Bring a Friend to Trikepilot Social Day!

It's official! We're now "inventing" holidays! ;)

Seriously though, Trikepilot Social is really kicking in the afterburners here with more than 150 members strong and adding an average of five a day. We have a TON of lurkers, with now more than 4500 unique vistors this month and more than 45,000 unique page views!! Won't you please pour some gas on our fire by inviting "one" friend or more to visit and join our site?

Our goal is to become the ONE site on which EVERY trike or microlight pilot from around the world has staked a claim... so that we can FINALLY know where everyone is, what kind of machine they fly, and what if any website they have. Most importantly... so we can all share cool videos, photos, stories, how-to articles, and adventures!

We're stirring up quite a controversy with some of the "old school" bulletin board websites (which shall remain nameless) and have even been (shudder....) MODERATED from at least one of them because we attempted to notify some of its members of our site. Why? Who knows? Since all of our content if FREE and so is theirs, perhaps they just like building a walled garden around their members for fear that they will find a much more fun and interesting experience elsewhere??

I for one am a strong believer that people will reward good content with loyalty. If you "are "enjoying our content, please show us by bringing in a friend or two to crank-up our ranks and start making our MEMBER MAP look like it was shot with a machine gun!

Cheers and Safe Flying!
Spence

Video of the Day - Quik 912 Day out to Wales, UK

I wasn't sure if my Quik could take off and land from the beaches around SW Michigan...but now I know!

Um.... what to do when your engine dies, your wing fails, and you have no BRS?

When all else fails... and you are basically "SOL".... then what to do? ... BASE JUMP VIDEO of course!!

Potentially crazy folks who like to fly without an airplane. Makes us trikepilots look like we're actually "sane" individuals ;)

LINK

Sabre Trikes - American Made Ultralight and LSA machines

The designer of the Sabre Trike (Richard Helm) was a key member of the ASTM task group in charge of writing the new standard for trikes. He wrote many changes to the original proposed standard.

According to the factory, Sabre Aircraft performs stability testing to higher speeds then required, and strength testing, beyond anything required by this new category. They also claim that any Sabre Wildcat, new or old, can be certified to the Light Sport Aircraft Category, as currently written, without any modification, or further testing.

 Their open-cockpit "Wildcat" starts at $14,995 fully equiped.

LINK

Sabre Trikes - American Made Ultralight and LSA machines

The designer of the Sabre Trike (Richard Helm) was a key member of the ASTM task group in charge of writing the new standard for trikes. He wrote many changes to the original proposed standard.

According to the factory, Sabre Aircraft performs stability testing to higher speeds then required, and strength testing, beyond anything required by this new category. They also claim that any Sabre Wildcat, new or old, can be certified to the Light Sport Aircraft Category, as currently written, without any modification, or further testing.

 Their open-cockpit "Wildcat" starts at $14,995 fully equiped.

LINK

Website of the Day - Trikephotos.com

 

Mark Brindle has a slick graphic site focused on his triking adventures in Australia. More than 6000 high-quality shots of his Airborne Edge, the incredible geography and scenery of Australia, and the memories he's had along the way. Check it out!
LINK

Pictures of the Day - Welcome Wayne Bezner Kerr

Wayne is legendary in the Trike Community, a superb pilot, and just an all around great guy. Buy him a beer some day and ask him to tell you the stories of his incredibly interesting life and travels...you will not be dissapointed.

I'm featuring Wayne's photos today because he's REALLY selected a couple GEMS on his member page, and this is a great use of this site. He runs First Light Aviation, when he is not globetrotting or spending time with his little girl.

Check out the superb slideshow of his photos:


Find more photos like this on Trikepilot - Social Edition

My old girl has a new boyfriend...

 Welcome everyone Steve Longmeyer, who is now in a "serious" relationship with my old girlfriend... formerly known as A10SLF, now calling herself N254A (as if somehow she's "better" with that fancy new name? ha!)

Steve started dating her right after Tony Castillo got done having his way with her. Rumor has it that "once you've had Tony you can never go back to an ordinary guy again..." but who am I to believe those stories from the street?

Since Tony and I have subsequently gone on to dating these Quik new European girls, I guess Steve is going to have to settle in to a nice long relationship with N254A and "bond with her wing".

Website of the Day - Official Guide To Experimental Aircraft

A pretty comprehensive guide, though perhaps a bit dated insofar as LSA has kicked-in this year. Check out some of the trike links.

LINK

Do you have your N-number yet? Check it now or check someone else's...

Here is a direct link to the FAA's Aircraft Registration Database. You can check reserved tail numbers, existing numbers, or even expired numbers. It's both useful and even "fun". Check out some of the early "low" numbers and the type of aircraft to which tåhey are attached!
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Want to help find Steve Fossett?

The search for Steve Fossett continues, unfortunately to no avail at this point. His friends and supporters are enlisting some help from the general population by asking that the new satellite photo imagery be analyzed square by square with human eyes. If you are so inclined, you may help by reviewing images as well.

LINK

Airport Monitor - Another great way to spend a rainy afternoon...

In my never-ending quest to find "cool" things for us pilots to do when the weather just isn't cooperating... I bring you Airport Monitor. This amazing little website is a graphical "replay" of all the incoming and outgoing traffic to Boston's Logan Airport. The company running the site, Passur, has the following LIST of all other airports using technology, so find the one that turns you on and check it out!

LINK

The Civil Air Patrol - Have "you" joined yet?

INFO FOR PILOTS
Serve Your Community By Doing What You Love

If you’re a pilot, or you’d like to be, CAP has plenty of opportunities tailor-made for you. CAP owns the largest fleet of single-engine piston aircraft in the nation, and CAP pilots are able to fly those planes to perform CAP missions in service to their local communities.

CAP pilots fly reconnaissance missions for homeland security, search and rescue and disaster relief, and even counterdrug reconnaissance at the request of government or law enforcement agencies. They transport medical personnel and supplies, blood and live tissue. In times of disaster, they assess damage and transport emergency personnel from site to site.

The Civil Air Patrol's aircraft are hangared at strategic locations throughout the nation to be readily available when missions arise. CAP members maintain these aircraft at the highest levels of safety and efficiency and have access to specialists at CAP National Headquarters for maintenance, safety and training questions.

If you’d like to become a CAP pilot, you must be at least 17 years of age and hold a valid FAA private, commercial or airline transport pilot certificate. You must have a Class III or higher medical certificate and a current flight review.

You’ll have to satisfactorily complete a flight check and pass a written exam. You’ll also need to complete aircraft questionnaires for each plane you’re qualified to fly.

As a CAP pilot, you perform some of the organization’s most important work. CAP is also a great place for you to meet and work with people who share your interest in flying and want to use their skills in a meaningful way.

For More Information...

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

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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