Manufacturers

Ah, the Quicksilver! Where to start with this veritable icon of the ultralight sector? With more than 15,000 flying, it even outranks Van’s Aircraft for kit aircraft that made it into the air — although Van’s has sold more kits in total and no one disputes the Western brand’s leadership position. The earliest Quicksilvers were […]

The Coronavirus madness is far from being a U.S. problem. Naturally, we tend to focus on our own part of the world …as we must. Yet even far-away countries are also struggling — to protect citizens and to keep their economies afloat. It simply has to improve as the present situation cannot last. Despite the challenging […]

When the Phantom was introduced to the ultralight market at Sun ‘n Fun in 1982, it won the Best New Design award, not only for good looks and strong performance but for its structural integrity! Indeed, it was touted as having been tested to +9 and –6.6 Gs. Though dismissed by some pilots, wire-braced designs are […]

The first time I ever saw Lazair fly — a fly-in at the Tullahoma Airport, as I recall — a then-young Peter Corley flew the lightweight aircraft as though he was the pilot of a military fighter of the day. He pushed the sleek machine with the whining engines as he looped and rolled the […]

While I continue to worry about the cash crunch faced by two of my favorite shows, I am still driven to provide content as if those shows had occurred this year and not been postponed to 2021. Of course, I refer to Aero Friedrichshafen and Sun ‘n Fun, the latter my focus for this post. […]

Amazingly enough, here in 2020, we have noticeably returned to our roots in very light aircraft. Almost 40 years after Mike Sacrey and his team at FAA created the still-incredible Part 103, one leading brand from those days is not only still in business and thriving, but they are largely building similar aircraft to four […]

As we continue with this fourth in a series of ten about very affordable light aircraft from earlier times, we stress again that all the aircraft presented in this series still have some essential qualities that warranted their inclusion. First, these are all aircraft with which Videoman Dave and I are personally familiar. I have […]

As everyone on the planet knows by now, aviation has nary an airshow in sight. Even AirVenture Oshkosh — still planned at this writing — is hedging their bets amid the uncertainty, saying they will make additional decisions in the weeks ahead. Most of us who love (and rely on) these aviation events certainly hope […]

When Fisher was still located where it began, in North Dakota, I paid a visit to the factory. It may have been the tidiest wood shop I have ever seen. I had just written an article about kit-builder assembly manuals so I was keen to see examples of Fisher Flying Products full-size plans. That always […]

Way back when, long before the birth of the Light-Sport Aircraft segment (in 2004), lots of us flew ultralights. They were barely more than powered hang gliders — except one. Before 1982 these lightest-of-all aircraft were required to be foot-launchable. It’s true. I once staggered into the air partly carrying, partly dragging a Quicksilver. I […]