Manufacturers

Sun ‘n Fun 2018 ended a great event on Sunday. After traveling home Monday, plans called for a very quick turnaround to jet across the Atlantic for Aero Friedrichshafen 2018, which started Wednesday. For an aviation buff, the month of April is something like being a kid in a candy store. So many fun airplanes. […]

What on Earth is going on in Airplane DesignerLand? Are we headed for a bifurcation, a parting of the ways among those engineering the next generation of aircraft? Perhaps. Will this affect you? How do you feel about non-fixed-wing aircraft? I am searching for a term to generically describe these emerging flying machines; “drones” doesn’t […]

Two years ago at my favorite European airshow, Aero Friedrichshafen, Bill Canino of Sportair USA urged me to go look at a cool Part 103 project. With a general appearance resembling a Chance-Vought F4U Corsair military fighter, designer Jörg Hollmann‘s ultralight Corsair is reasonably authentic including its highly distinctive inverted gull wing design. Two years ago when I […]

April has been busy… starting with a week of Sun ‘n Fun; then a gathering of LSA seaplanes at my home airport the day after; followed by three days of Aero Friedrichshafen in Germany (it runs four days but I had to miss the first); concluding with a journalists-only event at Rotax Aircraft Engines. As a result, my […]

Immediately following Sun ‘n Fun 2018 is Aero 2018. Crammed in on the lone repack day in between shows I photographed a great showing of six LSA or LSA-like seaplanes at my home airport. I’ll report more on that gathering in another post because blast off to Germany and Aero we did that afternoon. Aero Friedrichshafen […]

Sun ‘n Fun 2018 is done. The show actually closed early at about 1 PM due to forecasts of severe weather. Within hours, a bustling event began to look like a ghost town. Despite the rushed finish, the event appeared to be a huge success. Reports were that it was a all-time record result for […]

When most pilots think of imports, they assume a foreign manufacturer builds an aircraft in another country, finds a U.S. representative, and sends their product here. That’s certainly the standard practice. For years, especially after the fall of Communism and the opening of Eastern European nations, rates of pay for highly qualified workers was so […]

On a single day of recording several videos at Sun ‘n Fun 2018, Videoman Dave and I came across two light kit aircraft designs operating as STOL — Short Take Off and Landing — aircraft. By itself that is hardly unusual. STOL designs are plentiful and popular. However, when you hear that two STOL-focused airplanes […]

After a damp opening day, the sun returned on day #2 at Sun ‘n Fun 2018. A beautiful blue sky was enjoyed by crowds that appeared to grow quickly. Many likely saw yesterday’s forecast and put off attending for that day. By the end of Wednesday, though, parking aircraft filled the grounds, nearly every one of 58 […]

One bone of contention among LSA sellers is that legacy flight schools — the sort that typically uses Cessna or Piper trainers — sometimes disregard LSA as trainer aircraft. “They’re built too lightly.” “The nose wheels are too weak.” “My mechanic doesn’t know the Rotax engine.” Some may have even more creative excuses. I’ve interviewed […]