OSHKOSH DEBRIEF – Aeromarine-LSA

I know, it has been a while since my last blog. But I only write when I have something to write about. And I do have some news on the Merlin Lite. A container with a Merlin II and a couple of Merlin Lites, plus our new STOL wing arrived just barely in time to get it unloaded and off to Oshkosh. We unloaded one Merlin Lite directly to the trailer going to the show.

Our perfect plan of flight testing before the show was torpedoed. But even if the container was not delayed, we had too much finishing work to do and do not want to rush this.

The Oshkosh trip was 8 hours Tampa to Alabama, 8 hours return to Tampa, 18 hours to Oshkosh, 18 hours return to Alabama, then 8 hours back to Tampa mostly pulling a trailer. A couple days on each end for set-up and packing. This is my 46th straight year at the show. Might get used to it one year.

In our booth we showed the 750 ultralight floats, the new Merlin Lite with a Vittorazi Cosmos 300 installed, the militarized Merlin, our new Merlin Hyper-STOL wings, and a turbine hybrid generator from our Redline friends.

On the left is 3D printed 81mm mortar in the Merlin internal stores. On the right is the 3D printing of the air-to-air refueling port for the autonomous refueling project.

Our proof-of-concept Merlin for the military was equipped with bomb bay doors, Starlink, and an ISR gimbal. This aircraft has:

Long endurance and range
300+ payload
Internal stores with bomb bay doors
Hard mounts for munitions such as Hellfire or Barracuda missiles: Force Multiplication
Gimbal for ISR
Starlink/Starsheild
STOL performance and runway independent
Air-to-air autonomous refueling port

We had a HUGE amount of interest for our new Hyper-STOL wing and for the military applications of the Merlin. More than a couple 4-Star Generals stopped by.

Here is what the Vittorazi Cosmos installation looks like. The new cowl looks great!

The second Merlin Lite has a Polini 260 engine installed. Now that the show is over, we are busy preparing both aircraft for flight testing. We will have flight test data and plenty of photos and video coming up from that work.

We also received the first Merlin II for the USA market. This aircraft has a Rotax 915iS and MT propeller installed. M-Squared will install the twin Dynon panel and autopilot. Then flight testing and more photos/videos. The Merlin II is not new as we have been selling them in Europe for years. Just new to the USA, and a pretty good aircraft for the MOSAIC class.

Thanks to all my slave labor, I mean volunteers that helped me get through this show. Long list. But could not do it without them.

There may or may not have been some Czech beer smuggled in the last container. Evidence is evaporating quickly.

Cheers,

CHIP