BoxFat

About those long awaited keys.... Two cabin door lock keys come with the plane. I wanted a third one so that I could have one with me, one at home filed away for if/when I lose it and one to give to my hangar partner so he could get into my FB to move it etc when I'm not there. I've taken the key to locksmiths in 3 states in Australia, to 2 places in London, one in San Francisco and one in Holland and none of them had the necessary blanks in stock or even knew where to get them. So... If you two blokes with new FB delivery coming want extra keys might I suggest that you ask your agent/aeroprakt to supply them now to avoid a similar search (although I have to admit it's been kinda fun with conversations it starts etc).

Awesome BB320, very exciting ! Although the waiting is hard Peter keeps you informed of progress, right down to providing the shipping docket so you can track it. I used a ship tracking ap on my phone to follow it from Odessa to Singapore, change ships, then down the west Oz coast, arriving at Fremantle on Christmas Eve. As you can see, I wasn't eager at all !

Wow - 90 types flown. Now that's what I call a statistically significant sample ! On the other hand, if one had flown only one type and it was fun I guess that's an automatic ten :) It's tempting to go all reductionist and start analysing the components of a fun as opposed to a not-fun flying experience. For, example, it certainly helps if one is confident enough about engine and airframe to not be flying in a perpetual state of angst (as opposed to a healthy alertness). Also, control harmony, responsiveness - a feeling of integration with a well designed machine, good visibility etc etc. Overall, I feel the best description of a fun aeroplane is one that is easy to fly - but hard to fly really well. Whoops there I go slipping into reductionism again whereas it's really more interesting to know which aircraft people find "fun" whatever the individual and diverse reasons may be. I don't have enough types to make a meaningful table so will just contribute a few thoughts: 1. My Foxbat was a happy choice as it ticks an awful lot of the boxes - 8s and up all round I figure. 2. I loved the fighter feel of the Alpi Pioneer 3. From all reports (not been in one yet but it's coming) any well tuned RV 6 -12 is a silly grin generator. 4. Every LSA I have been in beats the low end Cessnas and Pipers I learnt in by a country mile. RA has been a revelation to me. 5. One exception to the above: For a little while I had access to a beaten up C206 which I flew mostly on my own - what joy to feel the kick in the back and hear the growl on opening that up and the, for reasons I can't explain, I got an enormous kick out in turning around in the climb out and looking at that great empty space following me up into the air !

Given the description of your useage profile, if you had both the A22LS and A32 to choose from I think you would have chosen the A22LS anyway. You don't need the extra speed and there is a significant cost differential after all. One thing that sometimes gets lost in spec comparisons is the "fun" factor. It's hard to quantify and highly subjective of course but it's mainly why we fly at all. Most A22LS Foxbat owners will tell you it's just great fun. The odd thing is it takes a bit of flying to realize it. It just gets better as you get more familiar and I'm sure you will enjoy yours too - congratulations and please do continue to share the experience :)

Personal opinion is that it depends on what kind of flying you mostly do. I really like the Y-stick and sill mounted throttle in my Foxbat - feels very natural - but not everyone likes it. However, the A32 is clearly aimed more at the cross-country touring market (quieter, faster, better cockpit ergonomics). In that mode, it sure is handy to have the writing hand free (assuming one is right handed) to scribble stuff on the knee pad.

Yeah - if you use the same speeds as in an A22LS (which makes sense as the stall speeds are the same), the A32 just tends to float a bit further after round-out, which makes a short landing harder. That's about it. In a competition I reckon one could get the A22LS with tundra tires, no spats etc into a smaller field but it's not enough to make any practical difference. The A32 will still land under 200m over the standard obstacle - which is pretty remarkable given a cruise at 115 kts. I haven't been able to read the Aus Flying article yet but made some comments about speed control in my own review for Sport Pilot. I think it is more of an issue at the top end.

I haven't read the article yet and didn't try it when flying the A32 at Tyabb (no need) but I reckon a little side slip would do the trick :)

Thanks - will go to the mag website. In Holland right now so a morning stroll to the local newsagent is unlikely to be productive :)

Which issue is that in ? Probably time to subscribe again

Yes it's true. Several others have flown it and can confirm. I've seen it stall at 27 kt indicated and landed with full flap off a 40 kt short final on Saturday. This shouldn't be a surprise as the wing is the same as the A22 and has the same full span flaperons. Also did reciprocal GPS runs and there is no problem cruising above 115 Kts. How did Yuriy Yakovlev do it ? Beats me. I made a comment in the Sport Pilot article (edited out) that he has a whiteboard somewhere covered in numbers and squiggles and I want my accountant to look at it carefully ! We are to consider that Yuriy was an aerodynamicist for a Russian commercial/state aircraft company so he knows his cookies.

Courtesy of Peter Harlow I had a second ride in the A32 Vixxen on Saturday. It confirmed my impression that, despite appearances, it is a quite different aeroplane to the A22LS Foxbat. It even sounds different, due to the different cowling I suppose. For anyone with the money it would be an easy choice as it does everything a Foxbat does but also everything (e.g.) a J230 does - actually a bit more due to the higher rough air speed and lower fuel consumption. I am interested to see what happens when the GA world becomes more aware of the A32. I suspect there could end up being more VH than RA registered aircraft - it runs rings around a C172 albeit with two seats. I understand there will be a review in Australian Flying mag soon.

I tend to agree about the proximity of the cruise (at 5100 rpm) and VNE speeds and, if I get to own an A32 one day, will prob use ~ 4900 rpm for standard cruise which would give ~ 110 kts and 17 litres an hour or so. The exchange rate drop does make any imported aircraft more expensive of course. But... I have a small company that earns part of its income in US$ so it's swings and roundabouts etc and I can dream on !

