Sport Pilot Talk

Strange, but apparently we still don't have a topic for it, so here it is.

URL: http://www.rmlsaexpo.com/

I plan to attend, but haven't decided the details yet. Renting the one and only LSA in the state seems like the right plan, and I was preparing for it by re-establishing currency, but that airplane is slow. Actually, the owner adjusted the prop that it's even slower now (climb is amazing though). So, thinking about Arrow, too, as a practical alternative.

Last year Expo was quite fun. I regret that I missed out on a chance to sit in Phoenix... For some reason Jim Lee said that I would not fit and might as well not try. I think I should've insisted. Maybe this year.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

Maybe you misheard, Pete. What Jim probably said is that it wouldn't fit your budget.

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The opinions expressed in this post are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the position of the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof. H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., CFII, LSRM-A/GL/WS
AvSport of Lock Haven
http://AvSport.org fly@AvSport.org

I booked the airplane (this year I'm going to take N28GX) and hotel room, with arrival on the 18th.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

Thanks for the info. If the planets line up right, I might just show up.

The 2012 Expo was much the same as the previous year. There were some changes. For example, last year I flew the only airplane overnight from Friday, this year there were two (there were going to be more, but they cancelled or landed short for weather). Organizers moved us into a hangar away from the gusting winds and hail.

It looked like the show was set for a more robust growth, or perhaps the organizers gained experience. They knew ahead of time who would be going where, had display areas set up ahead of time, and laid down the equiplemnt such as power strips and public address loop.

The crowd was thinner, but more purposeful. I remember how I lampooned Paul Bertorelli for saying that crowd at Sebring 2011 was "thin but potent". Oh baby, that crow is so tasty. In RM LSA Expo case, it was noticeable how the last time most of local visitors were just typical airshow-goers, but this year most were shoppers, or at the minimum tire-kickers. My co-pilot, Chuck, was in the market. He struck down 162 ahead of time, but reconsidered after sitting in one, so it's back on his list now. Ironically, this was a working aircraft from a school at KAPA, and it wasn't for sale or a demo. The local Cessna dealer was a no-show, but is going to get the benefit.

In general, dealers cancelled left and right. Maybe organizers should take advance deposits from them, like $500. Aside from Cessna, I noticed that RANS stood us up despite being based rather near, in Kansas. I already had a chance to examine S-6ES, closely, so I lost nothing, but Chuck was sorely disappointed. He wanted to check out the S-19 Venterra. Pipistrel rep swore that they were going to bring a Virus for the show, but it got stuck with weather halfway. Perhaps so, but Kansas was basically clear for VFR. We came up to the show through a mountain pass for Pete's sake.

I worked as a volunteer booth babe for an hour or so around our Remos GX rental. Curiously enough, nobody noticed that the engine on it throws oil now, and the belly is dirty.

P.S. By the way, Jim Lee brought his amazing Phoenix from Florida last year. IIRC he overnighted short and flew in very early on Saturday. This year apparently he had his daughter's graduation, so skipped as well. I'm kinda bummed about it.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

I wanted to come but had to plant soybeans. Maybe next year.

Better soybeans than corn. At least they don't put soy in our gasoline!

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The opinions expressed in this post are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the position of the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof. H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., CFII, LSRM-A/GL/WS
AvSport of Lock Haven
http://AvSport.org fly@AvSport.org

They put soy in biodiesel. I grow a lot of corn, some of which undoubtedly goes into ethanol for blending into gasoline. I use gasohol.

I didn't know that. Seems kind of a shame to use perfectly good food as a fuel...



Not in your airplane, I hope.

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The opinions expressed in this post are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the position of the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof. H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., CFII, LSRM-A/GL/WS
AvSport of Lock Haven
http://AvSport.org fly@AvSport.org

Depends on how you look at it, I guess. I don't consider myself growing food. Corn, soybeans, hay, cotton, etc. are industrial inputs as far as I and many farmers are concerned. Milk and livestock are food, I guess. My production has to be converted to be food. About 1/3 of corn goes to export, about 1/3 goes to livestock feed and about 1/3 goes to ethanol production (which passes back about 1/3 of that to livestock feed, so you have to count it right to be accurate). As you know intuitively, assuming you eat corn a dozen or two dozen times at your table, it doesn't take much corn to give you all the direct corn food you need. Farmers who raise hay aren't generally considered to be food farmers, so I don't see why I would be, either. The public has some funny perceptions of agriculture.
Corn goes into plastics, oils, cloth, etc. Soybeans go into oils, paints, crayons, candles, etc. etc. A lot of both are processed for animal food. Now, wheat is a crop that gets eaten both by humans and by animals, which which gets the kernel depends on the quality and the price.

