by 10 miles. We landed, got to eat lunch, re-fuelled, called our loved ones and then started to Suwanee County airport at Live Oak, FL. Our home state. Identifier 24J.

This was mid day and Florida had thunder showers in store for us. Wes kept trying to check weather in flight via his IPhone on radar. The flight leg to 24J was only 1 hour so I wasn't sure stopping there was really necessary. However as we crossed into Florida, we started seeing what looked like a wall of rain. We started to go around it which was about 4 or 5 miles off course and then I smelled cedar wood in the air. I remarked to Dan I smell some nice wood in the air and we looked down to see a chipping plant. Amazing how these things find their way up to 3000 feet. Then I started getting hit by these wood chips on my bare arms at 90 MPH. Ouch Ouch. I told Dan man these things hurt. His comment was "Yup". But then some rain drops. Darnit, it wasn't cedar chips hitting us, it was the invisible rain starting to go right where we were, under those dark black clouds that looked much lighter 5 minutes ago from a distance.

So we darted further off course and asked Wes, his position. He was 4 or 5 miles behind us so we told him to go west a bit to avoid these rain showers. Rain showers??? Wait I then just saw a bolt of lightning (thunder showers) to my left. I kept quiet and darted even further to my right at 100 MPH.

Thunderstorms or anywhere too close to them is not where I wanted to be. We did see an airport right in front of us so we did have an out just in case. Soon we beat the showers and were past them. Wes was still somewhere behind us. As we approached 24J, I asked Wes if he would like to continue forward as there was no need for a fuel stop. Wes wanted to stop and said western diversion will give better weather (fewer scattered thunderstorms) as we headed further south and he wanted to do that with full fuel. I advised him that I will continue down the straight line and will see him at Z-hills. He agreed.

So me and Dan continued south in the Revo but again had to do little diversions snaking around scatterred T-storms. After another 2 hours it was time to get some fuel and we had ended up east of our course. I looked for closest airports. There were plenty nearby but none seemed to be the kind to carry fuel (private little fields). I found only one that even had a CTAF listed so I thought lets try that. It was 10 miles further to the east. We got to the airport, it was a beautiful long grass runway. It was one of the best and smoothest and longest grass runways I have ever landed on. Beautifully maintained. But it was in fact closed. Something you could only see once you were on the ground. (Use white markers for the X guys). There was a maintenance person who had just finished mowing the grass. We asked him where was the closest airport where we could reliably get fuel. He said Gainesville Regional. Great. That would be further east of our course and a class Delta. We had 4 gallons of gas but I didn't want to head towards Zephyrhills just with that. So we tookoff and headed towards Gainesville class D.

This was going to be good practice for Dan as he had not rehearsed for it and this was a real life situation. I let him do all comms with the tower and the ground. There were some business Jets landing and taking off at Gainesville so we waited for clearance and landed and taxied towards self serve 100LL (Lotts-a-Lead) fuel station. After filling the fuel, we started the trike and I asked Dan to ask ground to give him progressive taxi instructions as this was our first time at this airport for departure towards Zephyr Muni. The tower had us wait while another Jet landed at a cross runway and then cleared us for takeoff.

We departed towards Zephyrhills and as we left Gainesville airspace, frequency change was approved. Now the real fun began. As we past by Ocala (now class D), we started seeing thunder storms. Most were easy to avoid. But as we got closer and closer to Zephyrhills (like 30 miles from it), things started looking really nasty

