You might not even have noticed, but the Cessna 182 has been out of production for the better part of the last three years. Would-be buyers of new Skylanes are painfully aware of this fact, and now they're finally getting their wish. Cessna is putting the gasoline piston version of the Skylane back into production as the diesel-powered 182 JT-A continues to languish in certification purgatory.
Cessna originally hoped to start selling the jet-A-burning diesel Skylane two years ago, but ongoing and undisclosed problems with the engine delayed its market introduction several times. Cessna last said certification was expected early this year, but when the company didn't even bring a 182 to Sun 'n Fun customers began to suspect the 182 JT-A, powered by a SMA Safran diesel engine, might be no closer to reality.
Cessna now says the 182 JT-A's development timeline is "undefined." As a result, production of the avgas 182T is resuming, with the first going to the Civil Air Patrol, according to a report by AOPA.
While the resumption of 182 production is good news for Cessna and new-airplane buyers, it's a bit of a bummer for current 182 owners who watched their aircraft values steadily rise as the laws of supply and demand worked their magic.
According: flyingmag.com
Continuing a trend that has seen a number of players seek to "remanufacture" aging general aviation piston airplanes with new paint, fresh interiors, zero-time engines and extensive inspections inside and out, Yingling is the latest to want in on this market with the reimagined Ascend 172.
The program, launched at EAA AirVenture in conjunction with AOPA, seeks to take an older Cessna Skyhawk and update it with new VFR flight instruments, a refurbished interior, firewall-forward overhaul and much, much more for a starting price of $160,000. An IFR version of the Ascend 172 has a base price of $175,000.
AOPA has partnered with Aviat on a similar program for the Reimagined 152, a makeover for the timeless two-seat trainer that involves much the same treatment and sells for around $100,000.
Prices for the airplanes can quickly start rising, however, once options such as ADS-B, glass panel displays or LED lighting are added. Still, there's no question a remanufactured 172 is less expensive to buy than a brand new Skyhawk, which comes with a standard Garmin G1000 panel and sells for more than $400,000 with typical options.
The Ascend 172 Yingling is showing off at AOPA's Oshkosh exhibit looks terrific, with new seats, new plastic interior inserts and new instrument panel on the inside and essentially a new engine and prop on the nose. Yingling painted the airplane bright yellow in keeping with AOPA's "You Can Fly" theme, but Ascend 172 buyers can choose any color they want.
According: flyingmag.com
One of the strangest helicopters you have ever seen is going back into production. Following a 12-year hiatus, the Kaman K-MAX K-1200 heavy-lifter, first built in the 1990s, will again start emerging from the factory after the Connecticut-based manufacturer received an order for 10 helicopters from two operators.
First type certified in 1994, the K-MAX is unusual for its intermeshing twin main rotors, the same basic principle used in Charles Kaman's first prototype helicopter in 1947, the K-225.
Carrying a projected price in the neighborhood of $8 million, the K-MAX will relaunch with new deliveries in 2017. The customers are Rotex Helicopter of Switzerland and Helicopter Express of Chamblee, Georgia. The helicopters will be manufactured at Kaman's facilities in Jacksonville, Florida, and Bloomfield, Connecticut.
According: flyingmag.com
You may have been wondering what happened to the Liberty XL-2 — the two-seat carbon fiber airplane that became the first piston-powered model to be certified with a Fadec-equipped engine in 2004. After a few years of hibernation the type-design was picked up by Melbourne, Florida-based Discovery Aviation, which has just reopened the order book for the airplane.
While the Discovery XL-2 is still essentially the same airplane as the Liberty, powered by the Continental IOF-240B, the panel has seen a face lift from the decade-plus old original design. The IFR-capable airplane will come standard with Garmin's G650 touch screen navigator, a GNC 255A Nav/Comm, GMA 350 digital audio panel and GTX 33 Mode S transponder. Optional add-ons include ADS-B, DME, ADF, autopilot and a glass panel upgrade with Garmin's G500 screens, which integrate with the G650 navigator.
Discovery Aviation's CEO Rick Cunliffe said the price for the XL-2 is set between $250,000 and $270,000 depending on the selected options. The Discovery Aviation team will be on hand next week at the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget Exhibition Centre, from June 15 through 21, at Booth #3A80-J in Hall 3 of the U.S. Pavillion. The XL-2 will be on display at AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on July 20 through 26.
According: flyingmag.com
It was a blustery, partially overcast and slightly turbulent day when I had a chance to fly the Carbon Cub out of Santa Maria, California, with CubCrafters representative Ben Hodges. But that didn't mean we couldn't have a good time in the modern taildragger. With about a 10-knot crosswind, adding full flaps at rotation, it took less than 75 feet to get off the ground. I know that because the runway at KSMX is 150 feet wide and, taking off from a taxiway, we were off before the centerline mark.
