subaru super cub : The certification process was originally imposed because many of theaircraft being manufactured and sold in this country were deathtraps. You no longer see any of these deathtraps because they have alldisappeared. There were many before certification. Yes, we could doaway with certification, but my experience with the homebuilt worldindicates that it would not be a good idea.Yes, we do pay something for that increased safety and productreliability. Is it worth it? If you think it is, buy certified. Ifyou think it is not, buy homebuilt! Simple.3. Economies of scale - The general aviation market is small. It gotconsiderably smaller in 1980 when Ronald Reagan assumed the Presidencyand Elizabeth Dole took up the reins of the Department ofTransportation. You can look back at the historic production figuresfrom GAMA and you will see what I mean. That makes it unlikely that Lycoming or Continental will make any moregreat efforts to introduce a newly designed engine to the marketplace. The market just doesn't warrant the investment. The last new designContinental introduced was the Tiara engine. Many of the advancementsin the Tiara have made their way into other current productionContinental engines. Take a look at the current IO-520 for example.
subaru super cub : Lycoming also has made continuous improvements in their engines. As for the neat modern Electronic Fuel Injection system used onautomobiles being fitted to aircraft, I can only say "Why in the WORLDwould anyone want to do that?" A friend of mine converted a Subaruengine with EFI for his Glastar. It was a great engine. It reallyworked well. On the way home from Sun and Fun the computer crappedout. Totaled the airplane and both of my friends who were in theairplane are still, two years later, recovering from their injuries. The precise control provided by the Electronic Fuel Injection isimportant in an automobile where the engine is constantly running a lowand variable power settings and optimization of fuel mixture andignition timing is critical to achieve the fuel efficiency demanded inour modern world. An aircraft engine typically runs at a constant RPMand power setting for 90% of its running time. The only exception wouldbe a primary trainer, such as a Cessna 150. All of that fancy controlover mixture and spark would not accomplish a thing. There would NOT beany significant gain in either horsepower or fuel economy. Sorry.
subaru super cub : 4. Consumer requirements - Aviation consumers don't want aninexpensive, basic, airplane. Even the Piper Super Cub is no longer inproduction and they tried everything including selling it as a homebuiltkit, to keep it in production. How many of the new aircraft being soldare delivered with Garmin 430's and full leather interiors? They havemore money in the PANEL than a simple airplane costs at TODAYS prices! The airplane that I own and fly sold when it was new for $7,985.00. Currently I value it at around $100,000. That new price included basicVFR instruments ( no gyros ) and NO radios. It was considered a ratherluxurious aircraft at the time. Compare that to the standard equipmentin a Cirrus 20! I think it is rather silly of anyone to expect to pay 1950's prices forFAR MORE capability and equipment than was dreamed of in 1950, in 2000. Would YOU work for $.35 an hour? That was the minimum wage in 1950, asI recall. I had a REALLY good job as a Structural Ironworker in theconstruction trades and my salary, including the two bit kick for aforeman and the height bonus, was about $2.50 an hour. I had morepurchasing power with my salary then than I do today.
subaru super cub : I saw what appeared to be an original Storch at a smallairshow in New Hampshire a few weeks ago and was muchsurprised to see that it had fixed wing slats. I always thoughtthe Fiesler had either automatic or manually extended slats.Did I get it wrong, or was this plane a full-sized Storch-alike?I know that the aircraft was actually a postwar built French aircraft. Iforget the designator but after they ran out of Argus V-8's they used Salmsonand then Jacobs radial engines. I think that the design always had fixed slatsbut perhaps the French altered the design?The Bf-108 and 109 always had automatic slats but it would be hard to confusethose with the Fiesler!The French always showed joie de vivre with their airplanes. Fromacross the pond they shipped the metric parts for a neat low-wing 4-place with slats called the Aerospatiale Rallye. She was assembledhere in the USA -- some of them at the airport at Rutherfordton, NC --and declared after assembly to be certified. With a big tail and hugerudder and vertical stabilizer, she was designed and advertised that ifyou got lost in the soup you trimmed her for slowest speed altitudehold -- just above the stall, which was obscenely low -- and let hergo, and you were promised to survive, or nearly so, if she hit terrafirma.
subaru super cub : The wonderful specimen I took a ride in was powered with a guttural-sounding 220-horse Franklin engine. Basso profundo. I swannee, Ithought we were almost vertical when the moveable slats deployed with aloud, jarring BANG! Then she was slowed down and we weathered aheadwind almost hovering as I looked down at a freeze-frame in thetrees below, just like the JAARS people performed this dazzler atOshkosh with the Helio Courier. I would like to know the numbers onthat STOL wing, it was so nimble at wafting itself in and out of bushstrips. The character who drove her was a story in himself.I was at that show if it was Nashua, N.H. The Storch definitely had an Argus. The data plate was in French except for the Argus name and location in Germany. Manufacture date was 1951. I know that the Storch is one of two owned by the Collings Foundation, (pleasenote the G). The other one is a basket case, I have seen it, but does includea lot of spares and an Argus engine and is for sale.The French version was known as the Cricket if I remember correctly.There is only one way to tell if it is a postwar Checz or Frenchairframe, if you don't have complete documentation, and that is byclose visual exam of the vertical tubes at the front edge of the door.If they show any signs of a weldment other than at joints, it is apostwar airframe. The reason is that the French and the Checz.'schanged the door hinge arrangement from a top hinge to a fronthinge...more like a car door. That was about the only change, otherthan different engines after the French overran the Fiesler plantoutside of Paris late in the war. They simply remanned the plant andchanged the markings and restarted production until the parts ran out.At that point, they did the necessary engineering work to change tothe other engines that the Cricket has flown with.
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