DAN JOHNSON
IndUS Unveils the First-Ever LSA Diesel
Sun ‘n Fun has been a rip-roaring success for Light-Sport Aircraft. The new LSA Mall right at the main entrance gate has been thick with traffic all week. Saturday, IndUS Aviation unveiled their first-in-the-industry diesel-powered Thorpedo DP. The Dallas, Texas-based company finally pulled back the curtain after months of work to reveal their WAM-120 three cylinder, two-stroke engine tucked neatly under their new shapely nose cowl. Turbocharged and supercharged, the 120-horsepower engine burns a mere 3 gallons of Jet A per hour. This fuel is widely available around the world where 100LL is not. According to IndUS president Ram Pattisapu, “[The WAM-120 is] quiet and has unbelievable climb performance.” ASTM has a compression engine standard for diesel engines; IndUS is the first to use it and is presently pursuing certification of the Thorpedo DP. They expect to offer the aircraft for sale by AirVenture Oshkosh 2008.
Rotax 503 Launch...then, Silence is Golden.
Some of you know the Pipistrel line. Americans have seen two of their models: the Sinus and Virus. Fortunately Taurus is easier on the American tongue, thanks to Ford and its auto model by the same name. I discovered Taurus is also easy on the ears as I went for a two-hour soaring flight from Wallaby Ranch with my hang gliding friend, David Ledford. His side-by-side Taurus roomy for a soaring machine glides beyond 40:1 and manages a sink rate barely more than 100 fpm. Those numbers translate into plenty of soaring power as we proved on a day with modest convective lift. Taurus is a self-launched sailplane, rather than a motorglider like Urban Air’s Lambada or Pipistrel’s own Sinus. To get aloft, we were powered by a Rotax 503 two-stroke engine that fits neatly into a cavity aft of the cockpit. Taurus’ main landing gear retracts into the belly and once you’ve gotten 3,000 feet or so above the surface, you shut down the engine, straighten the prop, and electrically hide the noisemaker under doors that shut tight. Then, ahhh...the silence starts.
High Priced Light-Sport Aircraft; What’s Going On?
Lots of folks are wondering about, or complaining about, the seemingly high prices of Light-Sport Aircraft. Recently a prior editor-in-chief of EAA publications, Scott Spangler, wrote a blog on JetWhine. Scott focused on expensive avionics as one reason LSA cost so much. While a factual observation, I believe the price increase is more complex. First, LSA suppliers install equipment like autopilots because buyers ask for them. A large chunk of all LSA are sold to “retiring” GA pilots used to such equipment in their Cessna or Bonanza. Simpler LSA are available; most suppliers have one. But customers are buying the loaded-panel jobs. Let’s look closer at those rising prices. Five years ago, in the pre-dawn of SP/LSA, a CT was selling for $60,000. Today it’s $125,000. By far the largest piece of that doubling is the euro’s soaring value compared to the dollar. Were the currencies at parity, that $125,000 would be $80,000. By the way, suppliers earn not one cent of profit from that extra $45,000! The “real” (non currency exchange) increase from $60,000 five years ago about $20,000 is generated by two factors. Most obvious are the avionics and other accessories. A $125,000 CTLS comes standard with dual glass screens, a sophisticated GPS, radio, transponder, a $5,000 emergency airframe parachute, and more. The second factor is the time value of money -- another 18% or $10,000. So an $80,000 price (if the euro equaled the dollar as it did in 2002) is not much higher than the $60,000 of 2003. Despite those price hikes, here in 2008 you can choose the ready-to-fly X-Air LS for $46,000, the Sport Hornet for $49,000, the EuroFox for $69,000, or the SportCruiser for $79,000. Even simpler aircraft may be coming in the $40-45,000 range. Those low numbers barely exceed the component cost of kit aircraft. Regardless of the preceding discussion higher prices remain a fact of life. You still have to shell out $125,000 for a CTLS (you can finance this for a bit more than $800 a month) though you get a lot of airplane for the money. If buyers truly want cheaper, simpler aircraft, they ARE available.