Manufacturers

Good to Go in China Things are happening in China. “So, what’s new,” you say? “We’ve been hearing about China for months.” Things may move slowly in China but this week, Airshow China is happening in the southern city of Zhuhai and my colleague, Jan Fridrich is present. He reports that some LSA are displayed […]

Last Spring I had the pleasure of photographing the several aircraft that make up the stable of the re-emergent Quicksilver Aeronautics company. Quicksilver is the once-and-future, Cessna-style flagship of the ultralight industry back in the 70s and 80s, when it sold almost 15,000 single seater and two-seat aircraft kits under the FAA Part 103 regulation. […]

CESSNA’S DISCOVER FLYING I met new business leader for the Skycatcher LSA, Tracy Leopold, at Sun ‘n Fun 2012 where she confirmed the Wichita giant’s support for their lightest aircraft, now being assembled in Independence alongside other Cessna models. As summer began, Tracy’s Skycatcher group amped up their game with a program called Discover Flying […]

Major Italian producer Tecnam today announced the launch of the P92 Classic Light microlight. This is the seventh-generation model in Tecnam P92 range of airplanes, which this year celebrated 20 years of production. The company reports that over two decades of service, “P92’s worldwide fleet now stands at nearly 2,000 aircraft with 200,000 flown hours. […]

What a Month! October was a busy month starting with the first-year LSA event Heart of America Sport Aviation Classic outside of Kansas City. The next week featured AOPA’s Summit in Palm Springs California. After a brief stop in Phoenix for a conference, the ASTM meeting followed in Atlanta, and the month finished with the […]

Strolling around 1,073 exhibitors at the National Business Aircraft Association’s show in the Orlando Convention Center is something like walking on another planet, at least for a recreational / Light-Sport Aircraft enthusiast. The displays, while not as lavish as in years past, are elaborate and expensive; several were two-story-high affairs with lunch being served to […]

A most remarkable thing happened recently. No, I don’t mean the sudden resignation of EAA president Rod Hightower. I refer to a recent (September 27, 2012) approval of a brand new Special LSA. Why is that noteworthy, especially as it is #128 on our SLSA List? Everyone in the business of LSA and most other […]

Again, I heard a common refrain. This time was at the recently concluded AOPA Summit 2012 in Palm Springs, California. I was speaking with some GA fellows, the kind — like so many — that know well of Light-Sport Aircraft but have opinions about them based on speculation or heresay. This time it was the […]

LSA America builds the Czech-designed Allegro in America as one of the first companies (but not the last, I suspect) to cross the Atlantic. Ironically, this results in an aircraft less expensive than other LSA that come from Eastern European countries where we once thought low wages and high aviation skills would upset U.S. airplane […]

Honestly, I didn’t expect much LSA news at AOPA’s Summit in Palm Springs, California this week. Despite several LSA on display (Kitfox, Evektor, Flight Design, Arion, Jabiru, SportCruiser, Skycatcher, and CubCrafters), the AOPA event is not a common place for Light-Sport announcements. Certainly I didn’t expect the world’s largest * supplier of kit aircraft to […]