We didn't do reciprocal GPS runs explicitly but I was watching the IAS, TAS and GS continually on the Dynon as we manoeuvered around and went Tyabb to French Is. and then on reciprocal track French Is. to Tyabb. There actually wasn't much wind that day - about 5 - 6 kts northerly and as we went W-E and then E-W there was no significant head wind or tail wind so TAS = GS. See the attached screenshot heading east: TAS and GS are both at 109 kts. This is at 4830 rpm and 16 l/hr. At 5100 rpm and 20 l/hr it was 114 - 115 kts. I was sceptical going in too and certainly understand how others could be - it is astonishing what has been accomplished by what (at first sight) appear to be small changes. There is no mileage for the importer in exaggerating the performance though: that would be counterproductive as few people will buy a plane which doesn't perform as specified when put to a test in a demo flight. As far as I can see the A32 does exactly what the flight manual says it does. Actually, what surprised me more is that there has been no sacrifice in the STOL performance either - it's near identical to my A22LS. Perhaps the only significant difference is that being lower drag an excess of a couple of knots in the flare will mean a longer float.

Review of A32 and comparison with A22LS now published on-line in Sport Pilot mag at http://issuu.com/raaus/docs/sport_pilot_49_sep_2015. Bottom lines: 1. Same carrying capacity, range and STOL performance as the A22LS 2. Roughly 20 kts faster cruise (real, genuine, fair dinkum, choose-your-own-adjective) number..no smoke and mirrors required. 110-115 kts IAS at 20 l/hr or 105 kts IAS at 16 l/hr. Same stall speed. 3. Some other ergonomic improvements, particularly as relevant to XC cruising. Yoke and centre throttle at present but Y-stick and side throttle option being looked at. Cheers, BF

Rudder trim: No. And not needed on this one I think - didn't feel the need for it in the brief flight I had.

What's a tie ?

Well at least one has a choice. Paraphrasing Henry Ford (although I believe he never really said it) "You can have a Jabiru in any colour as long as it is white" :) Yellow definitely easiest to see but there were a few around here and I just had to be different so chose red.

Congrats SrPilot ! I think you will have a lot of fun with the Foxbat. Unless you plan a fair bit of XC touring it's the right choice (in my opinion) over waiting for an A32. Apart from having to wait longer, I think there are some small tweaks that will happen from user feedback over the next year or so whereas the A22LS is well bedded in. Re comparitive experience of going from purchase to first flight I'm not sure we are on a level playing field: the local agent in Oz handles this all seamlessly for us. All I did was use my ship tracker app to watch my FB leave Odessa and wend it's way south to the antipodes. That was kind of fun. It arrived on the docks at Fremantle and within a week or so of that I was airborne ! Although many things will be different in the US you might benefit from a chat with Peter Harlow and I'm sure he would not mind sharing his wisdom. Cheers BF

I promised one to SP and will try to write it today. Peter at Foxbat Australia has various press stuff planned - not sure if that includes "The Aviator". It's going to get a lot of attention regardless as there is no doubt it is a significant step forward, not just for Foxbat but for the LSA "brand". Actually, despite the appearance, it really ISN'T a Foxbat either in name or in some other respects, about which more anon. I went in with two main questions in my mind: Q1. Will it meet expectations ? A. No. It exceeded them Q2. Will it leave me dissatisfied with my A22LS ? A. No not at all. The reasons for that I will explain in the article. The demonstrator is currently at Tyabb but is going north for a fly-in event soon. I forget which one it is but details of this and other planned "tours" can no doubt be had from [email protected] Cheers BF

Ok ! The registration papers for the first Aeroprakt A32 in Australia arrived on Monday and (thanks to Peter Harlow of Foxbat Australia) I was able to fly it yesterday. I will write up the experience up for an article in SP but here are the bottom lines as regards certain questions that have arisen in this thread: 1. Turns out there IS such a thing as a free lunch. Who knew ? 2. Against, all experience (starting with my first remembered birthday) apparently it IS possible to have the cake and eat it too. In other words... 1. Stall at 27 kts 2. Level at 2500' straight from climb out and crosswind leg departure, 5000 rpm, trimmed and stable, two large-ish blokes aboard, 115 kts IAS, 116-117 kts TAS. Cheers BF

Whoops missed that sorry - will go and have a look. Glad you finally got to have a go. It certainly would have felt odd coming out of the Nanchang !

Did you post your thoughts having now flown an A22LS somewhere SP? Would be interested how you found it. If I do get into an A32 in a few weeks I will write up the comparison here. Cheers BF

Well we will see...I hope to have a look in a few weeks time and compare the A32 directly with my A22LS. If it is a significant upgrade my wallet-hand will be itching and then I will be looking for someone wanting a 75 hour, always hangared etc etc A22LS.....

This has just come out today... http://foxbatpilot.com/2015/06/10/new-aeroprakt-a32-announced/

Delta is code share with Virgin who do Perth several times a day through Sydney and Brisbane. It IS an awful long way, however, I am back and forward from the US for work. Most recently took the opportunity to attend Sun n Fun in Orlando, which was excellent. Talked with Yuri, the Foxbat designer there - seems like they have never had a particularly effective distribution/marketing network in the US, not sure why. Surprisingly, Jabiru has done better in this respect, possibly assisted by periods of low A$ to US$ exchange rate, as now. My FB is based at Bindoon by the way rather than WGF, about 30 mins flying between the two. What are the others you are looking at ?