Introduced in 2007, the Carbon Cub has a strong relationship with the Piper Cub. Jim Richmond started CubCrafters in 1980, rebuilding Super Cubs. In 1997, CubCrafters started building its own Cubs, and, with their superior performance, the company's experimental, LSA and certified taildragger airplanes have been very successful.
Aside from the cowl, which sports large air inlets to help with cooling, CubCrafters' Carbon Cub may look very similar to the Super Cub. But this Cub is from a completely different species. The Carbon Cub's fuselage is constructed of carbon fiber and is a full 4 inches wider than the Super Cub's. The wings, the shape of which is essentially identical to Piper's, are covered with Poly-Fiber. The airplane has been tested to and is available with a gross weight of 1,865 pounds as an experimental kit and in limited numbers as a factory assisted amateur-built airplane; however, most Carbon Cubs are in the LSA category.
The tight 1,320-pound weight restriction (1,430 pounds for the float version), challenged the engineers to make all parts as light as possible. CubCrafters managed to reduce the empty weight by around 300 pounds compared with the Super Cub's weight. The airplane is powered by a 180 hp Titan 340CC engine — an LSA certified, four-cylinder horizontally opposed, carbureted engine with electronic ignition. The Titan spins a lightweight Catto composite propeller. Solutions such as electric trim, LED lights and perforated rudder pedals and brake rotors also help keep the weight down. With minimal equipment you can get the empty weight down below 900 pounds and the price tag to $184,990. However, loaded, like Hodges' airplane, the Carbon Cub SS weighs 950 pounds empty and costs around $240,000.
With 24 gallons of usable fuel there is not a whole lot to play with to stay within the legal limits. However, since the airplane burns about 6 gph, you can limit your fuel load and still get to where you want to go.
The airplane is easy to fly while maintaining all the fun characteristics of the Cub. The name of the game is low and slow, and speed is measured in miles per hour rather than knots. Maintaining control, I flew the airplane at 40 mph without flaps, and with power at idle we descended at a benign 500 fpm. With full flaps the airplane was still controllable at 30 mph, and we didn't stall until the airspeed indicator was showing 27 mph.
Most modern airplanes today offer glass panel avionics, a gigantic departure from the bare-bones round gauge offering of the Cubs rolling out of the Piper factory. The top of the line is Garmin's recently introduced G3X Touch, a highly capable system designed for the experimental market. The airplane also offers an optional Garmin autopilot, which I found to be just as smooth in operation as the certified GFC 700. There is a long list of other avionics options as well.
While the standard gear in the Carbon Cub SS is similar to that of the Super Cub, CubCrafters offers several extra options for gear. Hodges' demonstrator has 3-inch extended landing gear along with 29-inch tundra tires, providing terrific shock absorption on rough surfaces, as I found out.
There are half a dozen tire options from the standard 6-inch tires to massive 29-inch Airstreak tundra tires. Aside from the added weight, there is another consequence as the wheels get thicker and landing gear rises. I looked at the fuel gauges, located inside the wing attachments, and queried Hodges on whether we would have enough fuel. It appeared that we had less than a quarter-tank's worth on each side. It turned out that the tanks were more than half full. The fuel gauges are only accurate in level flight.
With a cruise speed around 115 mph and limited cargo space, the Carbon Cub SS is not built as a long-distance traveler, but it will take you places most airplanes can not. Hodges has taken off from a mountain strip at around 10,000 feet on a hot day. With a density altitude around 12,500 feet, the trusty airplane still climbed at around 1,000 fpm, he said. At sea level we saw climb rates beyond 2,000 fpm. Runway? Who needs it? As long as you have permission, you can take the Carbon Cub SS almost anywhere. We took the airplane into a landing strip on a farm that can't have been wider than 20 feet and then to a beautiful remote beach only accessible by aircraft, boat or foot — recreational flying at its best. —Pia Bergqvist
According: flyingmag.com
What better place to experience a modern-day incarnation of the classic Piper Cub than on the grass runway at William T. Piper Memorial Airport in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania — the site of the original J-3 factory — during the annual Sentimental Journey Cub fly-in?
This wasn't just any contemporary Cub, mind you. It was American Legend Aircraft's new AL-18 Super Legend HP, a tube-and-rag rocket ship powered by a 180-horsepower Titan Stroker O-340 engine and weighing in at just a shade over 900 pounds empty for a superb power-to-weight ratio.
