SportStar demonstration day at Bendigo

Many thanks to Jim Crocker for organising our SportStar demonstration day at Bendigo Flying Club on Saturday 2 May 2009. The weather was perfect and around 12 members took the opportunity to try the SportStar SL alongside either Colin Douglas or Colin Hokin, the Club instructors, with a total of almost 3 hours flying during the day. Also thanks to Andrew Lim, who sampled the SportStar for rather longer and flew me flawlessly from Tyabb in the morning and back again later. Although this SportStar is equipped for night flying, nether Andrew nor I were, so we made sure we landed just as the sun was touching Port Philip bay that evening. Bendigo Flying Club is a great place to learn to fly or hire an aircraft - see the link in our 'Links' section or copy and paste from here: http://www.bendigoflyingclub.org for more information.

Brand new SportStar SL available

I have a brand new SL-model SportStar available soon - painted in silver and dark blue. It is fitted with all the usual SportStar SL equipment - Garmin SL 40 radio, Garmin GTX327 transponder with Mode C, Garmin GPS495 in AirGizmo dock, electric elevator & aileron trim, full dual controls, wing tip LED nav lights & strobes. wheel spats, Evektor's new and great cold/hot air heating/cooling system, sliding sunshield in the canopy etc. Also fitted with a 3-blade electric constant speed prop, LED landing light and Dynon D10A digital avionic screen. Like all SportStars, this aircraft is built in a GA-licensed factory to current EASA aircraft standards. MTOW at 600 kgs gives you around 280-290 kgs genuine usable load. Please call me for further information and price. Peter 0413 900 892.

Still time for your 30% tax rebate

And talking of the expense, or rather reducing it - it's still not too late to order your aircraft and claim the government 30% tax rebate. Small businesses ordering new equipment for their business - including aeroplanes - can claim an extra 30% tax amount on the purchase - making a considerable saving. Ask your accountant about the savings you could make - but be quick. Orders have to be contracted before 30 June 2009 and the equipment delivered before 30 June 2010. Then call me about the deals we can do for you on new SportStars!

Australian Flying - SportStar flight test

In their July-August 2009 issue, Australian Flying magazine will be publishing a flight test of the SportStar SL. Editor John Spiers took to the somewhat overcast skies with me during the Recreational Aviation Australia Natfly event over Easter 2009. I genuinely haven't seen the article yet myself, but one thing is sure - you'll get an objective review of the aircraft from one of the best journalists in Australian flying. Look out for your copy in late June.

Top Gear Australia fan?

A little birdie has whispered in our shell-like ears that the SportStar might make an appearance during the next series of Top Gear Australia, piloted by a famous person. The new series starts screening in May 2009 - keep your eyes peeled at 7:30pm on Monday nights on SBS.

Recreational/Light Sport flying for the PPL?

The following item is reprinted from an Associated Press item on 3 May 2009. It refers mainly to pilots and training in the USA. The picture in Australia is not quite so bad...yet. But with ever grimmer forecasts of recession, where the USA now treads, we may yet have to follow.

But there is light there - you need to read right to the end before you get to the good bit - the much lower cost of learning to fly in what we call the Recreational or Light Sport category. As the writer says: The license costs half as much and you can obtain it twice as fast.

So if you're finding the bills too high to get and/or keep your PPL - maybe have a look at the Recreational/Light Sport category? And where better to start than with one of the best - the SportStar SL....

Economy buffeting student pilots, flight schools
James Hannah

Ivan Nogalo can often hear small planes buzzing over his machine shop in Cleveland. "You want to be up there," the 33-year-old said. But Nogalo can't be. The would-be pilot has been grounded because the economy has forced him to tighten his belt.

It's the same for Ryan Fisher, who spent an estimated US$10,000 on flying lessons before losing his job with a real estate developer. The 37-year-old was two weeks short of being certified as a private pilot when he couldn't afford further training. "It's frustrating," said Fisher, of Cleveland Heights. "I miss being up in the airplane, that sense of freedom. It's kind of transcendental."

