NEW COMPANY

News from around the circuit at Oshkosh included the fact that Alan Klapmeier, cofounder and former CEO of Cirrus, is back creating a new airplane. Klapmeier and a group of investors, are merging with Farnborough Aircraft to create the 37-foot Kestral JP 10, a carbon fibre, 6-8 passenger turboprop, at a former naval base in Brunswick, Maine. So far, Klapmeier says he has no specs for weight, performance, development schedule, or price tag. Of course he does, but he will not be revealing them so early in the game. What he does have is a great deal of confidence in the data collected by Farnborough Aircraft during testing of what may be the prototype of the final aircraft.

According to a Kestral spokesman, plans are to modify its Proof of Concept aircraft. The leading edge of the wing will be straighter, the tip slightly curved back and the engine power ratcheted down slightly, at the request of the FAA.

“We’re looking forward to changing the future of general aviation,” Klapmeier said. He hinted that there would be more models beyond the Kestrel. The company is pouring $100-million into the development of the aircraft and about 300 people will be hired initially.

INTRODUCING THE TRANSITION

Terrafugia, Inc., developer of the Transition Roadable Aircraft, or “Flying Car,” released specifications and computer graphics of the new Transition. The company unveiled a scale model of the next generation design, currently under construction at its factory in Woburn, Massachusetts.

The company has been collecting data acquired during driving tests and flight testing of the Proof of Concept Transition, successfully completed in 2009. The improvements to the design will be based on these data, with extensive computer-aided optimisation. The recent allowance of 50 kg by the FAA, for the Transition, keeps it within the Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) category. The design also allows the flexibility to incorporate modern automotive-style safety features currently unavailable in other light aircraft.

Terrafugia’s Transition is the only LSA to simulate crash testing using advanced computational fluid dynamics, airbag deployment, and digital crash test dummies. Terrafugia expects that when combined with a full-vehicle ballistic parachute system, and the ability to drive in bad weather, the Transition will be one of the safest LSAs in the world. Deliveries of the Transition are scheduled to begin in late 2011.

Left to Right: A classic Boeing Stearman, An immaculate A-1D Skyraider, The only known privately-owned Hawker Harrier bows to the crowd, A P-51 Mustang gave a classic display

LEAD-FREE AVGAS

In 2006, Friends of the Earth, an environmental group, petitioned the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to minimise, or eliminate lead in Avgas through legislation. Earlier this year the EPA recommended the public find ways to eliminate the offending tetraethyl lead (TEL) found in the fuel. What is unclear was what they meant by “the Public;” pilots, non-pilots or environmentalists? That action prompted concerned GA pilots and industry representatives to form an alliance of general aviation and petroleum industry organisations to develop a process by which an unleaded avgas solution could be identified.

The alliance reported at AirVenture that if necessary it would identify and transition to an unleaded fuel in a methodical process. It announced a two-pronged strategy; the short term strategy is to reduce emissions by developing a “drop-in” alternative to 100LL to be called 100ULL, (ultra low-lead), one which may satisfy the needs of piston-engine aircraft without pricey modifications. The long term approach is a detailed five-step programme which we will report on in a future issue. Meanwhile, the EPA is examining whether 100LL poses a health risk and, if it does, whether that risk is great enough to mandate eliminating low-leaded gasoline. Regardless of the sabre rattling, most concerned parties do not think 100LL will disappear any time soon, and the EPA confirmed that it had not set a deadline for the removal of lead from avgas.

COBALT’S CO50

Cobalt Aircraft Industries, a French start-up, unveiled its new five-place all-composite, pusher design at AirVenture. The Co50 has sleek fighter-plane looks and features, such as an under fuselage engine intake (a la P-51), canard, and split-vertical stabilisers which liken it to an FA-18 or Su-27. It features a wide, electrically-actuated panoramic canopy and a canard for stall resistance and high-speed performance. The rear-mounted engine will house a TCM 350 hp twin turbocharged, Continental TSIOF-550- D2B in a pusher configuration, with FADEC and its attendant single-lever power control. The company claims it will push the Co50 to 245 knots at a 75% cruise power setting at 8 000 feet, and cruise at 220 knots. Cobalt also claims the aircraft will have a 600-nm range with a full load of passengers.

Cobalt says the Co50 is for the business pilot, and aims to offer certified aircraft that can compete with the airlines on short and medium business trips. The prototype is nearing completion and Cobalt will soon begin its joint EASA/FAA certification programme which is expected to last two years.

ON THE WINGLET

There’s a new shape coming to wings of business jets, and maybe to general aviation as a whole. The idea of winglets dates back to the fuel crisis of 1973. The Seattle, Washington, firm of Aviation Partners Inc. (API) pioneered and patented the idea of “blended” winglets, in which the winglet flows smoothly up as a curved extension of the aircraft wing, rather than being attached at right angles.

The purpose of winglets is to control the circulation of air around a wingtip, from the higher pressure below to the lower pressure above. A properly designed and configured, winglet can recover a significant amount of energy from this wingtip vortex, and make vortex itself less of a threat to other following aircraft. The spiroid devices being developed on the company’s Falcon 50 are a generation newer than the original designs tested by API on a Gulfstream G-II several years ago. However, the spiroids are not being specifically designed for Dassault Falcon business jets.

Officials are hedging on making predictions for the actual performance improvement that could be obtained, but they say this design may be one of the best wing tip devices API has designed. The spiroid winglets, is an attempt to approach a wing with no energy-robbing qualities. The above is a sample of the main news items emanating from AirVenture 2010. There were hundreds more – far too many to record here. The only way to get a fuller picture, is to be there, the Mecca of Aviation.

The Iron Eagles perform a crossover during their immaculate aerobatic display.

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