Introduced last year with the 115 hp Lycoming O-233 engine, the light-sport Super Legend is the latest in a family of Cub clones that American Legend has been building at its factory in Sulphur Springs, Texas, for the last decade. Now, with the Titan engine option unveiled this spring at Sun 'n Fun, the Super Legend boasts truly legendary performance.
Sitting pretty on 29-inch Alaskan Bushwheels, the Super Legend HP was the star of the Cub fly-in in its attractive silver and black paint scheme with classic Cub yellow accents. I hopped aboard with the airplane's owner, Dick Parsons, a retired Delta 777 captain who was on hand on behalf of American Legend to help answer questions from the abundance of tire kickers in attendance.
Parsons knows about as much as anybody about the Legend Cub family of airplanes. This is the fifth one he's owned, starting with an 80 hp Legend, a 100 hp model, another 100 hp model on floats, a 115 hp Super Legend and now the Super Legend HP — easily his favorite of the bunch, he says.
I soon learned why. We trundled out past the rows of J-3s and PA-18s to Lock Haven's Runway 9R, which was a hive of flight activity with about a half dozen taildraggers in the pattern, where Dick demonstrated the first takeoff. Swinging the Super Legend onto the grass when it was our turn, he gave it full power. I was sucked into my seat as the airplane surged forward, its 84-inch Catto climb prop providing ample thrust. In seconds flat the tail was up and Dick was easing back on the stick. We soared into the air and climbed steeply after a ground roll of maybe 75 feet.
Climbing out over the Ridge and Valley Appalachians west of Lock Haven, Dick handed over the controls, which I found were as balanced and satisfying as any Cub fan could hope for. It took me all of about 30 seconds to decide the Super Legend flies beautifully. Its cabin is 3 inches wider than a Super Cub's, giving it a comfortable, roomy feel. Nice additions are the doors and windows on both sides, which can be unlatched in flight for that open-cockpit feel.
After a while we headed back to Lock Haven for touch-and-goes. Dick demonstrated the first landing, easy as pie to a soft touchdown on the lush green grass. Then it was my turn. The Super Legend is typically soloed from the front seat, affording a good view ahead. I was in the rear, so the sight picture was more tried-and-true J-3. Placing my feet on the rudder pedals in the back required quite a wide stance with each pedal positioned on either side of the seat ahead. The sensation was similar to sliding my feet into a horse's stirrups. Lining up on the grass runway for takeoff, it occurred to me that this was one powerful steed indeed.
I pushed the throttle forward and got ready to perform the "taildragger shuffle" on the rudder pedals, a dance that J-3 pilots know well. But the tail came up so quickly — signaling that the Super Legend was ready to go flying — that I simply eased the stick back with gentle pressure, and we were climbing at almost 2,000 feet per minute. I barely touched the rudder.
The landing involved powering back to idle when abeam the runway end, adding a notch of flaps and slowing to 60 mph indicated on base and 55 mph on final. We floated in over the grass and I pulled the stick back in a smooth, gradual motion to put us down in a gentle three-pointer. Now I was totally blind to what was ahead, glancing left and right at the runway edge markers to keep us more or less straight. I would have preferred the front seat view.
The base Legend Cub, available with open or closed cowl, is powered by a 100 hp Continental O-200D. It's a fun airplane, but nothing compared with the adrenaline-fueled experience in the Super Legend HP. Swapping out the stock Sensenich 76-inch ground-adjustable propeller for the Catto carbon-fiber prop enhances the performance even further. Once you've tasted that raw extra power for yourself, there's a good chance you'll want to own a Super Legend too. —Stephen Pope
According: flyingmag.com
If the Super Cub had continued to be produced all these years by a company that was committed to the product not only for nostalgia and a few sales but also for the value and quality of the airplane itself, it might have turned out like today's Husky.
The Husky was created by Frank Christensen of Christen Eagle fame in the mid-1980s to fill the void left by the abandoned Super Cub. While resembling the PA-18 in just about every respect, his airplane was all new, Christensen insisted. And it was, in the sense that it was designed with all new parts and slightly different design approaches. It was, however, still a tube-and-rag, tandem-seating taildragger with a 180 hp Lycoming engine. It even featured an airfoil, USA 35B, that's very similar to those on the original Cubbie clan.
Customers looking to escape the Teterboros of the world for the Sawtooth Range or northern Maine quickly figured out the Husky was picking up where the Super Cub left off. It flew well and was a rugged performer that could haul a prodigious load and, while not Mooney fast, could still get down the road a lot faster than a GMC truck navigating the steep grades and switchbacks of the mountain roads below.
