Phoenix light sport aircraft,
Phoenix experimental lightsport aircraft, Light Sport Aircraft Pilot News
newsmagazine.
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Light Sport Aircraft Pilot is a directory of aircraft that generally fit
into what are described as ultralight aircraft, advanced ultralight
aircraft,
light sport aircraft, experimental light sport aircraft, experimental
aircraft, amateur built aircraft, ELSA or homebuilt
aircraft in the United States and Canada. These include
weight shift aircraft, more commonly known as trikes,
powered parachutes, and powered para-gliders.
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Phoenix light sport aircraft, experimental
lightsport, amateur built aircraft.
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One of the most enjoyable
aircraft styles that I love to fly are motorgliders. Flying
them especially with the engine off, locked into a thermal,
with only the noise of the wind whistling by the canopy must
be like a symphony orchestra to an opera lover.
This year at the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo I spotted a new
design, the Phoenix, which is a motorglider.
According to Jim Lee
of Phoenix Air USA from
Melbourne Florida
this was the first showing of the Phoenix at
an airshow in the U.S.
The Phoenix is imported into the U.S. from the Czech
Republic. Jim who is a general aviation pilot, an
instructor, and a glider pilot heard about the Phoenix and
flew over to fly the original prototype at the factory,
where he found it be far more than he expected it to be. |
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"Being able to take off
under power, spend 50 cents worth of gas, and then turn the
engine off and soar for another 3 hours and then land
deadstick back at my field, is something a non soaring pilot
just has to experience to believe" and the Phoenix can do
all of that because it is a motorglider.
Power is supplied by the Rotax 912 S 100 HP
engine. With the long wing tips installed, at 5,000 RPM
cruise is
around 107 knots, with the short wing cruise comes in at 110
knots.
The Phoenix is equipped
with full span ailerons, and with the short wing has "an
amazing roll rate" the plane feels more like "a pylon
racer." But for those wanting a motorglider in less than a
minute you can remove the short tips, plug in the long tips
and now you have a true motorglider with a 49 foot wingspan.
According to James Lawrence who had an opportunity to fly the
Phoenix
"it's a
wonderful airplane for anybody who desires to have friendly
Light-Sport handling (2 second roll
rate, 45? to 45?), wonderful engine-off soaring performance
(200
fpm sink rate),
excellent and comfortable XC cruise (100
knots at 75%), comfortable, semi-reclined seats, great
visibility with the sleek bubble canopy and forward rake of
the cowl, beautiful lines."
For ease of storage the
wing tips can be removed, and the plane has a 34 foot span.
Jim Lee the U.S.
distributor of the Phoenix is over 6 feet
tall and weighs close to 200 lbs fits into the Phoenix quite
comfortably, with ample leg and headroom. The throttle,
choke,
and flaps are located on the middle of the
lower part of the instrument panel. With the cabin heat and
cabin air activation controls on the top center of the
panel. The plane is equipped with dual rudder pedals, and
joy sticks with a single brake lever on the pilots joy
stick, which activate both brakes on the main wheels. The
Phoenix is a taildragger with a steerable tail wheel.
Located in the center
console of the plane, right at a comfortable position for
deployment is an "air brake" handle which activates pop up
panels on top of the wings to help pilots land by killing
the lift on the wings. The deployment of the "air brakes"
can be varied as necessary by the pilot as he needs it.
Which comes in handy when you have a 32 to 1 glide
ratio.
The Phoenix went into production in the
middle of 2010, there are currently 6 flying with three in
various stages of production (January 2011). Jim currently
has a plane in production, so someone looking for a Phoenix
can get delivery in March of 2011.
For more information on
the Phoenix contact:
Phoenix Air USA
Melbourne, Florida
352-250-5644
jimlee@phoenixairusa.com
http://www.phoenixairusa.com/ |
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Photo courtesy of
www.phoenixairusa.com
Phoenix light sport aircraft -
experimental lightsport aircraft |
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Light Sport Aircraft Pilot News Web Magazine.
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