Midwest LSA Expo Will Bring Light Sport Community to Mount Vernon, IL Next Week

Fred Harl and Carmelo Turdo

The highly-anticipated 6th Annual Midwest LSA Expo will be held at Mount Vernon Outland Airport in central Illinois September 4-6.  The Aero Experience will start our week-long coverage of the Midwest LSA Expo with this preview of the event and profiles of the anticipated exhibitors.  We also thought that we would combine this Midwest LSA Expo preview with some material we collected on the LSA manufacturers from our recent trip to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2014 sponsored by Air Associates of Missouri and Air Associates of Kansas. 

The Aerotrek A220 conventional landing gear (pictured) and A240 tricycle landing gear LSAs have a wing folding feature that allows the aircraft to be trailered to a garage or off-field operating area.  The aircraft are manufactured by Aeropro CZ in Slovakia and distributed in the U.S. by Aerotrek in Bloomfield, IN.

The Arion Lightning is a composite, low-wing LSA built to use the Jabiru 3300 engine. It's 5.5 gal/hour fuel burn and 40 gallon fuel capacity gives this LSA impressive range.  The aircraft can be purchased in kit form or factory-built from U.S. suppliers from the Shelbyville, TN headquarters.    

AutoGyro is the premier supplier of gyrocopters.  The company produces one unit per day at their plant in Germany, and distributes their aircraft in over thirty countries.  The MTO Sport, Calidus and Cavalon are pictured at left. 

The all-new Sport Cub and Carbon Cub SS are outgrowths of Jim Richmond's efforts to improve the Piper Cub's ability to operate in the bush environment (from Alaska to the jungle).  New aircraft kits or pre-owned aircraft are available, and current aircraft can undergo a rebuild program to extend the service life.  The factory is located in Yakima, Washington.

Jabiru USA Sport Aircraft is the largest distributor of Jabiru aircraft and engines in the world.  Importing the Jabiru kits and engines from Australia, Jabiru USA has grown into a successful LSA manufacturer of these kits for the American market in Shelbyville, TN.  The J-230D pictured is the latest model and offers excellent performance and larger cargo space than most LSAs.   Mount Vernon's Jabiru dealer is Evans Aviation.

Pipistrel began producing powered hangliders and later powered gliders in Slovenia after the breakup of Yugoslavia.  The Virus pictured represents the type that won the NASA Centennial Challenge in 2007 and 2008 for fuel efficiency.

Rans Designs is a Kansas-based producer of kit and factory-built LSAs.  The company produced Sailtrike wind/man-powered land craft in the early 1970s and later the Coyote ultralight.  Current offerings are more sophisticated, including the S-19 Venterra aluminum monoplane pictured at left.

The Skyreach Bushcat is designed to perform well in bush and float plane environments.  The aircraft is produced in South Africa and distributed by Aerosport in the U.S. The aircraft boasts impressive payload and amphibious flight performance.

Tecnam U.S. is the distributor for the Tecnam line of Italian LSAs.  The company offers aircraft in the LSA, General Aviation and twin-engine airborne Surveillance classes.  The P2008 and P92 Eaglet are pictured at left.   

Vans Aircraft produces the iconic RV series of homebuilt aircraft.  Over 8,000 kits have been delivered from the previous North Plains, OR and current Aurora, OR plants.  The popular RV-9A is pictured at left near the Vans Aircraft exhibit.  

Mexico, MO-based Zenith Aircraft is the producer of Zenair kits from designer Chris Heintz.  Zenith aircraft are known to be builder-friendly and the company offers hands-on factory workshops  The CH 650 low wing, CH 701 utility and CH 750 STOL aircraft are very popular LSAs.

TL Ultralight produces the Sting and Sirius LSAs in the Czech Republic using advanced composite material construction.  The TL-3000 has impressive performance and can effectively be used in the training environment.  The aircraft is imported by Sportair USA, and the Midwest's preferred distributor of TL Sirius aircraft is Swan Air.

