n° 18 - September 2009

In this Newsletter

50th Foxbat delivered!
Announcing the Foxbat 80
A22 Dan Johnson YouTube Video
Foxbat for sale
Calculating True Air Speed (TAS)
A22 Foxbat paint jobs

50th Foxbat delivered in Australia

Congratulations to Andrew Cotterell on taking delivery of officially the 50th Foxbat in Australia!

Andrew, based near York in Western Australia is the proud owner of a new white Aeroprakt A22LS Foxbat, registered with Recreational Aviation Australia 24-7274. Andrew's A22LS will be partly used for 3-axis training at White Gum Farm near York, hitherto known for being a centre of excellence for Microlight (trike) training and flying.

Said Gordon Marshall, CFI at White Gum Farm: 'We wanted to add 3-axis training to our capabilities and the Foxbat looks to be the right answer, easy to fly with excellent low-speed handling."

Gordon, who markets world-first aviation wireless headsets EQ-1, is also taking on responsibility for Foxbat sales and back-up in WA. So if you're based in WA and thinking of a rugged go-anywhere aircraft with incredible short-field capability and fantastic view out - look no further: call Gordon on 0419 942 645 for a demonstration, or visit his website at www.microlight.com.au

Since Andrew took delivery of his aircraft, a further 6 Foxbats have been delivered to customers in Australia with several more on order.

Meanwhile, congratulations again to Andrew.

Aeroprakt A22L Foxbat 80

Hot on the heels of the Australian launch of the A22LS Foxbat with its monster 290 kgs carrying capacity comes the entry level A22L Foxbat 80. As its name suggests, this version is powered by the Rotax 912UL 80 hp engine - and is in fact the most common variant outside Australia.

There are some important benefits in using the 80 hp engine: firstly, minimum fuel octane is 91 which in Australia equates to standard unleaded fuel (you can still use avgas if needed). This is attractive for owners in out-of-the-way places, where sometimes it can be difficult to obtain the premium unleaded (minimum 95 octane) fuel required by the 100 hp engine.

Fuel consumption is considerably less on the 80 hp engine - typically you'll save around 2-3 litres an hour compared with the 100 hp version.

Other benefits of the 912UL include very smooth running (perhaps due to the lower compression ratio) and lighter weight. Finally, the 912UL 80 hp unit has an even stronger reputation for reliability than the 100 hp version.

Other specification details on the Foxbat 80 include for the first time, a 2-blade propeller, which is well-matched to the engine as well as saving some weight. The old saying about propellers: 'two blades for go, three for show' no longer applies, with modern computer aided designs, but the Foxbat 80 has plenty of get up and go! Owners will find the Foxbat 80 will still out perform many 100 hp aircraft - mainly due to its light airframe and the amazing wing aerofoil section.

Introductory price for the Foxbat 80 is just under $86,000 including a radio, registration, GST - ready to fly.

Call me, Peter, on 0413 900 892 for further details, or in WA call Gordon on 0419 942 645, or in SA call Roger on 0417 084 377.

A22 Dan Johnson Review Video on YouTube

Dan Johnson is well known in the world of recreational and light sport aircraft. He operates probably the most comprehensive website on light aviation in the world - in fact all you want to know about such aircraft is on his site somewhere. Want to know which was the first LSA to be certified in the USA? Want to know how many aircraft have now been accepted as LSA's in the States? Want to know what it's like to fly an Indus Sky Skooter?? It's all on Dan's site - www.bydanjohnson.com

There's even a part of his site dedicated to identifying the right aircraft for you and your preferences, called Plane finder. Unfortunately my tastes must be a little esoteric as the Finder couldn't find a suitable plane for me. About the only strange combination was choosing either a Rotax/Jabiru or Continental/Lycoming engine. In my experience Rotax and Jabiru engine owners almost rabidly decry the marque they don't own, so choosing them both was an exciting opportunity. But I can see that in the USA buyer's eyes, Rotax and Jabiru are the recent upstarts in the business and Continental & Lycoming have (for good or ill) been around since pre-historic times (by aircraft standards anyway).

But the Foxbat (sorry, 'Valor') review is fun - Dan rarely finds negative things to say and the A22 is no exception. Click on the link below or copy and paste into your browser.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBA2CdCCNeY&feature=player_embedded

A22L Foxbat for sale

Superb 15-months old A22L Foxbat for sale. White, only 130 hours flying time, always hangared, never damaged. Standard A22L spec plus Trutrack ADI-3 electric horizon with track readout, carby heat box, oil thermostat, strut fairings, cabin heat and Y-stick with electric trim. Dual channel radio with VOX intercom. Big saving on new price - and it's ready now! RA-Aus registered 24-5441. Call Henry on 0438 451 738 for more information.

Calculating True Air Speed (TAS)

am frequently asked by potential buyers for my aircraft: 'What's she TAS at?' by which they probably mean typical or maximum cruise speed. And we all know that TAS (True Air Speed) can be quite different from IAS (indicated Air Speed). Don't we?

TAS is important the higher you fly - in particular for ensuring you don't exceed the airframe limits in turbulence - an IAS of 100 knots at 5,000 feet can easily turn into a TAS of 112 knots, given the hot conditions which are common in an Australian summer. You can easily exceed a rough air cruise limit of (for example) 105 knots, even though the indicated air speed is only 100 knots. So knowing your TAS is important - for at least this reason.

Unless you have superduper digital flat screen avionics in your aircraft - which will calculate real-time TAS for you - calculation of TAS is a complex business. I remember back in my PPL training days, labouring over a hot whiz-wheel, determining the answers to 'simple' questions requiring Indicated Airspeed (IAS) and Calibrated Airspeed (CAS) conversions to TAS.

With the advent of GPS, I 'stored' the wheel long ago and resorted to rules of thumb like adding 2% of the indicated airspeed for every 1,000 feet of altitude above mean sea level - eg IAS 90 knots at 4,000 feet = around TAS 97-98 knots. However, this is not always accurate for hot weather, where density altitudes can (pun intended) go through the roof!

Some GPS have a facility for you to enter indicated airspeed, indicated altitude, QNH and temperature, allowing a reasonable computation of TAS. But then again, many do not.

Another alternative is to use the internet - which has a number of TAS calculators available on line. Although it is difficult, if not impossible and/or illegal, to access these in flight, you can compute a range of TAS as part of your flight planning. Try this link for an online TAS calculation. It can be very useful in ensuring you don't inadvertently over-stress your aircraft.

http://www.paragonair.com/public/aircraft/calc_TAS.html?IA=5000&altunits=0&altstg=1022&setunits=1&temp=20&tempunits=0&IAS=90&TAS=102&DA=&PA=

Finally, if you really want to go the whole hog, you can replace your standard ASI with a dual scale ASI with a TAS readout - you'll need an Outside Air Temperature gauge too. And TAS ASIs are not inexpensive.

Interesting Foxbat paint schemes

Foxbats in Australia (and many other countries where factory finished aircraft are sold) are usually painted a single colour. Our favourites in Australia are (in order): yellow, white, red and blue - and one in glorious bright orange. However, in some countries, the Foxbat is often built from a kit and as a result, there are some wonderful paint jobs out there. Here is one sample to whet your appetite - for a fee, the factory will in fact paint your aircraft any colour or scheme you want. Although maybe some of the airbrush jobs might work out expensive! The scheme shown here (red stripes on white) was designed in South Africa and although this one is painted, the same scheme can be applied as decals.