From: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; = Rob Hibberd [RobH@airborne.com.au]

Sent: &= nbsp; &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Sunday, December 16, 2007 9:29 PM

To: &nb= sp; = &nb= sp; terri@precisionwindsports.com

Subject: &nbs= p; &= nbsp; Airborne enews dec 07

Newsletter features:

Factory Christmas shut down

What's New for 2008

XT Tundra with Cockpit

XT Tugs for US and UK

Tall windscreen and engine cowl

XT-Brake retro kit

New Sting 3 XC hang glider

Photo by David Dunbar. Click the image to see more of David's work.

The New Sting 3XC showing new sail cut

Dual Aerotow sail plane and hang glider behind X series Classic 582!.=

Australia's Daintree River

Croc Territory Daintree

Latest = News from Airborne

10th December 2007 Issue #8 &nb= sp;

The Factory will close over the Christmas period from 21st Dece= mber and will reopen 7th January.

To all of our customers and their families we wish you a safe a= nd happy holiday!
Team Airborne.

It is that time of the year again where we need to review pricing and adjust our price lists to allow for CPI, forex and general cost increases. From March 2008 all complete aircraft and wing prices will rise by approximately 4.9%. There are limited slots avail= able before this date so if you want to secure an aircraft at current pric= ing place your order with a deposit prior to Christmas. Again please note there are limited slots available.

What's new for 2008

March 2008: Late March will s= ee the faired cockpit version of the XT-912 Tundra become available. = We have designed new winged spats (wheel pants) to fit with the tundra wheels (not shown in photo) and a modified pod to allow the tundra fo= rks and wheel to fit. It's a great combination and for pilots from colder climates to fly in comfort whist having the advantage of the tundra undercarriage. Pictured is Richard Tabaka's XT -912 Tundra Cruze with which he has already explored some of Australia's great deserts.

February 2008: A new tall windscreen a= dd on will also be available to suit all the cockpit models in the Airborne range. The screen is quite tall OK not so attractive, but it does work extremely well even protecting the rear passengers from the the blast whilst flying. Once you have flown a long XC with one we you'll never leave it off again! The attachment for the screen allows for quick and easy installation if setting up the trike from scratch. The screen can easily be detached at one corner when tying one wing down if necessar= y.

Also February 2008: We will r= elease our newly designed engine cowl/cover for the XT-912. The cowl = will be available to retrofit easily to earlier models and will be an opti= on for Mk2 XT's. The cowldetaches i= n seconds so hoses etc. can be inspected as they should be before flight.

The Cowl is available in XT colour choices.

Email the factory to pl= ace your order.

Rear Disc Brakes For The XT!
=
The dual rear disc brake kits are now available as a retro fit kit for earlier version XT MK1-912 and 582. Retro fit kits are supplied with drawing and instructions to show owners how to install t= hem. Australian owners can get their trikes retro fitted at the factory. C= all the factory for a quote to supply kits or to have your XT retro fitte= d at the factory. The disc brakes are now well proven, definitely a bonus = for those short field landings.

XT Mk2: The disc brake ready XT's are now called the Mk2. The stan= dard front wheel drum brakes will still be available for the XT Mk2.

Email the factory= for a quote on disc brake kits to suit Mk 1 and Mark 2 models!

We plan = to have the XT 582 and 912 Tug certified to US Sport Pilot early 2008. Th= is means US flight parks will have a "legal" tug which will al= low them to to continue operating their flight parks in 2008. Airborne ha= ve been building tugs for aerotowing since the mid 1980's and compliance is j= ust a formality as the aircraft itself is already sold in 30 odd countrie= s. After Sport Pilot approval for our tugs we will then go for Section S approval which will open up other countries we can supply tugs to including the UK.

Latest Hang Glider Products The C4 13.5 has = well and truly taken off and has become the most popular size C4 we sell.<= b> During March we will release the latest addition to our range the Sti= ng 3 154XC. Classed as our "recreational" glider the Sting <= /span>is for the experi= enced pilot that desires reasonable performance with exceptional climb. A glider that is still very easy to launch and land. =

Flying the new Sting 3, the things that stand out about the flying characteristics are:
· the very much improved glide performance
· ease of steering with the VG on
· great handling at low speed and maintaining maneuverability&= amp; controllability making it a very nimble yet stable glider to climb in thermals

The Sting 3 has an increased range of travel on the VG system. Lan= ding the Sting is great fun, with great low speed handling authority right= up to an easy flare and touch= down.

The Sting 3 has a new luff curve at the heart of the design meaning that the sail has been entirely redesigned. Looking at the sail, the = most recognizable difference is the undersurface layout and the increased amount of under surface, particularly more at the tips to improve the high speed glide performance.