Home was so close but so far away as they say :). I looked to the west because I remembered that Wes had said west was looking better and there was a 25 mile wall of rain with lightning from time to time. I was hoping Wes beat it or avoided it altogether. It did not look good. Soon scatterred thunder storm cells started sorrounding us 360 around. After the whole trip and so close to home airport, it was ironic that this was the worst weather I was seeing. We literally snaked in between thunderstorm cells. Caught some rain and came out on the other side and saw Zephyrhills airport from 15 miles out. Thunderstorm to the west and south seemed to be slowly moving towards Zephyrhills. We dashed home and landed in gusty 90 degree 15 knot cross winds. Wes and RV were both there already. Dane Hauser our resident fulltime CFI was there and so was Dave Miller, our other part time CFI. A nice surprise was to see Peter Wallace there who is an instructor examiner for weight-shift-control in Florida that we work with. I still haven't gotten the story how he was there but if it was just to greet us; well thank you Peter. Too bad I was so tired and missing my 5 year old son Rohan so much, I ran off out of there quickly. The hardest part of the trip for me was missing my little son and to think back to where when my wife was pregnant, all I could think of was what have I done and that my life was over. Now I would not change that for the world. I was glad to see Wes make it back and not gotten caught in anything.
Jan was there had the camera going which I didn't realize till later. I may have said some choice words there about the weather as a result but hey its all REAL!!!

Zephyrhills Gang Return From Oshkosh from Jan Ferreira on Vimeo.

Hope you enjoyed the blog. I am not a writer or a video guy or a good picture taker for that matter so I hope I didn't bore you much :). Till next time gentlemen and women. Fly safe but fly and fly past your airport sometimes :).
Abid Farooqui

Courtesy of Dan Grunloh - LightPlaneWorld

Trikefest 2010 – An AirVenture-Bound Stopover

About six years ago, Illinois trike pilot Curt Shoaf noticed that quite a few trikes (and fixed wing airplanes) were stopping at Cushing Field (0C8), southwest of Chicago, on their way to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Curt proposed a trike fly-in for the weekend prior to AirVenture. It became an instant success, and this year the 6th Annual Trikefest will take place July 23, 24, and 25. Everyone is welcome.

About six years ago, Illinois trike pilot Curt Shoafnoticed that quite a few trikes (and fixed wing airplanes) were stopping at Cushing Field (0C8), southwest of Chicago, on their way to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh. Cushing Field had already become a popular center for trike flying due to the efforts of Mike Hudetz, a trike instructor and dealer (now pilot examiner).

Curt proposed a trike fly-in for the weekend prior to AirVenture. It became an instant success because Cushing Field is a terrific airport with ample facilities to meet all the needs of the sport pilot and light-sport aircraft community in the wider Chicago area. The 6th Annual Trikefest will take place July 23, 24, and 25. Everyone is welcome. There will be fun contests, educational seminars, and great food. After the Sunday morning breakfast flight, the survivors continue their trek to AirVenture with the fastest trikes leading the way.

Trikefest is expecting trikes from places far and wide, including Florida, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Iowa. As many as 60 trikes are believed to have attended previous gatherings, making this event the largest trike gathering in the United States and perhaps the entire western hemisphere. Trikefest 2010 festivities will include a wedding between a local trike pilot and his powered-parachute-flying fiancée. It will be conducted by a judge who is also a trike pilot.

The activities begin on Friday. Camping is permitted everywhere but on the runway. There’s plenty of grassy ramp space to set up your trike and tent, or park a motor home. There are several public washrooms on the field with running water and flushing toilets.  Hotels are located in nearby Sandwich, Yorkville, and Ottawa. Cushing Field is a busy place with 74 aircraft based at the airport and a credit card Mogas fuel pump.

The airport is also home to Sport Pilot Chicago,a training center with five very active instructors and up to a dozen fixed wing instructors available. Their fleet of five special light-sport aircraft trainers includes Evektor SportStars and a Thorp T-211. Training and services for trike pilots are supervised by Mike Hudetz, who is a dealer for Airborne trikes.

Visitors expected this year from Australia include ShaneDuncan, head of Airborne, who will be available to help with tuning and adjustment of wings. For more information about Trikefest, see the website at A&M Airsports. Contact Mike at michaelhudetz@att.net or 630-879-6568. Aircraft and pilots at this event are encouraged to be FAA compliant as there will be FAA inspectors giving check rides.  

On Saturday afternoon, a competition will include the radar gun run, the balloon in the hula-hoop drop, the dead-stick spot landing, and the dreaded TOLRAC – takeoff and landing race. See an example in this video. The barbecue happens during the competition and is located directly in front of the runway, so it’s a good spot to plant a lawn chair. The Cushing Field Trikers supply the barbecue, food, and drinks, but this costs hundreds of dollars; donation jars are near the food.

