Aircam landing at KSDL - Scottsdale, Arizona

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• published: 25 Oct 2015
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Flight Date: October 25, 2015 Aircraft: 2014 Aircam Tail Number: N30581 Route: KSDL Passengers: 1 This was a demo flight that was being offered by Lockwood Aircraft from the Scottsdale Airport with Robert Meyer the Sales Manager. I flew a flight to look over the aircraft and see how it handled and also understand its flight characteristics. We took off from runway 3 and headed north to the practice area east of the airport and west of Fountain Hills where I took the plane into mild maneuvers. The aircraft is spacious, powerful, easy to fly, stable in flight maneuvers and forgiving on the landings. The company is selling it as a back country flyer. By the way we took off in about 150 feet, it is amazing and it handled very well in very gusty conditions which shortened our flight time. Some additional information on the aircraft from wikipedia: The Lockwood Aircam Also called the Air Cam and AirCam is a high-wing, twin engine pusher configuration aircraft with conventional landing gear, based on the single engine Lockwood Drifter and sold in kit form by Lockwood Aircraft. The open-cockpit aircraft seats two in tandem. 125 Aircam kits had been sold by 2007. In 2011, a complete kit, less instruments, paint, shipping and crating was priced at US$99,985. Design and developmentThe first prototype Aircam was built in 1995. Designed by Phil Lockwood, founder of Lockwood Aircraft, it was built for the National Geographic Society for research and photography in the Ndoki Rain Forest in the northern Congo Basin. It was built to fly low and slow and to provide a wide, unobstructed view, with the additional security of a second engine. The design has since been improved while retaining the same layout. The initial version, produced by Leza-Lockwood Corporation was powered by twin Rotax 582 powerplants of 64 hp (48 kW) each. Twin 80 hp (60 kW) Rotax 912 and 115 hp (86 kW) 914 engines were optional. Later the 582 was eliminated, the 912 engine became standard and Leza-Lockwood's name was changed to Lockwood. The Aircam was designed to be able to take-off on one engine if needed and the positioning of the engines close to the centreline contributes to this capability as well as its benign single engine handling. The Aircam has a landing roll of 300 feet and a takeoff roll of under 200 feet. Accidents and incidents The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) lists eight accidents involving Aircams between 1993 and February 2010. In these eight accidents, there was one fatality, one serious injury, one minor injury and seven people uninjured.[9] Jack Roush of NASCAR team Roush Fenway Racing nearly lost his life after the Aircam he was flying struck a power line and sank in a lake near Troy, Alabama in April 2002. He was saved in a dramatic rescue by retired U.S. Marine Larry Hicks.[10] Specifications (Aircam) Data from Lockwood Aircraft website General characteristics Crew: one Capacity: one passenger Length: 27 ft 0 in (8.23 m) Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m) Height: 8 ft 4 in (2.54 m) to top of vertical stabilizer Empty weight: 1,040 lb (472 kg) Gross weight: 1,680 lb (762 kg) Fuel capacity: 28 US gallons (106 litres) Performance Cruise speed: 100 mph (87 kn; 161 km/h) Stall speed: 39 mph (34 kn; 63 km/h) Never exceed speed: 110 mph (96 kn; 177 km/h) Range: 340 mi (295 nmi; 547 km) at 70 mph (113 km/h) Endurance: 6 hours Rate of climb: 1,500 ft/min (7.6 m/s) on both engines, 300 fpm on one engine