April 2007

01.04.2007: Homepage updated with better menus

07.04.2007: I added a few gadgets to the list. Lot's of new ideas coming up, that's what happens when you are waiting for the kit... I also added some more information regarding panel design and improved the menu structure and menu appearance.

08.04.2007: I did some investigations regarding panel layout, the first results can be found in the panel section.

09.04.2007: I started making a list of all the things to look for at the Aero Friedrichshafen, the International Trade Exhibition for General Aviation, taking place from the 19. - 22. April 2007 in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Luckily I live only two hours from Friedrichshafen by train and ferry, so visiting the Aero is easily possible.

12.04.2007: Today I received a confirmation from Chip that our kit should be delivered in the third quarter, which probably means August or September. Just perfect, as I will be working in Australia until the end of June and be on vacation in July.

14.04.2007: Today the homebuilder group from Lommis (Thomas Müller, Andreas Portner, Urs Spuler and myself) attended the Experimental Association of Switzerland's general assembly meeting in Berne. As we had just about the most perfect weather for flying one could wish for we went to Berne "in style", meaning we flew there with the two homebuilts of Thomas (Kitfox, with me as passenger) and Andreas (Breezer, with Urs).

The Kitfox of Thomas, which is known in Switzerland for it's superb building quality, in front of the hangar at Lommis airfield (LSZT).

Us in the Kitfox following the Breezer of Andreas, build as perfectly as the Kitfox of Thomas, over the Lake of Zurich. You can find information about the Breezer on http://portner.ch/breezer/ .

The EAS meeting took place in the hangar of the Swiss Air Force at Bern Belp Airport (LSZB), with the Swiss version of the "Air Force 1" forming a nice background.

The flight line with probably around 30 to 40 homebuilt planes.

On the way back we took the opportunity to explore some of the lesser known areas of Switzerland.

Here Thomas, who is an Airbus A320 captain with Swiss (as you might guess from his cap) on the right and myself on the left. I should get a lens with a shorter focal length for my camera...

Compare this to he picture below, taken on the morning after last year's EAS general assembly meeting. We went by car as snowfall was announced, but what happened then was way beyond our "expectations". We got half a meter (20 inches) of snow during that night with the result that it took us 7 hours to drive home over a distance of only 175 km!

21.04.2007: Yesterday I attended the Aero Friedrichshafen, the International Trade Exhibition for General Aviation, in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Czech Aircraft Works has a very nice booth there with two SportCruiser exhibited.

Here the second one of the exhibited planes:

As both planes are customer aircraft, CZAW also had a cockpit section on display, so visitors could sit in and enjoy the size of the cabin, as well as the Dynon version of the panel.

The cockpit section is not a mockup, but built from real components. It has all the features of the 2007 version of the SportCruiser, including the new panel shape, the new canopy frame and the adjustable rudder pedals. That it contains the Dynon panel is probably reflecting Chip's preference ("analog instruments are for those who live in the past"...).

Having played with the Dynons and experienced the possibilities they provide, like displaying engine data on either display, makes me think again about my panel choice...

Of course I also went through all the other exhibits, especially to look for instruments and avionics.

24.04.2007: Today I flew via Bangkok to Sydney, where I will spend the next 11 weeks working in a project for RailCorp. As I will spend another three weeks after that on vacation, so I won't be back at home until the end of July. As we expect the kit to be delivered in August or September (yes Chip, we do expect that) I really have to make progress on the definition of our SportCruiser during my stay in Australia. Selection of the options as well as a number of other open issues will have to be done during that time as some have an influence on manufacturing the kit and as we want everything to be delivered together.

28.04.2007: I am currently looking into all the options that we have to decide on before the kit is delivered.

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