From Prowler to Growler: Tactical Electronic Warfare Takes Step Forward With Adoption of New Jet

By Carmelo Turdo

The United States Navy is in the process of upgrading and deploying a new generation of tactical electronic warfare aircraft - the Boeing EA-18G Growler.  The Growler, operational since October of 2009, will replace the previous generation aircraft, the Grumman EA-6B Prowler, in fleet service in the coming years.  Boeing produces the aircraft on the Super Hornet production line in St. Louis at Lambert St. Louis International Airport, and local residents can witness Growler production test flights regularly.  The Aero Experience joined members of the Missouri Aviation Historical Society at their monthly meeting last week to learn more about the aircraft and its current service record from guest speaker U.S. Navy Captain Dana Perkins. 

Captain Perkins currently serves as U.S. Naval Reserve Assistant Chief of Staff and instructor at the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center, NAS Fallon, Nevada and as a Boeing Flight Operations Weapons System Officer for production test flights of Boeing tactical aircraft in St. Louis.  Perkins has experience flying in the Grumman Prowler as Squadron Commander of Naval Reserve Squadron VAQ-209 "Star Warriors" then flying out of Joint base Andrews, MD  (VAQ-209 is now located at NAS Whidbey Island, WA equipped with Growlers).  Captain Perkins and his crew made a short refueling stop at Spirit of St. Louis Airport in January, 2012, and The Aero Experience was there to meet the crew and record these images about a year before the squadron began its transition to Growlers.     

The Boeing EA-18G Growler

(Boeing photo)

Captain Perkins presented the current state of Growler development and deployment to U.S. Navy and Naval Reserve units (the U.S. Marines currently have no plans to replace the EA-6B Prowler after its retirement in the next five years).  Production standard for the Growler began with Lot 28 Super Hornet (now on Lot 37), with modifications to transform the fighter/attack aircraft to the electronic warfare platform with weapons delivery capability.  There are 138 airframes of record, with additional aircraft for Australia.  The 20mm cannon in the nose was replaced with additional avionics, and a fully-integrated sensor suite including the ALQ-218 receivers on the wingtips, the ALQ-99 high and low frequency jammer pods and the APG-79 Radar to engage the air-to-air and air-to-ground threat environment.  The Growler retains self-defense capability and can attack ground targets with HARM missiles if necessary.  The number of crew was reduced from four in the Prowler to two in the newer-generation Growler through digital avionics upgrades that automated processes formerly performed manually by separate crew members.  Additionally, the Growler cockpit features the heads-up display (HUD) and the helmet-mounted cueing system that projects the target information on the pilot's visor for immediate action.
 

(Flight Global graphic)

A section (2-ship) of Growlers typically fly a 1.5hr mission (or longer with air-to-air refueling).  During a training mission, each aircraft usually has one experienced crewman and one who is relatively new to the type.  The U.S. Air Force also provides exchange crews to operate with the Navy units.  The mission may call for jamming radar and communications of enemy single point targets or barrage jamming of an area, with multiple-threat tracking (the aircraft jams receivers, not the transmission source).  Captain Perkins referred to the mission objective as "Deny, degrade or deceive" the enemy through electronic attack.  Said another way, he defined the overall mission of the Growler as “Influencing the Electromagnetic Spectrum to deny the enemy free reign.  We use all our information to figure out where the enemy is using the electromagnetic spectrum, and then we decide how we’re either going to exploit or deny that capability.”  Not every mission ends with the destruction of the enemy target - it may be enough to shut the enemy installation down for a period or use it to gather intelligence rather than eliminate it outright.   

Some missions are designed to gather threat information.  This is referred to as conditioning the battle space.  "Fly over the same spot, same time of day, same technique, and he (the enemy) has the same reaction," Captain Perkins continued.  "Now we are learning about the battle space, getting that expected response.   And based on the expected response, we set up tactics and techniques to exploit those responses.”  After a series of probing missions, then the attack force can eliminate the threat if necessary.

