Part 103

If you look at Dingo and smile, you may be an ultralighter. Appearance and qualities about Future Vehicles‘ single seat bi-wing flying machine attract certain pilots like bees to a bright flower. If you must have two seats, large flat screen displays, an autopilot, and luxurious appointments, you probably are not attracted to Dingo. Fine. […]

Tabor Coates calls his business Blue Collar Aviation. Honestly, as someone who scours the globe for affordable aircraft, any business with this name was certain to grab my attention. This isn’t simply adroit marketing. Tabor’s Maynard, Massachusetts operation is deep into affordable aviation. How affordable? Tabor’s most-expensive offering is the SkyRanger Nynja (featured in this […]

Article UPDATED 1/29/24 — See at bottom —DJ You may have experienced this but I just got sticker shock. A young pilot told me he is facing a $1,000 fee for his Private Pilot check ride. What?! I got my license so long ago I forgot how much I paid but, obviously… “A dollar doesn’t […]

Over many years, one of the most consistently requested aircraft is Back Yard Flyer. Even the name sounds affordable, doesn’t it? While you can’t get this one any longer, about 20 are flying and some pop up on aviation sale listings. In its day — before Valley Engineering decided to cease building and focus on […]

“When I roll up to the terminal on any airport, it never ceases to amaze me how a small crowd will gather around the aircraft. Happens almost every time,” said Jeffrey Boyd, importer of the JK-2 Nano single-seat gyroplane. “They just think it looks cute and different. Then they find out it’s quite affordable.” I […]

This Merlin has nothing to do with kids in colorful costumes seeking sweets from their neighbors. It does have to do with pilots liking interesting airplanes that they can fly over their neighbors… especially when they can afford the airplane. In the last couple years, I’ve created videos with Merlin developer, Chip Erwin that have […]

You know this airplane and you know this company, although a refresher might be in order. You can be excused if this one slips you mind. The airplane in the nearby images was from years ago when you probably first saw it with an electric motor developed by Randall Fishman, one of the original pioneers […]

OK, I admit it. I’m a huge fan of Aero Friedrichshafen. This show packs a lot of delight into four days and 12 gymnasium-sized exhibit halls. In 2023, many of the aircraft on display are known to Americans. However, Europe tends to produce more proof-of-concept projects than we see in America. This is partly as European […]

Regular readers know I have closely followed the Merlin developments. I use plural because developer Chip Erwin has steadily built this single seat flying machine into a whole fleet of its own. At Sun ‘n Fun we saw a display of three airplanes in different variations. Let’s begin with a focus on the modest cost of Merlin. […]