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Aviation History
1981
1981 - 2662.PDF
482 FLIGHT International, 15 August 1981 Greater fuel economy and more lightweights at EAA convention US national aerobatic jjjj champions — Charles Hillard (leader). Torn Poberezny and Gene Soucy — make up the Eagles aerobatic team, formation star of the Oshkosh air- shows. The Christen Eagle made its debut in 1978 at Oshkosh, and more than 100 are now flying. Below ; A new design at Osh kosh was John Mon- "^^E^JhfJP^1 nett's Moni 22 h.p. motor-glider, power ed by one of Italy's new KFM engines h» MORE aircraft variety, new fuel- efficient designs, and a big increase in lightweights are highlights of the Experimental Aircraft Association's 29th annual convention, reports Cliff Barnett from Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The seven-day EAA convention continues to be the world's biggest aviation event, attracting an esti mated 500,000 people and 10,000 air craft. Paying spectators on the first weekend totalled 300,000, and by the end of the week more than 1,500 EAA aircraft had been exhibited in the warbird, homebuilt, antique and classic classes. Of more than 1,300 overseas visitors, some 260 came from Australia, bringing 12 sport aircraft and a Qantas 747, which was this year's biggest participant in the daily air shows. The biggest increase this year was in the number of microlight aircraft, known officially as "ultralights" in the USA, where there are estimated to be 30,000. Total at Oshkosh was nearly 150, with more than 15 manufac turers marketing their products in a highly commercial manner. All ultra lights at Oshkosh flew under the Federal Aviation Administration's condition, which exempts them from conventional aircraft airworthiness and pilot-licensing requirements pro vided they can be foot-launched. On the eve of the EAA convention the FAA issued a long-expected Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), which proposes to exempt ultralights from conventional legis lation only if they have an empty weight limit of 1551b and a maximum fuel weight of 151b. About half of the Oshkosh ultralights exceeded these limits; many members of the EAA Ultralight Association, while agree ing in principle with much of the NPRM, feel that the weight limits are too low. Economy and fuel efficiency were notable features among the large numbers of highly efficient composite designs, many of them designed by canard specialist Burt Rutan. There were some 50 VariEzes on show, plus five examples of the VariEze succes sor, the LongEz, and eight examples of the lightweight Quickie. Two of these were new two-seat develop ments, one of them a Canadian air craft flown by a honeymoon couple who interrupted a 12,000-mile tour to come to Oshkosh. Burt Rutan is working on several typically radical designs. A small racing biplane was due to make its first flight as we went to press, and a windtunnel model of his Predator agricultural aircraft has been tested by Nasa. He has outlined designs for a twin-engined canard commuter air liner and is working on a lightweight twin-engined fighter for an undis closed American corporation, as well as a self-launching entry for the Soaring Society of America's sailplane design contest. A recently-completed glassfibre canard which attracted much atten tion is the PAT-1, from Wichita- based Piper Advanced Technology, a company founded by Pug Piper, who died last June. The only significant unconventional features apart from the glassfibre construction are the canard configuration and sidestick controls; the aircraft looks very pro mising as a possible production air craft, although the Piper Aircraft Cor poration is not involved with it. An impressively economical compo site aircraft was the AJ2 racer, which won the annual Oskhosh 500 fuel- efficiency race less than 50hr after its first flight, flying 500 miles at 217 m.p.h. on 20 US gal. Other Oshkosh newcomers included the Moni lightweight motor-glider from John Monnett (who is to move his company to Oshkosh) and the Valentin Taifun 17m high-perform ance German motor-glider, for which US distributors have just been appointed. Christen Eagle biplanes (a type in troduced only five years ago) numbered 15, including the Eagle Aerobatic Team composed of past national champions, who were the stars of the evening air shows. Osh kosh spectators saw this year perhaps the biggest variety of air show spectacles ever. Rare sights included the formations of three B-17s and 27 T-6s, and 30 ultralights together in the air one evening. But for many people the show was stolen by the two Colomban CriCris. This tiny French aeroplane is' the world's smallest twin, being powered by a pair of 12 h.p. engines. This was the CriCri's debut at Oshkosh, prior to its being marketed as a $6,000 kit by Zenair in Canada and the USA. Their formation aerobatic display, much of it inverted, proved that the little all-metal CriCri has a remark able performance for its size. In the production aircraft and com mercial exhibition areas Beech, Piper, Cessna, Mooney, Lake, Varga, Wing and Enstrom were all represented. New two-seat production types were the Taylorcraft F-21 (latest re- engined development of the famous pre-war design) and the new low- wing Thorp 211, which is to be built by Adams Industries in Detroit. The Citabria and Scout, formerly produced by the now liquidated Bellanca, may be put back into production by a new organisation. Major avionics and equipment com panies among a total of 285 commer cial exhibitors emphasised Oshkosh's increasing significance as a trade show which is probably visited by at least 10 per cent of US general avia tion aircraft owners. A new range of lightweight engines was unveiled by the Italian company KFM, and Narco and Edo-Aire both had new avionics boxes on show for the first time. This year's convention saw the official groundbreaking of the EAA Aviation Foundation, a big building complex at Oshkosh that will house the international headquarters, re search centre, educational facilities and aircraft museum, all presently based in Milwaukee. One day of the convention was nominated Aviation Writers' Day, an^ '"^ght's representa tives were among several members to receive EAA awards for sport-aviation journalism. A detailed report with Tom Hamill's photographs follows in an early issue.
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