With the company under new ownership as Aviat Aircraft for many years now, the mission has remained the same: to continuously improve the model to keep it a state-of-the-art personal plane despite its 75-plus-year-old spiritual legacy.
One of the things Husky pilots enjoy is the improved visibility over the original — a feature Christensen also put in his Pitts-inspired Christen Eagle aerobatic biplane. The Husky handles nicely too, with a better roll rate than the Super Cub has, more harmonized control forces with less adverse yaw, and an attention to detail that keeps Husky customers coming back.
The standard Husky comes with the 180 hp Lycoming O-360 four-cylinder engine; an optional 200 hp model is available. While the already light and powerful Husky might not need more get-up-and-go, the slightly larger engine, the IO-360, features smoother operation with angled valves and better fuel flow design; fuel injection means no carb heat.
Performance is nothing short of spectacular. The Husky needs just a few hundred feet to get up and down again, and with big tires installed — a popular option at the Aviat factory in Wyoming — the plane is seemingly immune to good size rocks and small size ditches. Gravel bars on low flowing rivers and streams are popular landing sites, though sometimes pilots cheat by touching down on the surface of the water before hitting the beach to tack on a few extra feet to the available landing distance. OK, they do it even when distance isn't really an issue.
Another popular Husky pursuit is float flying, something I've got more than a few hours doing myself. The Husky makes a great floatplane, thanks to a high power-to-weight ratio, the high wing and the visibility of the general design — unlike in planes configured with two-across seating, like Cessna 180s or de Havilland Beavers, the pilot in a Husky (or Super Cub) can see out one side of the plane as easily as the other. I did most of my seaplane training in a Husky, complete with 180 hp engine, amphibious floats and a modern electrical system. It was a dream.
One of the most loyal Husky customer types is a guy who already has a fast and sophisticated airplane or two (or more) and who wants to fly an airplane that adds to the experience of flight by taking so much of it away. Take away the control towers, the radio chatter, the flight plans, paved runways, taxiway signs and landing fees, and just fly. There's something about flying a gnarly taildragger off a hard-packed dirt strip, the dust rising up as the mains hit and the smell of creosote in the air wafting though the cockpit, through the open side windows, as you flop down, a three-pointer, bang. Heck, even if you bounce it a little the Husky won't really care. After all, it's what it was made for. —Robert Goyer
According: flyingmag.com
Just months after its first flight, Anequim CEA-311, a Brazilian speedster built by students and professors at the Brazilian technical school Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Belo Horizonte, has achieved multiple world records at the Santa Cruz Air Force Base in Rio de Janeiro.
Between Friday and Sunday last week, the sleek single-seat carbon fiber airplane broke no less than five world records. While the numbers have not yet been confirmed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the preliminary numbers released by the airplane's designer, Paulo Iscold, indicate that Anequim shattered the previous records in each category. In the category of speed over a 3 km course, the Anequim flew at 521.08 km/hr (281 knots), about 55 km/hr faster than the previous record, set by the DR-90 Nemesis. Another previous Nemesis record, speed over 15 km, previously set at 455.8 km/hr, was increased by Anequim to 511.19 km/hr (276 knots). And in two additional categories, the speed over a 100 km closed course and a 500 km closed course, Anequim blasted the previous records by more than 100 km/hr, clocking in at 490.14 km/hr (265 knots) and 493.74 km/hr (267 knots) respectively.
The airplane also showed stellar climb performance. It climbed to 3,000 meters in 2 minutes 26 seconds, breaking the previous record by more than 40 seconds.
While a stellar performer, don't expect to be able to purchase this airplane. According to Gúnar Armin Halboth, who piloted the airplane and was a part of its development, the Anequim is a one-off.
Halboth said there was no rehearsal for the record-breaking flights. "[The] decision was just to be sure we'd break [the records] and, if necessary, stretch them later," he said. The speed record over 3 km was done at less than 100 meters off the ground. "Anequim was very stable and it was really fun to be at 521 km/hr that low!" Halboth said.
According: flyingmag.com
Shortly after I purchased my first airplane in 1968 (a Globe Swift), I shared an executive hangar with a Ryan PT-22 and a Big Yellow Stearman, the latter owned by a retired Pan Am captain. Yes, it was one of those Stearmans, a totally restored prize winner, a perfect example of time standing still. It was as perfect as unlimited money and several thousand hours of TLC could make it. Doug was fanatical about his airplane and also given to a certain amount of whimsy.
I rode with him several times, but they were always rides, not flights, as he'd conveniently removed the front stick, so no one else could actually fly his airplane. As it happened, his Stearman's registration was N22747, and Doug, characteristically irreverent, took every advantage of the N-number.
