Hot Air, Wings, and Things
Hosted by the Town of Sanford, Maine and Southern Maine Aviation, the New England Light Sport Expo was held at Sanford Airport on August 16 and 17. Seminars during the Expo provided informative sessions on Sport Pilot regulations, medical requirements, ownership, and maintenance issues. A representative of the Portland FSDO was available to explain the differences and limitations of the Light Sport certificate. Other attractions included a pancake breakfast on Sunday from 8 to 10 a.m. and pizza available in Sunday afternoon in the Southern Maine Aviation hangar.
But the stars of the show were the Light Sport Aircraft on display and in the air. It is amazing how much progress Light Sport has made in New England in the two years since a similar Light Sport expo was held in September 2006 at Lawrence, Massachusetts. A potential student asking at the 2006 event asked where he could train in a light sport then was told there was an operation in Vermont that had a Flight Designs CTSW. (And apparently no others.) Now, around a dozen small and medium size airports across New England and Long Island and the Hudson River Valley of New York are offering lessons in a variety of Light Sport aircraft including CTSWs, Thorpedos, Eagle EA100s, Sport Cruisers, Legend Cubs, Gobosh G700s, and Tecnams.
At the New England Light Sport Expo Southern Maine Aviation was highlighting their two beautiful sleek low-wing metal Gobosh G700s and the more utilitarian looking high wing metal A22 Valor by offering $69 introductory rides. And the planes were in the air almost constantly. The A22 Valor at one point demonstrated its flexible characteristics by landing and taxiing in the grass alongside the main runway. The weather was pretty good for a summer filled with all too many thunderstorms. Sunday was near perfect, and Jim Knowles of Southern Maine Aviation said that thunderstorms passing through on Saturday held off until 2:30 pm.
Although not all the aircraft listed on the Expo webpage were in attendance (at least not Sunday when I flew in), there was an interesting cross-section of the many Light Sport aircraft that are now available. In addition to the Southern Maine Aviation LSAs, there were a couple of sleek composite high wing aircraft included Tom Peghiny’s Flight Design CLTS, the new CT that is a big improvement on the smaller CTSW. Already leading LSA sales according to LSA expert Dan Johnson, Tom appeared to have the most serious potential buyers looking at his plane of any at the event. Another sleek composite high winger was the Jabiru 230 flown in from Hudson, NY by Dave Jalanti of Jabiru Power Solutions. This one had one of the biggest baggage compartments I have ever seen in an LSA, accessed through a third door. (The Jabiru website says it is adapted from a non-LSA 4-seater with the back seats removed.)
A couple of less sleek but nice steel tube and fabric high wingers included the AeroPro EuroFox and the Legend Cub. The EuroFox, flown in by Tim Jackson and Don Papineau from Wurtsboro, NY, is a nice little tricycle gear airplane. The Legend Cub is just what the name implies: a modern version of the classic Piper Cub. The Legend Cub had flown in from nearby Hampton, NH. (The two planes seemed to attract pilots with different interests: the taildragger types of course congregated around the Legend Cub.)
Possibly the most unique LSA at the Expo was another high wing steel tube and fabric airplane, the Just Aircraft Highlander. This one was sitting high on amphibious floats, making it tower above most of the other small LSAs on the ramp. Ben & Linda Brown of BLB Flight, LLC of Dixmont, Maine were showing this interesting aircraft.
Another “wild card” LSA, not even listed on the Expo website, was the Sportster. This one was a hot little Metal/composite/fabric taildragger. It has tandem seating and a huge canopy that covers most of the aircraft when it is closed, or exposes most of the aircraft when it is open. Warner Aerocraft rep Pat Bulger said that a facility is being established at Beverly Airport where nine Sportsters are in the process of being built, or will be over the coming winter. This one is presently an Experimental Light Sport, not an SLSA presently available for sale in ready to fly form. But apparently Warner Aerocraft will be seeking SLSA status in the future. A sign said the price would be $99,000, but Bulger told one possible prospect that the price for the one at the Expo was “$80,000, write the check, fly it away. Show special.” It should be interesting to see if they will really succeed with an aircraft actually built in Massachusetts!
Another interesting airplane looming over the far end of the ramp was a big World War II twin-engined PBY. It won’t be going anywhere soon in its present condition as it was missing its propellers. Since the emphasis of the day was on Light Sport Aircraft, I didn’t ask about the story behind this one. But it is probably worth another trip on another day.
Also near the PBY was a line of old Cessna 150s that had flown in, including at least one with “For Sale” banners on the prop. There was also a nice looking old Piper TriPacer, also with “For Sale” signs in the window. Owners looking to move over to Light Sport, maybe?
By James E. Ellis