flyvulcan

A photo just sent to me today from Newcastle, England of Alec Wald’s grave, taken on Armistice day this year. He still has folks paying their respects each year. The local primary school has for the last few years had their junior primary classes visit his grave where the teacher tells his story. The children then have a project to either draft a poem or draw a picture about some aspect of his story. I have been sent some very nice photos/poems by the school. The favourite drawing is of his aircraft flying under the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle which he did in July 1918. There is also a display in a local hall about him each Rememberance Day and he has quite a following in the local area. My family appreciates the interest of the locals in a boy that is buried such a long way from home.

Arion Aircraft, LLC Their 200hp Lightning will be flying shortly. It will be interesting to see how that performs!

I had a good look over them at the last 2 Oshkoshes and they look like a very good quality kit that can be built into a very good quality aircraft. I also spoke extensively with the designer Nick Otterback who is a super nice guy. Steve Biele in Adelaide has one with a Jab3300 in it and I believe that he is very happy with it.

My great uncle, Lt. Alec Wald MC (AIF Egypt/Gallipoli then RFC/RAF), after his F2b Bristol Fighter crash on 05th August 1918. He died a few weeks later in the crash of his Fe2b (pusher). He didn’t quite make Armistice Day. I would have loved to have met him, but I feel I know him through his diary and photo collection.

Hi Bex, I’m heading O/S on tomorrow (Friday) evening. If you are transiting Adelaide Friday, we could possibly catch up. I’ll pm you my mobile number in case you’re available. Cheers, Dave

I had dinner with Peter at Oshkosh this year. He is a clever guy who is driven to make this venture a success. He has a very skilled canard aircraft designer and fabricator (Jeff Kerlo) on his team. I suspect that the airframe will likely work, but the Audi engine is a potential risk. Still, he is doing something innovative and (most) of his deposit holders bear no risk as their deposits are refundable. He does indeed have over 1000 orders. He is being 100% transparent with his development program, as you can see from his vlog videos. He covers the things that work, as well as the mistakes. Yes, he’s running behind schedule by a fair way but at least deposit holders can see where he is up to. If they lose interest or get pee’d off by delays, they can always pull their deposit. However, as of my dinner with him, I recall that he may have only lost one deposit and that person simply needed his money back. It’s an ambitious program that he has undertaken and he is working through it methodically, albeit slower than he would like and slower than he had planned. However, he is getting there and that is important.

Elliot Seguin. Top guy. Incredibly aviation oriented. See Wasabi Air Racing on YouTube. He does some great videos.

What do you mean "eat my heart out"? That's mine!

The LA test may not be good enough (I don't know what loads this test imposes). Perhaps as a more measured test, consider sandbagging each seat with 900lbs representing a 150lb upper body at a 6g load factor (4g limit with 50% safety factor) and see how the frames get on. Looking good (the aircraft that is)!

No progress inspections are required during the build. The CofA inspection by the AP may be the first and potentially only one that is completed on the aircraft for the issue of the CofA. The SAAA has a program that offers supervision during the build process. Three inspections during the course of the build by a Technical Councillor qualifies the aircraft for discounted insurance through the SAAA's recommended insurance firm. Dave

It will be a "scrolling" caution, accidentally put there while scrolling. He will be able to remove it when he notices your post.

Thanks Steve. It's certainly a very exciting one for me personally and also pretty well everyone I've discussed it with.

Thanks Downunder!

Antanov AN-2

The propellors will by necessity be constant speed units. With a free turbine driving the prop, it will be desirable to use a constant speed prop to allow the power turbine to operate at its optimum rpm, and also, to prevent overspeeds, a suitable constant speed prop system will be quite necessary. We are likely to be working in conjunction with a single constant speed prop system manufacturer to provide an optimum prop solution for our engines. As you will note on our website, we plan to have 4 prop speeds available (as determined by the reduction gear ratio of the gearbox). 1800/2250/2700/3200. These prop speeds will allow for large to small props to be used and we will plan to have blades that will be appropriate for the required application. And yes, the engine/prop will all be automatically controlled by the single power lever. You want to go faster, push the power lever forward; more fuel is squirted in, more power is available, prop wants to spin faster, constant speed unit increases the pitch to maintain rpm, aircraft goes faster. Same for a climb. Do the opposite for a speed reduction/descent. Easy! Dave

Why wait Marty? Try it out on your 701 then when you've finished your Spitfire, transplant it from the 701 into the Spitty. Wally, have a look at these other aircraft whose manufacturers have expressed an interest in our engines and drool some more: The Arion Lightning The Blackshape Prime The CubCrafters Carbon Cub The Airplane Factory Sling 2 There are many more interesting aircraft not shown here whose manufacturers have offered us their support. Dave

We now have a more informative website up and running (Www.turb.aero). This was introduced just in time for our delivery slot reservation program to be launched last week at the Sun'n'fun air show in Florida. We are excited to have received our first orders. It was also pleasing for us that we got a terrific reception from pretty well all the manufacturers who attended that event. The interest shown in our engine range (120 and 200hp versions) was very high and we have received offers of support for our program from some of the manufacturers who are keen to integrate our engines into their airframes. Now we have the challenging but exciting task of developing our prototype engine into the commercial engine and bring it to the market. Interesting and very busy times ahead!