He flew the airplane regularly, and said he delighted in contacting approach control at Long Beach, called simply SoCal in those days, and announcing, "SoCal, this is Boeing 747 at the east tip with Oscar. We'd like the ILS to Long Beach."
Doug chuckled that the controllers were always amazed when they assigned him a discrete squawk and identified his airplane on radar, flying the approach at 70 knots. The next call from ATC was usually something like, "Say again type aircraft."
These days, I have another friend with an equally pristine Boeing Stearman, Mike Hanson of Westminister, Calif. Hanson doesn't fly many ILSs in his Stearman, real or practice, but he and his vintage Boeing model 75 are a common sight in the skies over Southern California. His airplane is a fully restored Navy N2S3 trainer, a 1943 model, one of the 10,346 built by Boeing as primary flight-training machines during World War II, and used all over the world as a military trainer. Since the airplane never saw combat, there was little to demilitarize after the war, and thousands of Stearmans were sold as surplus.
Hanson is a roofing contractor by trade, and as he admits, he came by his classic airplane in perhaps the best/worst way possible. He inherited it. "I had a good friend in the early 1990s who owned this airplane and a Bonanza," Hanson explains. "He dearly loved his Stearman. When he died a few years later, he willed it to me, and suddenly, I became caretaker of a treasured piece of aviation history."
Since then, Hanson and his wife, Kendle, have established their own freelance barnstorming business (www.biplanefun.com) out of Compton, hopping rides above the spectacular Palos Verdes coastline. The Hansons have logged some 2,000 hours in their classic Boeing in the last 13 years.
Unlike some antique flying machines that seem to sit in their hangars, the Stearman isn't a shop queen. Hanson reports maintenance hasn't been that difficult, partially because of the number of airplanes still on the registry.
Lloyd Stearman created the first Stearman in the early '30s and subsequently sold his company to Boeing. The then-Wichita-based company later won the contract to provide basic trainers to the Navy and Army Air Force, and the Stearman (sometimes branded by students as the "Yellow Peril") was the airplane of choice. The model 75 had spruce wings, tube-steel fuselage and fabric covering, and was considered dramatically overbuilt for its mission, so well constructed that back in the mid '30s, each airplane cost just over $11,000 to produce (in contrast to a Beech Staggerwing B17L that sold for $8,000). Translated to today's dollars, you could probably buy a decent used Lear 23 for equivalent money.
Stearmans were fitted with a bewildering variety of radial engines, everything from Continentals and Jacobs to Lycomings and Wrights, ranging in hp from 220 to 420. Mike Hanson's Stearman Kaydet features the original seven-cylinder Continental, rated for 220 hp.
After the war, the airplanes were pressed into civilian service and modified as necessary with such improvements as wheel pants, a cowling and speed fairings. These were employed as barnstormers, air show/wing walkers, mail planes and a hundred other jobs, some retrofitted with the huge Pratt & Whitney R-985 engine, boosting power to 450 hp. Hundreds of Stearmans were converted to crop dusters by simply mounting an aerial applicant tank up front and spray booms beneath the wings.
Hanson's airplane, like many of the early Stearmans, was equipped with a wood prop that provided limited performance. Hanson flew with the wood blades out front for the first thousand hours. "I call those the 'good-for-nothing' props, in between good climb and good cruise," says Hanson. He later retrofitted his airplane with the ground-adjustable all-metal McCauley prop, and picked up 10 knots cruise. (A Hamilton-Standard also is available.)
That's not to suggest cruise was a Stearman strong point, whatever the prop. With the drag of two open cockpits and accompanying wind shields, guy wires, struts, landing gear and two fat wings hanging in the wind, the Stearman has all the aerodynamic sophistication of a boxing glove. It's surprising that the stock Stearman managed the speed it did, about 90 knots. With 43-gallon tanks topped and a burn of 13 gph, the Kaydet has 2.5 hours endurance plus reserve at max cruise, enough for 230 nm range.
The airplane has a baggage compartment behind the aft pit, approved for up to 60 pounds. Typical useful load was about 750 pounds. Hanson's payload works out to a generous 492 pounds, two big folks and all the luggage you can stuff inside the baggage area.
With two wing walks, you can climb aboard from either side, but tradition suggests you treat the airplane like a thoroughbred—mount from the left. Step up on the wing, throw a leg over the sidewall, step down onto the seat and ease your rear end into the chute/cushion.
According:planeandpilot
As an icy wind whipped from the Hudson River and buffeted the heliport's aluminum chain-link fence with an unrelenting ferocity, settling into the cockpit of a Sikorsky S-76 instead of some lesser machine made me stop and appreciate the size and power of one of the best-selling helicopters of all time.