(Boeing graphic)

The Growler stands to benefit from Boeing's Advanced Super Hornet upgrade initiative as reported by The Aero Experience in August 2013.   The Growler community will benefit greatly from implementation of the General Electric F414 engine upgrades that project a 20% increase in thrust while delivering a 2% overall fuel savings.  The Northrop-Grumman designed conformal fuel tanks (the aerodynamic forms only were tested last year) offer an additional 3500lbs of fuel, eliminating the need for the conventional external fuel tank on the centerline station.  Initial tests predict no drag penalty when compared to an aircraft without a center station fuel tank.  Additional improvements, including the next-generation jammer and AESA Radar upgrades, will directly impact the Growler's mission.  These upgrades can be made at depot-level maintenance on Super Hornets and Growlers, not by taking the aircraft out of service and sending it back to the factory for an extended period.   

(Boeing graphic)

 

 

 

 

The Missouri Aviation Historical Society (MAHS) was privileged to host Captain Perkins and thank him for his outstanding presentation.  Following the program, Captain Perkins was given a copy of the book, The Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet & EA-18G Growler: A Developmental and Operational History, by author Brad Elward, who was visiting from Peoria, IL. 

Captain Perkins, MAHS President Dan O'Hara and Brad Elward

 

 

Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour Makes Stop In St. Louis: Part 2, Veteran Flight, Departures

By Leo Cachet

The Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom tour made a stop at the Greater St. Louis Air and Space Museum, located at historic 1929 Curtiss-Wright Hangar 2 at St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, IL July 25 - July 27, 2014. The Aero Experience was there to bring you the sights of the weekend, especially our visits with some of the Veterans who flew in one of the three historic aircraft parked on the ramp just outside the museum. I attended Friday's arrival and witnessed Saturday's B-24 veteran flight, while fellow contributor Mark Nankivil covered Sunday and Monday's departure of the aircraft for nearly Creve Couer Airport (see photo essay below).

 

I arrived Saturday morning just before 9 a.m., and the timing couldn't have been more perfect as a group of Veterans were getting ready to go for their flight in the B-24. I was allowed to go out as they received their briefing before boarding this beast - quite a tricky process. Once everyone was aboard, the ramp was cleared and the bomber took off. They flew around the St. Louis area in one of only two B-24s still flying in the world (B-24A Diamond Lil was in Dupage, IL that weekend prior to arriving in Oshkosh). After the B-24 returned, I talked with some of those who flew. Each person said it was great, but one gentleman said his hat blew out!  I don't know if that counts as a bombing mission or not, so we'll have to keep an eye on the side of the plane and see. I spoke with Kelsey Hickman, a crewman on a B-24 during WWII. His jacket leaves no doubt that he is well traveled, and his spirit beamed as he spoke with a crewman of the bomber as they sat beneath the plane. He spoke of being shot down 4 times, crash landing 2 times and being a P.O.W. in Russia during WWII. What can you say to a man like that other than thank you - which is exactly what I said. I also spoke with Doyle Treese who was a tail gunner in a B-24 during WWII.  It was an awesome experience to listen to the stories of these men who changed the world almost 70 years ago! Rodney Fant was also on board this special flight around St. Louis. He was a navigator in a C-130 in the Vietnam War. I don't know if these gentlemen knew each other before they came to the museum for their flight, but they were leaving together sharing stories. This is the beauty of what aviation, and more specifically the restoration of historic aircraft, can do.

I then roamed the ramp and photographed the crowd that came out on what has turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year. It was very nice to see a good-sized crowd and, more importantly, a lot of kids looking at these three pieces of history sitting in front of them. I watched as some of the children marveled at the general aviation aircraft taxiing by them on the way to the nearby runway for takeoff. It was a very pleasing sight to see their excitement, and I hope the experience makes an impact on them the way it did to me when I was a young child.

 

Thank you to the men and women of the Collings Foundation for bringing these beautiful historic aircraft to St. Louis and for the opportunity to visit with you and the Veterans that flew in your aircraft. You keep history alive in a culture that more and more does not teach our children about the sacrifices made by the Greatest Generation to save the world from tyranny. We look forward to welcoming you back in future years!

 

 

Thanks to Mark Nankivil for these photos from Sunday and Monday's departure.