There are no sponsors helping to pay, and no fees to attend, camp, or participate in Trikefest (just your donations). The food is truly outstanding and well appreciated by hungry pilots on their way to AirVenture. Sometime Friday evening or Saturday late morning,there will be a seminar on Rotax engines given by Jim Leon. Don Cooney, manufacturer of the Prowler trike, will give a talk Saturday evening on his flying in Cambodia. On Sunday morning, there will be a fly-out to a nearby airport for breakfast, and then it’s off to AirVenture!

Courtesy of Dan Grunloh - LightPlaneWorld

New Astra 103 Trike – and Solo Fixed Wing

Allistair Wilson, the creator of the Astra line of trikes, has begun test-flying a new single-seat trike design called the Astra 103. The news was revealed on the trike enthusiast website Trikepilot Social by Spencer Foreman, who provided the photo for this report. In an interview, Allistair says, “The Astra 103 is designed to be a stable cross-country-capable trike. It is not a nanolight trike with a hang-glider wing. It is a real trike wing designed to be safe and stable in turbulence. I have flown it in 15-mph turbulent wind conditions, and it behaves just like the larger Astra two-seat trikes. It is a fun trike to fly.”

The Rotax 503-powered trike has a 13.5-square-meter 40percent double surface wing. The trike frame is built from the same materials as the larger Astra trikes, 6082 AL, which is stronger and more fatigue resistant than 6061 AL. Although the Astra 103 won’t be at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010, Allistair will be exhibiting his new single-seat metal/composite fixed wing, the Solo, which is powered by a Hirth F-33.

The Astra 103 trike base tube is “ventilated” to reduce weight. It has steel wishbone main landing gear legs and lightweight main shocks. The front suspension is mild steel, with drag links and high-density butyl shock discs. The wheels are Zytel, 12.5-inch-diameter rear with 10.5-inch-diameter front, and a front drum brake is built into the wheel.

Stall speed is 27 mph, and the velocity never to exceed is 68 mph with a speed range of 30 to 63 mph. Cruise is 45 mph burning 1.8 gallons per hour at 4,400 rpm on a four-blade 59-inch Ultraprop. The climb rate is approximately 900 feet per minute at 40 mph. The trike body is a lightweight carbon fiber reinforced composite, with pod, instrument panel, composite seat, and lightweight wheel pants. The 5-gallon-capacity fuel tank is welded aluminum. The MGL Flight-2 instrument system provides digital airspeed indicator, vertical speed indicator, and altimeter, as well as fuel computer, volts, flight timers, dual exhaust gas temperature/cylinder head temperature, and many other useful functions.

The price for the Astra 103 is $15,495, and Allistair is taking orders now for delivery in September. The Astratrike.com website will soon be updated with new information about the Astra 103 trike and the new Solo fixed wing. Work is progressing on a special light-sport aircraft version of the Astra HKS. The two-seat trikes on the website are still available as amateur-build kits, and spare parts are still available for the existing fleet of E-LSA Astra trikes. For views of the Solo fixed wing, watch this video of the Solo test flight. And anyone who loves flying will enjoy this fun video of Allistair hands-free flying the Astra 103. Contact Sportflight International LLC at Sportflight@aol.com or call 812-384-4760.

Mick Balaban (Noizemaker) had a great day over at Lodi and sent in this Flickr slideshow... check out Henry's Camera Mount system on his gorgeous Tanarg. Slick!!

This piece about a flying donkey is a good example of negative advertising in trying to promote flying or as in this case a private beach.   Compare it with the previous article posted about the paraplegic trike pilot trying to raise funds.  
Photograph from BBC Headlines

While it has been said any publicity is good with many using controversy as a tool to generate interest, I would question the utility of some forms of advertising.

Need an annual for my DTA Trike.

Does anyone know someone who can do this?

Help?

Thanks

This BBC news story of a parapalegic trike pilot raising funds for an air ambulance service in the UK is praise worthy.  The video can be found here.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10689762