"I'm a strong swimmer and might make it back to dry land," said the S-76 captain buckling in beside me, "but I doubt you could."
Those were the discomforting words offered as simple statement of fact masquerading as a "safety briefing" just in case we ended up in the frigid water on takeoff. I was about to get a demonstration of a new helicopter terrain and obstacle warning system in an older S-76B model, and the pilot was teasing, wasn't he?
Perfect, I thought.
Thank goodness for good, old-fashioned Pratt & Whitney reliability and the stellar safety record of the S-76, which rates significantly better than most other turbine-powered helicopters. Combine this with a roomy cabin, comfortable ride and 155-knot maximum cruising speed, and it's no wonder the model has succeeded as a mainstay of corporate, offshore oil and medevac fleets for more than three decades.
What Sikorsky designers didn't realize when they were developing the S-76 in the mid-1970s, of course, is that the model would still be a top choice of helicopter buyers more than 30 years later, thanks to a long list of improvements that have boosted the model's gross weight, useful load and range while bringing incremental advances to the cockpit and passenger compartment.
Now, with the introduction of the S-76D, featuring an all-glass integrated avionics suite (based on the one in the Airbus A380 super jumbo jet), dual-speed composite main rotor, additional fuel capacity, icing certification (a first for an S-76) and 1,077 shp Pratt & Whitney Canada PW210S turboshaft engines, Sikorsky appears on the verge of guaranteeing that the helicopter will remain relevant for decades to come.
First, though, the S-76D design team will need to cross the certification goal line. Development setbacks have delayed the helicopter's first delivery by four years to 2012. Sikorsky blames the wait on supply chain issues and unspecified design changes. The protracted development and lingering economic downturn have conspired to put the brakes on production of the current S-76, the C++ model, production of which stands at less than half of what it normally should be.
Sikorsky announced the S-76D in 2005 after completing an 18-month market study that uncovered a laundry list of design improvements customers said they wanted — many of which Sikorsky's competitors were already offering in their helicopters. The S-76D's launch also came two months after Sikorsky bought Keystone Helicopter, an engineering and completion specialist in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, the site of the S-76D final assembly line. The former Keystone operation is now fully integrated into the new Sikorsky Global Helicopters, but getting there took longer than expected, the company acknowledged.
Aero Vodochody of the Czech Republic — a former builder of military jet trainers and a longtime Sikorsky partner that has produced more than 250 S-76 airframes — is being tasked with manufacturing S-76D fuselages and delivering them to the Coatesville factory, where the rotors, engines and gearboxes will be fitted before customer completions and acceptance test flights. The first production S-76D fuselage arrived in Coatesville last November. That completed helicopter now joins two prototypes for the certification program, which is taking place at Sikorsky's flight test center in West Palm Beach, Florida, and in Coatesville. This triumvirate is forming the core of an accelerated test program expected to culminate with FAA certification by the end of the year. Assuming all goes according to plan, the first new helicopter will be delivered shortly afterward to Falcon Aviation Services, an air charter operator based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, that has snapped up the first two S-76D delivery positions.
Technology Enhancements
Sikorsky has completed more than 300 hours of flight tests since the S-76D's first trip aloft in February 2009. The development program will involve about 800 hours of flying before the helicopter — and a massive amount of test data — are handed over to the FAA for validation flight-testing this summer.
While the S-76D sports a new look with the redesign of the helicopter's engine air inlet and aft cowls, the really big differences come from a compendium of new technologies packed into the model, all of it centered on improving performance, boosting efficiency, reducing noise and giving S-76D pilots better tools in the cockpit.
Sikorsky chose to scrap the mix of Rockwell Collins and Honeywell avionics in the S-76C++ and start fresh by partnering with Thales, a French company that also supplies avionics systems to helicopter makers Eurocopter and AgustaWestland. Dominating the S-76D's instrument panel are four large-format, flat-panel displays measuring 6 by 8 inches each, two integrated flight management systems, an electronic standby instrument and two beefy cursor-control devices mounted between the pilots on the center pedestal.
Unlike the various soft keys you might be used to in Garmin's G1000 or Avidyne's Entegra cockpits, the Thales TopDeck cockpit instead incorporates trackball controls that pilots use to access most any cockpit function, from setting the radios to calling up Nexrad weather images. Simplified drop-down menus ensure the pilots can access needed information as quickly as they can open a file on their PC.