The slumping economy has forced some student pilots to put their dreams of flying on hold, threatened to accelerate the decline of the U.S. pilot population, and put a financial chokehold on flight schools. The number of U.S. pilots has fallen more than 25 percent from a 1980 peak of about 827,000 to about 590,000 at the end of 2008, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

While there are no more recent figures, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is seeing some anecdotal evidence that the economy is taking a toll, said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Frederick, Md.-based organization.

"Flight training is done with disposable income," Dancy said. "It is very common in economic down times for flight training to fall off." It usually costs between US$6,000 and US$9,000 to get a private pilot's license, according to Dancy.

Ryan Gessel, 26, of San Francisco, has wanted to fly for nearly three years, hoping to fly for pleasure as well as to see clients in northern California as an account manager for a brewing company. He began taking flying lessons last summer and had gotten four or five hours under his belt when the economy went into a nosedive.

Gessel's salary became uncertain, and while he has since gotten a new position in the company, he is not sure how much he'll be paid.

"There is a lot of uncertainty, so I didn't see it as the smartest move to put $10,000 into something that isn't really considered a priority," Gessel said. "It's kind of frustrating. But the dream is definitely still there."

Economic conditions have also forced some pilots who already have licenses to give up flying.

Marty Helms, of Wake Forest, N.C., got his license in 2006 and would fly to visit family and friends in Virginia and Pennsylvania. Last May, Helms began to re-evaluate the money he was spending on aviation as the economy began to sour, the price of fuel began to skyrocket and his friends started losing their jobs. The 40-year-old hasn't flown since. Helms estimates it would cost him US$3,000 to complete the training hours needed to resume flying. Then add in the cost of fuel and renting aircraft. And there is the economy, which makes his financial future uncertain.

"It's not something that motivates you to stay in a hobby like aviation," Helms said. "I miss it. There is nothing more rewarding than the flying."

Richard Syrovy, of Kitchener, Ontario, has a private license and was pursuing a license to fly commercially in hopes of making aviation his career. But the economy made openings for pilots scarce, and the 22-year-old college student, who took a part-time job marketing knives to pay for his training, couldn't afford to continue. He last flew in June 2008.

"When you take a part-time job, your checks are going to be part-time," Syrovy said.

Flying lessons are down 50 percent from a year ago at the New Flyers Association, a flight club at the Ohio State University Airport in Columbus that has seven airplanes and 120 members. President Dick Willis blames the economy and uncertain financial futures of the students. "They don't know what's going to happen," Willis said. "They're keeping their money in their mattresses."

At Moraine Airpark in suburban Dayton, the pool of students has dwindled from 30 to 10. The school accounts for about 25 percent of the airport's income. "It hurts us pretty bad," said manager George Bockerstette.

Nogalo had used some of his salary at the machine shop to bankroll flying lessons, which he started taking in October 2008. But he put them on hold when business began to dry up because of the economy.

"With this recession, it's obviously hit northeast Ohio, especially the machining center, pretty heavily," he said. "It was like someone turned off a faucet."

Bill Kronenberger, manager of the flight school at the Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport, said many prospective students can't get loans to fund their training.

Kronenberger said some students are opting for the less expensive sport pilot license instead of the private license. Sport pilots are limited to flying smaller planes with fewer passengers and cannot fly at night, in bad weather or congested air space. But the license costs half as much and can be obtained twice as fast.

The licenses became available in USA 2005 and there are already 2,600 sport pilots nationwide.

Todd Marte, 28, an Ohio State student, got his flying certificate last year. He began training for his instrument rating, which enables pilots to fly through clouds and in bad weather, when fuel prices began to go up and the economy began to go down. So, Marte put a stop to his flying, fearing it would put him in debt.

"It's so expensive to fly," he said. "It's definitely a luxury."

Not if you go Recreational/Light Sport, mate.