Hi Gary, I just found this photo from last years Oshkosh. I thought you'd like it. Putting our slimline turboprop engine into this replica would give it such a great look, great performance and original sound. Imagine a 200hp retractable gear version... When can I get a fly in one? Dave

A high reading on the cool-o-meter is likely to be one of the reasons that some customers will choose to use our engines. The sound of that silky smooth turbine is just so incredibly soothing compared to the relative clatter of a piston engine.

Hi Jaba, You are correct. Turbine engines are currently precluded from being used in Light Sport Aircraft. However, we (with the support of LAMA and the EAA) will be petitioning the FAA for regulatory amendment/exemption to allow the use of turbine engines. We have commenced the draft petition and believe that we have a very strong case for the petition to be approved (based on safety, simplicity and benefits to the sector principals). We shall also likely be spearheading the push at ASTM to develop the applicable standard for turbine engines used in LSAs. The experimental market will be our initially main and primary market. There are over 25,000 registered experimental CofA aircraft in the USA alone, with over 70,000 worldwide. About half of those are estimated to use a powerplant of around 100hp. These aircraft represent the retrofit market. We will also have access to the new-build market. We also have other markets available to us. We only need to sell 200 engines per year to cover our annual operating costs. Any sales above that amount will be recouping initial investment and generating profit. Rotax sells 3,500-4,000 912/914 engines per year into all the relevant markets. We only need to gain less than 10% of their market to be a successful operation. I am confident that with the right product, backed up by excellent product support that we can achieve that.

Hi Ray, You may remember me from around 1985. We fired up my pressure jet engine next to your hangar at Camden, making a lot of noise! At that time, we were considering putting 2 of them on your ultralight. Those engines never did work properly... We aren't really keen to offer the engine as a pure jet. We intend to have a turbofan derivative. I haven't got time to type now as I have a very early morning flight tomorrow. I'll contact you when I get back from my trip in around week. Cheers, Dave

As part of our service, our company intends to offer an FAA/CASA approved turbine transition course that will include an online study module to provide the necessary theory about turbine engines and how to operate them. The course will require probably one classroom day to consolidate the online learning module and then a probably one day flight module that will provide practical experience operating our engines, likely in a 2 seat trainer. Starting the engine will be simple. The engine has an electric starter generator, so the aircrafts battery starts the engine. Once the engine is running, the starter becomes the generator. The start will all be automatic. Engine master switch on, press the start button. About 1 minute later, the engine will be at idle. From then on, the single lever throttle controls power requirements. Throttle position sets a % rpm. You will learn to fly on %'s. i.e. 100 knots IAS straight and level in your aircraft at 2000' will require a setting of (say) 75%. At 10,000' it may be 85% setting. Very easy. Base turn actions - Roll, Power (55%), attitude, trim. Easy. Go around actions - simultaneously throttle to the stop (check engine indications), raise attitude, retract flaps if that is your procedure on your aircraft, positive climb gear up if you have retractable gear etc. Easy. The truth is that turbines are much simpler to operate than piston engines. As well as engine control, full protection is normally provided to turbine engines by their computers etc. so you wont have mixture controls, carby heat or prop pitch to muck around with. As long as weight and balance is correct, our TA120TP is intended to bolt directly to any Rotax 912 mounts so no major airframe modifications should be required, although some components/ballast may need to be moved forward to keep the cg in its correct location. Our engine will have a set of mounts developed such that it can bolt straight onto existing Rotax bed or firewall mounting points with the prop flange being in the identical location as the Rotaxes. We want folks to swap their Rotaxes out for our engine so we have to make it a simple excercise. The engine is planned not to use oil, but this will be confirmed as part of our current optimization and redesign program. Only the gearbox will use oil. Maintenance should be done by qualified personnel and we plan to have authorised service centers and personnel. Hopefully, scheduled and routine maintenance requirements will be lower than for the Rotaxes. Why aren't more turbine engines being developed? It costs a bucket to develop these engines, that's probably the main reason. Many do not perceive there to be a market for these engines within the recreational fraternity. I don't agree with that and our visit to Oshkosh last year and our ongoing contact and engagement with enthusiasts supports our belief that a market does exist. However, we need to be extremely responsible and careful about how we go about developing and introducing these engines. Time will tell if it will be a success. There are a few answers. Our website will be up and running soon and there will be more answers there.

I think Aplunds grammar and spelling auto-correct function kicked in. I believe he actually meant to write "What a jewel!" in reference to our engine. It just came out wrong... BTW, very nice of you to say so Aplund. All nice comments are appreciated.

Hi Aplund, Dynamic air pressure is not a requirement for our engine. The way it is configured, with prop at one end and intake at the other end, where most aircraft are tractor rather than pusher, the intake will be buried near the firewall. As long as it can get adequate air supply, that is all that is needed. Of course, dynamic air would help but only marginally. We intend for the engine to run on the heavy fuels, JetA, diesel etc. so yes, diesel will be a preferred fuel. It will not be designed to run on Avgas/Mogas. For your peace of mind, perhaps you could think of our launch engine as the TA90TP, referring to 90kW

Within the next few weeks, our overhauled website will be up and running. It will coincide with the launch of a book build for reserving a delivery slot. That will be for both the 120hp and the 200hp engines. I will be providing details shortly, but it will be a no-risk, fully refundable at any time delivery slot reservation system.