TopDeck components take up less physical space in the cockpit, allowing Sikorsky designers to streamline the instrument panel and provide more legroom and better visibility, both of which should be welcomed improvements for pilots who complained they'd bang their knees in earlier S-76 models or they had trouble seeing over the glareshield. Ergonomic improvements aside, the ease of use and tremendous capability of the Thales suite should have pilots falling in love, designers say.
"The technology Thales has developed in the airline world for Airbus and the advanced integration of its avionics were really the two factors that led to our decision to go with the TopDeck cockpit," said Tim Fox, Sikorsky S-76D program manager. "Thales was able to offer features our customers said they wanted, such as advanced digital maps, integrated flight management systems and an architecture designed to keep the pilots' heads up and to present information so that typically they're no more than two mouse clicks away from any given function."
The Thales dual-channel digital autopilot in the S-76D will incorporate operating modes similar to those in the C++, in addition to a number of search-and-rescue modes offered as an option. One such mode, based on GPS input, lets the pilot press a button on the cyclic when directly over a rescue scene, such as a boat in trouble, and command the helicopter to fly a descent pattern putting it directly over that location in a hover at 50 feet — without the pilot ever having to touch the controls. This capability, Sikorsky stressed, will be included in a future TopDeck software load, probably about a year after initial certification, as will functionality more familiar to general aviation pilots such as GPS RNAV WAAS LPV approaches, XM satellite datalink weather and automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B).
Equally as important as what's being added in the cockpit are the improvements on the outside, and nowhere are the changes more apparent than atop the helicopter. The S-76D incorporates all-new composite main rotor blades with a wider chord and swept tips, enabling the use of less power to yield the same performance. The S-76D's introduction will also mark a switch to Pratt & Whitney Canada power after a 15-year hiatus, during which S-76 models have rolled off the production line with Turbomeca Arriel-series engines. The new main rotor blades enable the S-76D to lift about 500 pounds more than the C++ model does, though Sikorsky has decided against increasing the helicopter's maximum takeoff weight, currently 11,700 pounds, choosing instead to focus on performance improvements in challenging operating environments.
"Our customers told us they wanted more power to be able to operate higher and hotter, so rather than increasing the max gross weight, we went after the ability to operate the helicopter in a wider range of environments," Fox said. "The S-76D has more power than the S-76B and better fuel efficiency than the S-76C, so the engine change is bringing extra power to the helicopter in a very economical platform."
For pilots concerned about the structural integrity of the composite rotor blades, Sikorsky describes them as being "flaw tolerant," meaning that if cracks begin to form, they do so in a controlled way — in other words, when the rotor blades start to fail, they shouldn't tear apart in flight with potentially catastrophic consequences. Don't worry, though: The chance of the rotor blades developing cracks in the first place is said to be between slim and none.
The improved rotor design substantially reduces noise, to the point that Sikorsky has set a goal of marketing the S-76D as the quietest helicopter in its weight class. More flight-testing is needed before Sikorsky can make that claim, but designers promise the S-76D will exceed the Grand Canyon National Park standard — the world's strictest noise rule. Indeed, when the S-76C+ chase aircraft is heard flying overhead followed by an S-76D test helicopter, the difference is obvious. The S-76D's main rotor actually operates with lower lift, while the tail rotor, thanks to a number of design changes that allow it to rotate more slowly, essentially has disappeared from the noise signature.
The S-76D also incorporates rotor icing-protection technology borrowed from the larger S-92. The system uses electric heater mats embedded within the main rotor blades to shed ice automatically without pilot input — something you'd probably love to have on the wing and tail surfaces of your airplane. Sikorsky expects the S-76D to gain certification for flight into known icing after the full regimen of winter flight-testing is completed in early 2013.
Another improvement to the S-76D is the introduction of an automatic dual-rpm main rotor that switches from high to low speed based on a set of predetermined airspeed and altitude criteria. You can think of it sort of like the single-lever power in a Cirrus that adjusts throttle and propeller rpm simultaneously. The S-76D rotor operates in high-speed mode during takeoff and automatically transitions to low-speed mode when crossing certain altitude and airspeed thresholds, squeezing more range and reducing noise in cruise flight. The opposite happens when transitioning from cruise to approach and landing. Pilots and passengers — as well as people on the ground — can tell when the change occurs by the difference in sound, but there is no obvious performance difference, Fox noted.
S-76 Lineage
To create the S-76 Spirit (unveiled in 1976 and named in honor of the U.S. bicentennial), Sikorsky took the main rotor of the UH-60 Black Hawk and mated it to a streamlined composite fuselage that still allowed it to offer a large passenger compartment and baggage area. Designers then added a retractable tricycle landing gear and two 650 shp Allison 250-C30 engines. The prototype flew for the first time on March 13, 1977, and, designated the S-76A, found a ready home with scores of corporations, offshore oil operators and others during an initial production run that included 284 helicopters. The first S-76 customer delivery was made to Air Logistics of Lafayette, Louisiana, on Feb. 27, 1979.