The Sting is fitted with faired king post, downtubes and speed bar= as standard. The Sting includes a VG system as standard. It also feature= s a neat 3 panel un= dersurface similar to the C4. · The control frame is new, using the same control frame as used on the C4, with streamline downtubes, with interchangeable control bar options including round speedbar, airfoil aluminium and airfoil carbon control bars. All changed with PIP pin.<= /p>

Why Buy Airborne_ We often read or= hear of comments made by people who regard themselves as an authority on weightshift microlights. Here are some facts that are often convenien= tly left out of some of the rhetoric.

Complying to Australian regulations is a tough business. To operate a viable aircraft manufacturing business in Australia it is necessary for the manufacturer to also create a viable export market. This is important, if there were no export market there would be no l= ocal manufacturers simply because the cost of certification in Australia is prohibitive.

Australia along with the UK has the strictest regulations in the world. Some other countries have their own unique standard that must = be complied with before a manufactur= er can sell the aircraft and get flight approval. When you buy an aircraft y= ou are also paying for the associated costs of certification. Some manufacturers have a higher level of compliance than others, dependin= g on which countries they sell to.

Airborne is audited by the CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority of Australia) on a regular basis. We have also been audited= by some of the stricter overseas authorities from countries we sell to. = Some of these government authorities have even traveled to our factory from the UK, Israel, and recently South Africa. They audit our manufacturi= ng and QA system, and also check our CASA reporting procedures.

The whole Airborne range is certified. Testing is documented and signed off by an independent government approved engineer, often CASA staff witness our testing themselves. This is not the case with all standards, in many countries the manufacturer simply signs a document= to say they have completed formal testing. There are no government audit= s!

There is no other standard in the world that comes close to the le= vel of reporting required by the Australian and British Authorities. Note: Australian acceptance under new sport pilot rules does not mean that = the accepted aircraft has jumped through the hoops that Airborne has, in = fact none to date have except UK Section S certified aircraft.

Airborne continues to reinvest profits into achieving world wide certification and manufacturing excellence. The Airborne range is currently sold into 32 countries. Once we start to sell our aircraft = into a new market customer service has to be maintained for that region. Customer's do not put up with bad service and these days the Internet allows customers a voice that may have not been heard in the past. Th= is can be a good thing but beware of the self opinionated expert when se= eking advice, they are fairly easy to spot.

Some misconception's Ever heard or read that microlights or trikes are not good to fly in the middle of the day in unstable air? = The fact is we tow hang gliders up in the middle of the day in amongst booming thermals in inland Australia and many other hot climates. Out= of all the ultralight types flying, microlights or trikes have made more flights around the world and halfway around (Europe to Australia) than any other. You certainly cannot pick your conditions on such trips. T= he latest only a couple of months ago saw Richard Meredith Hardy and bli= nd pilot Miles Hilton Barber fly from the UK to Australia in some of the harshest conditions one would want to encounter.

A note on safety. Fly inside the aircraft's flight envelope (see t= he placard of limitations) and you will not have any issues. They are te= sted to 6g positive and 3g negative. In straight and level flight you pull= 1g, in a 60 degree bank you pull 2g. No Airborne microlights have = ever been proven to have suffered a structural failure whilst being flown within the aircraft's flight limitations.

Since the implementation of our new manufacturing system we believe we can claim to have the most reliable back-up and parts supp= ly service available in this industry today. The servicing of 32 countri= es needs a good system and Airborne has invested a considerable amount of time and money installing a state of the art manufacturing system (Vi= sual Enterprise). Visual used by many larger manufacturing organizations i= s already starting to pay off and we are continually seeing improvement to our customer service and manufacturing efficiency.

Maintenance bulletins are part of life for any company that make aircraft or = any sort of vehicle for that matter. We choose to display maintenance bulletins/airworthiness directives on our web site. How many other companies do this? A flashing red button on the web site home page pa= ge directs owners to the latest maintenance bulletins. We feel this is t= he most efficient way of keeping our customers up to date. Owners should check the web site regularly for updates. We also have a link to the Rotax owners website showing the latest engine bulletins.

Maintenance manuals, pilot operating handbooks and illustra= ted parts catalogues are available for download on our web site in the manuals section. Click Here .Certificate of Approvals are also on the Airborne web site = for all to see. Click here Our manuals are of the highest quality available in the indu= stry today.

Airborne started as a company in 1983, we have thousands of weightshift microlights flying and many hundreds towing up hang glide= rs. Our aircraft are have been used to protect forests and wildlife, including elephants and orangutans. They have been used to help save = some almost extinct species of birds. They are mainly used for fun!

There are plenty of good reasons why our customers choose to fly Airborne. Talk to them and find out for yourself.

Adventures are made everyday on Airborne microlight's!

Click Here= to go back to the Airborne web site!

= For Serious Recreation

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