Manufacturers

It seems like we discuss seaplanes (the boat hull variety of airplanes) more than floatplanes (land planes with floats added). Rare are any of these a single seater and one that might fit in Part 103 for ultralight vehicles (meaning no pilot license, no medical, and no N-numbers are required). Yet some like the flexibility […]

The Special Light-Sport Aircraft version of Quicksilver Aeronautics‘ popular Sport 2 model is completing efforts to gain FAA acceptance. An FAA audit is scheduled in December and the company announced it has completed the entire flight test regimen required to comply with ASTM industry consensus standards. A recent update to the standard now demands that […]

After a rush of interest owing to earlier reports (see here and here), the team at Vickers Aircraft went head down and began pushing even harder on their fascinating new amphibious LSA seaplane entry called Wave. As you can see by the photos, they’ve now unveiled the overall appearance though additional details of this rather […]

The city of Tavares, Florida ought to be feeling good about their effort to become their adopted name: America’s Seaplane City (FA1). The city built a fine facility and seaplanes are using it. Yet the strongest measure of their success may be that the city, located about 45 minutes northwest of Orlando, has attracted not […]

The rush is on — hardly a surprise to anyone these days — regarding China’s emergence into general or recreational aviation. Investors in the country are buying iconic aviation brands with increasing frequency it seems and more companies in the LSA space are rushing to join the party. They join a growing flock of home-grown […]

Festivals of Speed is not your “everyman” show tour. Aimed at wealthy folks, Joe Sabatini’s FoS extravaganza is quite different than the usual airshow fare. Some very distinctive aircraft drew plenty of attention … if you could tear your eyes away from a large gathering of magnificent supercars or scores of beautiful people. The event […]

As winter arrives in much of the USA, it is worth asking: “Are Light-Sport Aircraft solely fair weather flyers or can they serve greater purposes?” When trying to answer let’s avoid the error of generalizing. The range of LSA is very broad and ranges from below $40,000 to $150,000 or more and from conventional fixed […]

Available previously as a kit (more on that below), American Legend recently provided photos proving that the Sulfur Springs, Texas company has now won a Special LSA certificate for the Super Legend, topping our SLSA List at number 133. The model has other differences but a key reason for the name is the Lycoming O-233 […]

Earlier this year, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced in Abu Dhabi a regulation for Light-Sport Aircraft by the director-general of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi. GCAA reported, “Sport aviation enthusiasts will be given access to light aircraft of certain specifications only at licensed sport aviation clubs in the UAE, […]

Following our initial unveil of a new amphibian called “Wave” by Vickers Aircraft Company, more details were offered in their programmed slow-motion rollout of a new amphibian LSA candidate. In this update we hear about who will supply the prop and see some of the hardware components. I was informed that response was brisk after […]