Sikorsky sold a handful of special-order A+ models with Turbomeca Arriel 1S engines and A++ helicopters with Arriel 1S1 engines, while also introducing the baseline S-76 Mk II in 1982 with a more powerful version of the Allison 250 engine. The company then introduced the P&WC-powered S-76B in 1985, which quickly became a favorite choice of blue-chip companies in the Northeast, especially around New York City. The introduction of the S-76C in 1991 marked the addition of the Arriel 1S1 to the production line, which was later replaced by the Arriel 2S1 in the C+, and finally the Arriel 2S2 in the C++. Sikorsky built S-76B and S-76C/C+ models concurrently from 1991 to 1997. (In case you're wondering, Sikorsky chose to add plus signs to S-76 models that primarily featured only an engine change, reserving new letter designations for major upgrades to the line.)
As an interesting aside, while it's true that a number of Sikorsky models have been introduced in the years that correspond with their model numbers (for example, the S-61 in 1961, S-76 in 1976 and S-92 in 1992), there are many more examples in Sikorsky's history in which the naming convention fits a serial pattern rather than a year. The Sikorsky S-47, the world's first production helicopter, for instance, was introduced in 1940; the S-58 debuted in 1954; the S-70 (the civil version of the Black Hawk) first flew in 1974; and Sikorsky's newest helicopter, the S-97, a proposed high-speed light attack/scout helicopter based on the X2 high-speed twin-coaxial-rotor demonstrator, was unveiled in October 2010.
According: flyingmag.com
Burt Rutan's SkiGull successfully took to the skies this week from the Coeur d'Alene Airport. The unusual airplane, which is designed to take off and land from water, snow and land, flew for 1.8 hours with test pilot Glenn Smith at the controls.
The test flight included basic stability and control tests in the cruise and landing configurations, the latter of which with flaps and skis extended. Speeds were limited to 80 knots and the SkiGull remained below 8,000 feet. Smith reported that the airplane flew straight with his hands off the controls. He also reported the speed and maneuvering stability as excellent. Lowering the skis and flaps resulted in no trim change and the stall speed appeared slower than that of the Piper Cub chase plane, Rutan said. However, he described this early evaluation of the airplane's stall characteristics as unacceptable, with no buffet and a roll drop-off to the right.
The flight was conducted mostly at low power settings and the Rotax 912iS burned less than three gallons during the flight, Rutan said.
SkiGullThe first flight was conducted just a couple of weeks after we reported that water testing had started at Hayden Lake north of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Rutan rejoiced after the flight, stating that it happened "just in time, since we got our first North Idaho snow just hours after the flight."
Rutan built the SkiGull in his garage, a 20-month project that he described as "grueling." He said he will never again get involved in the process of composite construction and finishing, though he will continue to design airplanes.
According: flyingmag.com
Burt Rutan has started testing his latest airplane design, the SkiGull, an amphibious design he says will be his last. This week, the legendary airplane designer took the airplane to Hayden Lake for some early water testing. The fuselage was launched into the water before the wings were attached and Rutan briefed test pilot Glenn Smith on what water-taxi maneuvers to perform.
Rutan then observed the test from a boat. The testing showed that the SkiGull's design needed some tweaking, as the pitch angles at low speeds were not ideal. Rutan says he will now make modifications to improve the pitch angles and divulged that seaplane designs are "more difficult to perfect than airplane designs."
The SkiGull is designed with a retractable, flexible ski system, which provides five times the shock absorption deflection of a typical landplane allowing the airplane to operate in rough water, even beach waves, Rutan said. The system will be pneumatically deployed during water takeoffs at 18 knots and deactivated at 12 knots during landing.
Rutan said the amphibious airplane will likely rarely go to an airport since it uses car and boat fuel and can be stored in a single garage. It is designed to resist corrosion, even in saltwater, and will have a docking system using two 12 hp electric motors driving a folding propeller. In addition to providing the capability of maneuvering the airplane on the water, including rotating and backing up, the docking system will be capable of flying the airplane about 8 miles in case the Rotax engine fails. Rutan also claims the unique airplane design will be capable of loitering for 35 hours at about 15 percent power without any noise footprint as long as the airplane stays above 500 feet.
Rutan said the SkiGull will be his last design and, having spent more of his life developing new airplanes than flying them, he wants to fly this one around the world with his wife Tonya.
According: flyingmag.com
