Light Aircraft Association

There are two pages on Wikipedia on (respectively) the LAA & the BMAA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_Aircraft_Association http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Microlight_Aircraft_Association On 17th December 2011, quite a lot of text was removed from the LAA page by a "wiki-editor" because the ...

I splashed out on a SkyDemon GPS that was on special offer at Sywell. It looks a nice bit of kit, and a chum who uses its associated flight-planning software says it's great. I particularly like the way the NOTAMS crop up on screen: it'll be a relief to know you're not flying though a Red Arrows dis...

When I first heard of the Luciole, I wrongly presumed it was intended to comply with the new UK Single Seat De-Regulated microlight sub-category. (SSDR aircraft must weigh less than 115 kg without fuel and pilot and the wing loading must not be more than 10 kg/m²). In fact, the Luciole's wing loadin...

Just put me right again with the flight characteristics of a high aspect ratio wing (Luciole). At the stall is it more likely to drop a wing for instance. A delayed reply: Francis Donaldson writes in May's magazine(page 42) ," Only by 'cheating' with a quicker deceleration rate (than one knot per s...

Caltonmoor private airfield now has its own website: http://www.caltonmoorflyers.co.uk/ Caltonmoor airfield is a grass strip 500 metres long. 1,000 feet asl, it is in the foothills of the southern Pennines, by the crossroads of the Leek-Ashbourne and Stoke-Ilam roads. After Arclid, Caltonmoor is pro...

The revival of another technology as antiquated as the side-valve is discussed at:
http://forums.flyer.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=71962
Petrol-paraffin aero-engines may be the way to go!
A turbocharged dual-fuel D-Motor, anyone?

I see that August's "Pilot" (page 10) reports that the CAA have just announced that ab initio flight training on autogyros is to be be restricted to type-approved versions only.
(The CAA had previously allowed flying training to be conducted on amateur-built autogyros).
Ho hum!

A side-valve motor has poor breathing at high rpm, but the simple valve gear offers no mechanical obstacle to high revs; so (in theory at least), provided the D-Motor's crankcase & internals are up to it, there seems no reason why it might not benefit in future from an induction boost via a turbocha...

Just seen this from the Twister UK home page, it quotes they are agents for the V-prop. The last time I spoke to the guys at Twister, some time ago, they said that even though the amazing V-Prop is up and running in most European countries, they don't propose to import it here. Apparently, it isn't...

Having been very impressed at Sywell by the display of RotorCraft's "Calidus" autogyro (aka gyrocopter or gyroplane), I am tempted to have a go at some time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AutoGyro_Calidus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rotorsport_UK_MT-03 The Calidus has a fully enclosed cockpit and ca...

I saw the flat-four side-valve D-motor displayed at Sywell in 2010 and was immediately fascinated by its dinky size and low weight. http://d-motor1.vpweb.be/Product---Produit.html Since then, I have become even more impressed: I think that it shows a brilliance of approach and real "thinking outside...

I am having a clearout & am getting rid of a couple of decades worth of flying magazines. Most of the 300 or so magazines are in excellent, very clean condition. The lot comprises: Pilot, Todays Pilot, Flyer, PFA's Popular Flying & a few others as well. See the item on eBay (item no: 180679932799). ...

I am sure that any investment will be with cars, and not in aviation. Market size and the fact that cars can get away with imperfect technology.. Of course, the GA market is tiny compared to cars; but the FCEM needs to be tried out somewhere. It could perhaps be most easily done with small boats; b...

As the earth's oil reserves diminish, it becomes increasingly important to develop alternative energy sources; and one of the most promising is the fuel cell. A fuel cell is a device that combines hydrogen & atmospheric oxygen to produce electricity to drive an electric motor, producing only water v...

Oops! I meant my post to be a reply to an existing thread, but I must have pressed "New Topic" by mistake! For the previous thread (of the same name) please see: http://www.lightaircraftassociation.co.uk/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=1276&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0 As a reminder, this boundary-layer lub...