New And Improved

It's faster, slower, lighter -- and heavier -- than prototype.

On May 3, 2005, the first Mermaid amphibian built from production tooling lifted off from Borsice airport in the Czech Republic. Test pilot Danny Defelici made two flights of about 20 minutes each.

More flights followed from land and water, and by the end of the week, the Mermaid's improvements had all been verified. Compared to the original, proof-of-concept vehicle first shown at Sun 'n Fun 2004 and again this year, the production machine is:

• lighter (under 400 pounds empty and unpainted, without its parachute)
• heavier (increased gross weight, now up to the LSA limit),
• faster (in cruise and top speed)
• slower (when landing)

It also has a little more wing area (nearly a square meter was added, with new, efficient wingtips), and the hull is deeper, allowing even better water handling and astounding takeoff performance.

The Mermaid conforms to the new Light Sport Aircraft (LSA, or 'Sport Pilot') regulations, which have spawned simplified and lower-cost aircraft which are designed to recruit new pilots and recertify older ones. The Mermaid is the first LSA amphibian built to fully exploit those specifications.

The Mermaid's new wing is the largest single improvement. "That has made it so much better," said Defelici. "The new plane flew great, right out of the box. It's faster, and it has better handling qualities." The wing isn't just bigger; it incorporates an improved airfoil, and the ailerons have been moved father out, while the flaps, with improved geometry, were moved in.

Cruise speed is increased significantly over the proof-of-concept's numbers; and touchdown speeds were decreased to well below 40 knots.

The deeper hull lets the Mermaid rotate more-easily for water takeoffs. "In the proof-of-concept machine, I had to really get going before liftoff," said the test pilot. "Now, I just put it on the step, and it comes off [the water] all by itself." In addition to the deeper hull, the wings' angle of attack is improved.

Chip Erwin, President of Czech Aircraft Works and head of the design group that developed the Mermaid, said, "We did not rush the Mermaid into production but rather took the time to flight test properly, and then refine and optimize the design. The result is a high-quality aircraft with exceptionally fine flying characteristics, refined systems, and the versatility of an amphibian. We have met our design goals and are now completing the documentation and establishing production."

Now that the design is confirmed, the production jigs (used to build this latest Mermaid) are already in use, making parts for the first ten customer machines. Early delivery position-holders can expect deliveries by the end of summer, through Skyshop, Inc, Defelici's Florida distributorship.

Update: Mermaid #2 is now back in the shop for full load test and paint. Small number of mods and final details will be accomplished before starting full flight tests. Flight tests will be performed to LSA and VLA standards and all numbers will be published when available.

FMI: www.skyshops.org