Compiled By The Staff and Readership of the Aero-News Network
and Aero-TV
FIRST... An Apology: I was hard at work
on Part Two of our annual Five-Part Oshkosh Evaluation series when
an early morning call came...
and the world went to hell. Dealing with
the aftermath of horrific news made normal work pretty much
impossible for a number of days and this project got left by the
wayside. Well... let's get it back on track. I'll try to make sure
we get it done, more or less over the next week, accompanied by a
second look at each of the Daily Aero-TV Updates we filed from the
site of the 2009 Fly-In, starting with the original First Part
of the series, so as to maintain some sense of continuity. --
Jim Campbell, ANN Editor-In-Chief
For quite a while, we
have recognized the highs and lows inherent in the general and
sport aviation community. There are but a few places where that is
more a propos than at a major event like the recently completed
Oshkosh Fly-In.
It's hard to know what really is going to make a difference and
what really qualifies as exceptional unless you've been watching
this industry carefully for several years... as we have.
Over the last few years, ANN readers remarks have been heavily
incorporated into ALL aspects of this report, and not just the
Aircraft awards and such. Their contributions have been carefully
considered and (in many cases) incorporated into our annual
summation.
Our Annual Best Plane of the Year Selections (tentatively
announced after Oshkosh and finalized at year's end) will await the
end of the year but we will announce the nominees at this point,
with the proviso that our opinions may change as the year
develops.
So; here are our picks for the Best and Worst of this year's
Oshkosh... and why we think so...
Best Aircraft of Show (Overall):
Diamond DA42-L360. While the piston single
market has gotten a lot right in the last decade, the piston twin
market has been a thin one... and not without its share of
controversies. Diamond's revamp of the lean and curvy DA42 gets
everything JUST right and produces an airplane that makes for both
an outstanding cross-country machine as well as a spectacular twin
trainer. Kudos to Diamond for seeing this through -- if this bird
had been around when we bought our Cirrus, it would have been a
really tough choice.
Best Ultralight/Ultralight Trainer:
No award... if a real-live 'quality' ultralight
still exists, it was pretty much ignored by the establishment at
Oshkosh.
Best "Affordable Flyer":
Sonex -- by a mile. Two seats and this much
performance for under $20K including engine and avionics? Top
that!
Best LSA:
Flight Design CTLS. With the Cessna SkyCatcher
just a few months away from commercial reality, its nice to see
that the "little guy" is still in a position to give them a run for
their money. The Flight design CTLS is a truly polished airframe,
and backed by a US distributor that keeps their word. That's a
solid combination.
Best High Performance Kit Aircraft:
Van's RV-10. Sometimes "high" performance
simply means getting more out of a bird than anyone else can... and
Van's first and only four-place design is proving to be a truly
great flyer. Excellent support, exceptional performance and "RV"
style attributes make the RV-10 one of the best bets in the
kit-built market.
Best Rotorcraft:
We have to go with the world's only remaining airworthy
Pitcairn Autogiro PA-18. It won the Antique
Reserve Grand Champion award for Jack Tiffany & Jim Hammond of
Spring Valley, Ohio, and the distraction presented by this stunning
1932 ancestor of the helicopter made it tough for other presenters
in the vintage area to conduct outdoor programs.
Best Certified Aircraft (At Oshkosh):
Diamond DA42-L360. The hands-down favorite for
ANN's Plane of the Year nod for 2009, Diamond got EVERYTHING right
with this aircraft. After many months of turmoil over the Thielert
insolvency and the amazing effort undertaken to develop their own
diesel engine program, Diamond did not forget the folks who really
wanted to fly a more conventional powerplant selection until their
Austro program proves itself. The DA42-L360 has some outstanding
handling qualities and the single-engine properties are simply the
best in the business. The L360 program has produced one hell of a
good airplane.
Best GA Jet:
Cessna Mustang. At one time, this was a crowded
category, but 2009 was a tough year for those trying to field VLJs
or other small jet aircraft for the GA or small BizAv market. Epic
is toast (and frankly, lasted far longer than we expected), Cirrus
is still under development, Piper has a few years left to bring
their bird to market, Diamond is still working on D-Jet
certification, Adam is a distant memory (though supposedly about to
be reborn... again), and Eclipse was killed off by the atrocious
and broken promises of a Dutch money man who really screwed the
pooch. That leaves very few players, and for the moment, the
uncontested best of the breed, the Cessna Mustang.
Oshkosh Show Stealer:
Airbus A380. It stole the show and dominated
the flightline. It may be the first time an aircraft has been
visible from just about everywhere on the grounds, including the
far reaches of the North 40. The aircraft and its appearance
defined why we all go to Oshkosh - to see the biggest, the best,
and the most unique things in aviation. The A380 did not disappoint
us!
I Gotta Get Me One Of These:
The "Sub Sonex" JSX-1 single-engine jet kit.
I'm not sure whether it was the audacity of mating a single-engine
jet engine from the R/C model world to an clean, narrowed,
mono-geared Sonex fuselage with Waiex V-tail, or the
tongue-in-cheek reference to 240 knots at 30 GPH as "economy
cruise," or maybe just the self-deprecating humor exhibited at the
unveiling, but the whole package, promised in kit form at $40-50K
if it becomes an actual product, had me smiling for days.
Best Construction:
Piper's G1000-Equipped Meridian. This is about
as slick a package as there is these days... not exactly what you'd
call "inexpensive," Piper eases the pain of turbo-prop ownership by
building a lovely aircraft that is about as polished as it gets
these days... and the G1000 integration is truly
inspired.
Best Panel/Flight Deck:
ANYTHING with Avidyne's R9. We are blown away
by what Avidyne has accomplished with "Release 9." Mind you, will
be several more months before it can match the feature set of
Garmin's highly-acclaimed (and rightly so) G1000 glass panel
program, but NO ONE has ever built a Glass panel that is as
intuitive, easy to use and boasting such a productive methodology
as Avidyne has done with R9. For the moment (and until Garmin shows
up with their obligatory next-gen system), this is the best
Electronic Flight Deck in the business. Period.
Best Upgrade:
Tornado Alley Turbos' Turbo-Normalization
Retrofit. We are almost as blown away by TAT's TN upgrade
capabilities as we were with Avidyne's R9. We've put over 100 hours
on the SR-22 version, listened to the many plaudits for the Bonanza
and Cessna upgrades and have been particularly impressed with the
service and support reports we get from very impressed owners. TAT
is a class act.
Funkiest Aircraft:
Chinese Yuneec E430 LSA. Looks a lot like the
RC models the company has its base in, and with a price of $89,000
it is hard to imagine the aircraft succeeding in the current
economic and geo-political climate. One only needs listen to the
controversy surrounding the Cessna SkyCatcher LSA to wonder how
this can possibly succeed.