Website of the Day - BRio The Brazillian Flying Boat

A interesting spin on the flying-boat category of trike. This one, called "The BRio" comes from Brazil in Kit Form. Not sure that it would pass muster under the new LSA rules, but sure seems like a ton of fun if you live near water! Site is in English, but has some great Amphibious and Brazilian Trike website links.

LINK

New Feature Coming Soon - Trikepilot Social Member Map!

One of the features which is sorely lacking on our site at the moment is a way to see just where all our members are located, along with the trike model they fly. Likewise, to have a quick link to their member page and their own website (if applicable). Lastly, to see immediately just "who" is online at the moment, without having to scroll through all the member pages. Along with some other improvements (such as a Latest Additions tab to show what has been added on anyone's page) the above map is a way for us to make this the "must visit" site for all world trikers.

The beta version above is not fully functional, but is a preview of what we should have running in a day or so. Right now you can see the members by list or clicking on the pins, but the links to their member pages and home pages is not fully functioning. Hope we're on the right track. Please give us your suggestions and ideas.

Thanks!
spence

LINK

Picture of the Day - Hot Air Ballon from my Trike

Thanks to Tom Bigelow

Sport Pilot Exam Q&A Online

This is a neat little program someone wrote to help one practice for the Sport Pilot Exam. It gives you the question, then allows you to try and answer. It provides the information you need to correct your knowledge in the event you answer wrong on the first try. Would be a great benefit to anyone who has not yet passed the Sport Pilot Exam. Let me know what you think?

LINK

Barnstormers "Mashup" Tool from Mick Balaban

Extremely Cool!

I just received this note from Mick Balaban, explaining a tool that he had put together to visually show the location of trikes that are being sold on Barnstormers. I think this is one of the most clever things I've seen in a long time, and a great use of Google Maps. We are planning our own Classified Section here at Trikepilot Social that will allow all the members to buy, sell, and trade gear and trikes amongst themselves... but in the meantime, this is a fantastic way to save some time on Barnstormers.

In Mick's own words:

Hi Spence,

Months ago, when I was looking to purchase my first trike, I was browsing barnstormers every day and constantly looking how far are trikes that are being sold away from me, and trying to figure out how much would it cost to transport them... So I got sick of that and wrote a small data scraper that crawls barnstormers site for trikes and updates local database on my server that then presents them on google maps. I showed it to some friends and they thought it was cool. So check it out when you get a chance: http://trikes.newmediafront.com

Flying Guys - Check out the trike formation at the end of the video

Thanks to Mick Balaban for this vid link. Love the announcers' reactions in Japanese and the way-cool formation flying of the trikes near the end.

An Incredible Resource! - Technical Articles by Mike Stratman of California Power Systems

This is probably one of the best little "gems" I've recently found on the internet. It is a series of articles written by Mike Stratman of California Power Systems (and RotaxParts.net) that appeared in Ultralight Flying! Magazine starting in June of 1987. These articles detail many important topics regarding the ownership and maintenance of an ultralight and its power system. Some information is out of date, but CPS has the complete series reprinted in its Catalog as well. It is an absolute "Must Read" source of information.
LINK

Video of the Day - Barry Foer Strikes Again!

Not sure if he is trying to get a viral ad-campaign going for Nestle, but Barry is one wild and crazy dude. I'm always cracking up at his videos ;)

Website of the Day - Start Flying Flexwing Microlights

An absolute "Must Read" resource for learning about our amazing flying machines
LINK

Labor Day Photo Contest Finalists...

Well... you guys are great pilots, and terrific photographers, but you are LAZY LAZY LAZY contest entrants!! ;) Not a single pilot bothered to enter his or her images into the contest. Maybe I'm just a horrible promoter! ah ha!

So, I took it upon myself to go through the almost 800 photos presently on the site and pick some of my personal favorites. Not for any particular reason, but just because they caught my eye in some way. I know there are a ton of other fantastic shots there, so if I didn't pick one of your favorites, NOW IS MY INVITATION to send me a link to your photo so I can consider adding it to these "keepers."

Without Further Delay... here they are: (click to go to the original shot)




Find more photos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition

World's first Quadriplegic Trike Pilot!

 

What an incredible story! On February 14, 2006, Dave Jacka became the world's first known Quadriplegic Trike pilot. His amazing feat has been chronicled by the Able Management Group at their site, and they also have video as well. Dave had special control bar fittings made that would "lock" his hands to the bar, allowing him use of his upper torso muscles to control the pitch and roll, even though he has no grip strength. The details of how they modified the Airborn Edge to provide from ground steering, throttle control, and other necessities is a triumph of ingenuity and will.
 
LINK

Able Management Group has also posted video of Dave soloing below:

Ultrlalight Problems - The Trial and Error of the Early Days...

There are has been much debate about the safety of modern ultralight trikes. Many of the newest safety features such as four-stroke engines, BRS Chutes, etc., all come from the "trial and error" of the early pioneers. These men and women had to learn by their mistakes (and crashes) about what could...and did... go horribly wrong. Watch...

Just gotta laugh at the music on this one!