As far as using gasohol in my airplane, I don't see anything wrong with it. It's legal in my plane and engine. I don't use it often but don't worry about it if I do. I tend to look for 91 octane and the 91 octane around here is non-ethanol, for the most part.

That's very informative. Thanks for educating me.



You're lucky. In my state, ethanol is mandated in all mogas. And, although ethanol is authorized in my engine, it isn't in my airframe.

Even if it were, my main concerns would be vapor lock at altitude, and softening of sealants. As you know, ethanol is an excellent solvent. Since my plane uses wet wings, I'm especially worried about the ethanol attacking the fuel tank polymer sealants and causing leaks. (But, now I'm guilty of thread drift...)

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The opinions expressed in this post are those of one CFI, and do not necessarily represent the position of the FAA or its lawyers.
Prof. H. Paul Shuch, Ph.D., CFII, LSRM-A/GL/WS
AvSport of Lock Haven
http://AvSport.org fly@AvSport.org

I'd investigate those issues, too, if I had your plane. Ethanol is indeed a good solvent and those are valid issues. It's like anything, including winter blend mogas, we need to be thinking about what we are doing.

Just to clarify on zaitcev's post on the no-shows.

While I never called for weather on Saturday, the rain started at around 6:30 a.m. and was steady until 3 p.m. local time. I would estimate ceilings at being around 700ft at best. It slowly cleared up into the afternoon - but was dreary the entire day.

Rans did make it in on Saturday. They arrived around 3 p.m. on Saturday and was able to take full advantage of the day on Sunday. They must've done some serious scud-running in from Hayes because it was still fairly overcast at the time they arrived. I personally want to extend my thanks for their Herculean effort to get there.

Pipistrel had two planes scheduled for the expo. Their touring motor glider (Sinus) was in the metro area but had a prop-strike on a landing light due to a gust of wind, so it wasn't able to make the trip to the expo. Their high wing Virus had to turn back over South Dakota because of 40kt headwinds. Pipistrel representatives were on site and doing presentations during the expo, however without any planes their presence wasn't as big as it could have been. They put their best face on and on Sunday had a much better position in the hangar and had quite a few folks stopping by their booth. Additionally, Pipistrel is going to re-schedule their local visits they had planned on making once the prop is repaired. Next year they should have at least one plane on site as they will have a local dealer being able to represent the manufacture.

The Topaz encountered the same wind conditions the Pipistrel did and had to turn back. I spoke with the pilot/rep flying the plane and he said he was seeing 35kt ground speed while trying to make it in. We were both disappointed, but the prevailing safety first must be adhered to.

Vans was a last-minute registration and I never did hear from them why they weren't able to attend. We will be reaching out to them to inquire, but I suspect that weather was the same issue.

I did call and speak with Jim Lee from Phoenix and it was his daughters graduation. Jim was very excited to be at the 2011 expo, so I would anticipate him returning at future expos.

While Saturday was a rinse/repeat of last years single-day event, Sunday this year was spectacular. The sun came out and we moved everyone out onto the ramp outside the hangar. At anytime throughout the day there was always one or two attendees visiting with each of our exhibitors - and it always seemed to be a new person.

We are still evaluating our numbers based on parking lot capacity and registrations at the door we are estimating around 700 people in attendance on Saturday and close to 1,000 people on Sunday. I'll have better numbers in the coming weeks.

This is just a quick reply to zaitcev's post to provide more information. I appreciate his coming up and joining us. It is people dedicated to coming out to our event that makes it work.

Brian Garrett
Director RMLSA Expo

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Brian Garrett
brian@garrett.net

One thing that I need to do for next year is to make an information sheet for Remos and stuck it in the window so visitors have something to read while I'm away, which was most of the time.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/

Interview with out host - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AZ0L4D8Oo8

There's an S-7 flashed quickly, which I missed. Probably flew in on Sunday.

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http://zaitcev.mee.nu/