engines, avionics,
and more
Sebring 2009 saw a significant increase
in the number of “indoor” exhibitors,
housed in large tents on the tarmac
at Sebring Regional Airport. These
booths are a great place for dealers
and distributors to display their wares,
and we found a number of interesting
items to investigate.
280-, and 500-gallon capacity, the
trailers come equipped with ball or
pintle-type hitches and are Department of Transportation-compliant
with all lights. The fuel pump is a
Fill-Rite 15 gpm, 12-volt DC system;
12- to 23-foot hose reels and electric
brakes are offered.
turns the wing of an airplane into
the tent’s roof. “No Poles, No Hassle” describes this tent that sleeps
two comfortably. Optimized for wet,
blustery European weather, it weighs
40 percent less and has only 80 percent of the volume of conventional
tents. The cost is $459 or € 399;
available online.
Industry giant Garmin (Olathe, Kansas, www.Garmin.com) gave further
credence to the experimental and
S-LSA category aircraft with the introduction of its GDU 370 and 375
non-TSO’d “glass cockpit” systems.
These lower-cost, 7-inch flush panel
mount units provide a multi-func-tion display with moving map, terrain avoidance, traffic information
service, and (for the GDU 375) XM
link. Within the coming year, they
will be upgradeable to include flight
and engine instrument display.
Plane Tent (Neuss, Germany, http://
PlaneTent.net) makes a great tent
for under-wing camping. Invented
by German aeronautical engineer
and LSA pilot Björn Spelter, the tent
features a unique “wingbag” that
Recreational Power Engineering
(Tiffin, Ohio, www.RecPower.com), the
U.S. distributor for German Hirth
two-stroke aircraft engines, displayed
its alternatives to four-stroke LSA
discovering sport pilot fun . . .
Dave Robell learned about the sport pilot
certificate and its driver’s license medical
certification in November 2007. When he asked
his wife, Judy, “Would you fly with me in a plane
we owned?” she walked into the other room.
Hmm, not a good start, he thought.
Later, while vacationing in Alaska, Dave
convinced Judy to go on a glacier flight-seeing
trip She was pleasantly surprised when she
didn’t experience motion sickness. Upon returning home to Florida, Dave asked Judy if she’d
take a ground school with him, and she agreed.
To make a long story short, Judy passed
her sport pilot checkride on December 26,
2008, and Dave will take his checkride soon.
In January, Judy flew herself and Dave to
the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in their EuroFox,
which they purchased in January of 2008.
Dave says, “Once we had the airplane, we had
to become pilots.”
Jet Fleet Management LLC (
Tama-rac, Florida, http://JetFleetMgmt.com)
displayed two glistening fuel trailers
at the expo, ideal for those who can’t
get mogas at their airport or have
their own airstrips. Available in 150-,