More fun from the Flight Sim crowd! This one is in FS2004, but it is the creator's choice of music that had me grinning from ear to ear ;)

Video of the Day - Ultralight Trikes Fly into Greenland

Ah, finally we're starting to cover the planet with trikes! (ahahahh.... just kidding. I mean "Greenland, New Hampshire!) ;)

"Topless" Trikes from GibboGear!

A unique player in the Trike market is GibboGear (Mark Gibson), who for many years has created a specialized niche by offering "topless" wings. In other words, wings that have no kingpost and wires to support the wing while on the ground or during negative loads. These wings are also known as "strutted" designs, because the two lower struts serve to carry both the load of the wing as well as to handle the positive and negative "G" forces while in the air.



GibboGear seems to be moving in the direction of many in the lower-price market, by specializing now on some new Part 103 legal machines and wings. This may be a good move for them as it would be otherwise hard to sell a lower priced SLSA or ELSA two-seater when one considers the high-cost of certification, and the individual ownership costs of obtaining a Sport Pilot certificate. It seems logical that many Ultralight Trike pilots may simply shift into one-place Part 103 legal machines and avoid Sport Pilot altogether.

LINK


Mark is also marketing a slick line of LSA aircraft that also utilize the "topless" wing design, called the "Manta Ray". To be quite honest, I have to check with Abid Farooqui and Mark to understand whether there is any cross-marketing going on as these machines are incredibly similar to the Apollo line being sold by TampaBay Aerosport. More info on the Manta Ray HERE

Awesome Side By Side Two Seat Russian Trike - The Ultralight "Cruise"

I just stumbled upon an incredible "why didn't I think of that" Trike from Russia. It is side by side seating rather than Tandem, and is available in both 582 and 912 Rotax Models. I've sent an inquiry to the company owners to verify details, but they claim that they sell it in kit form and can ship around the world. No word as to whether the machine will be ELSA or SLSA legal. Check out the slick cockpit!


Some Details from their website:

Features

• side by side seating;
• luggage racks is located in nose part and under the seats;
• front wheel spring hanger and landing gear titanic springs guarantee mild motion of a trike and non aerodrome basing;
• hydraulic brakes;
• fiberglass — epoxy cowls;

The “Cruise” is ideally suited for the:

• pilot training;
• tourism, sightseeing and recreation flights;
• air photography;
• sport flights;

It also may be used for the:

• parachute jump;
• banner towing;

Website of the Day - Northwing Trikes!

Company owner, Kamron Blevins, has been a member of the Hang Gliding Manufacturer Assoc. and has certified many hang gliders. He brings this experience of flex wing design and flight testing to North Wing. Jose & Maria (sail makers for 18 years) and Cliff (airframe department for 4 years) bring their professional skills to North Wing as well. Angela brings her customer service expertise to the front line, most likely you will speak with her when you call.

These and our other qualified associates will bring their experience in customer service and manufacturing to build you one of the best microlight, trike wing or Hang Glider in the world. Check them out if you are looking for a quality American Made Trike or Hanglider.

LINK

Website of the Day - Raven Soaring Trikes (Trikosaurus)

Billed as "The Most Comfortable Trike You'll Ever Fly", the Raven Soaring Trike is an FAR Part 103 legal trike that is powered by a 28hp Hirth Engine. It is also an engine-less soaring trike.
 
It is basically the undercarriage and power unit, and can be used with a variety of wings. Fully transportable, quiet, and convenient. A nice alternative to the two-seat trainers and SLA machines more commonly in use. I can imagine that one of these machines would be incredibly relaxing to fly on an early Sunday morning with calm winds and the sun coming up in the East....

A brief description from Bob Corbo's article in Hang Glider Magazine:

Although first conceived in 1999 it wasn’t until the spring of 2000 that the first Trikosoarus™ as originally named, got airborne. What it is in one form is a rigid supine harness with a tricycle landing gear, and rigid connection to a hang glider, designed to be aero towed or roll launched. In its other form it’s the most fun powered micro light trike you could ever fly. Capable of both super slow powered flight (18 mph indicated airspeed with a 160lb pilot) and engine off soaring with electric restart. And the real neat thing about these two very different flying machines is that it only takes 10 minutes to convert from one to the other.

LINK

Thrust SSC Team - Flashback highlight on Bill Sherlock

My good friend, and former head of P&M Aviation, Bill Sherlock, was involved about ten years ago in a great project to exceed the speed of sound in a land vehicle. They succeeded. The first ever supersonic World Land Speed Record of 763.035 mph was set on 15th October 1997 by Andy Green in ThrustSSC, on the Black Rock Desert, Nevada.


Bill's job was to fly the a Quantum 912 over the course during operations - looking for incursions onto the playa and giving members of the media rides. Though Bill has since moved on to other interesting endeavors, the Thrust Site is still up and running and makes a fascinating read.

LINK

Origins of the Species? or.... Who Flew Before the Wright Brothers?

An interesting article describing the cast of characters who actually did "fly" at the same time or before Orville and Wilbur, but were never given the same recognition. Check out the video then visit the article

LINK