Manufacturers

People tried to call it Oh-nex, but the giveaway is the single seat. I got it… One-ex. The clever name is adapted from the company name and one of its models, Sonex, and fits with the Waiex and Xenos. All are variations on a very successful theme (1,600 kits sold), and like the other models, […]

Flight Design has maintained their substantial lead in market share partly through a strategy of steady innovation. The German company and its U.S. partners regularly develop new products and introduce them with pizzazz. The company’s press conference and exhibit space at Oshkosh 2010 revealed this methodology. *** AirVenture visitors got to examine the CTLS Lite […]

Knocking around the ‘Net looking for signs that Light Sport is alive and well… *** Michael Combs is nearing the end of his 19,000 mile odyssey — what a vision. Latest word from PR dude Dave Gustafson is that the Flight for the Human Spirit in a Remos GX has made it to my old […]

The Sleeping Giant Wakes… Big news from China: IndUS Aviation threw a big lunch bash today at Oshkosh to break word of its exciting new program to shift production of all its Thorpedo LSA to China, as part of a unique collaboration with the country’s government and private industry to begin to grow Chinese General […]

Oshkosh has been deluged with a record downpour the last few days, which complicated arrivals because of the soggified grass fields…where most of the planes park and campers do their camping thing. *** Many airplanes were turned away over the weekend but nothing deters the Airventure show, which must go on. *** Several things already […]

All-electric airplane fans, this’ll stand your hair on end!  Next month’s 2010 EAA Airventure at Oshkosh, WI – easily the biggest air show in America every year – will feature activities focusing on the most exciting developments in electric flight all week long. *** Visitors to the show will find display booths, daily forums and […]

Green Tech is hot in Silicon Valley. Electric power-augmented and flex-fuel cars are selling well. Why not alternative energy Light-Sport Aircraft? Two companies showed electric airplanes at AirVenture 2007. *** Sonex revealed their own green technologies including a full-electric Waiex with a 200-amp motor that is 90 percent efficient and operates on 270 volts of […]

Back finally from 12 days at Oshkosh and the DC-3 fly-in that preceded it, I’m cranking out images and stories gathered there but couldn’t wait to get this one to you. *** Below is a condensation of my column that will run in the November issue. It involves an airplane that caught everybody’s eye when […]

Call them “flying cars, flying motorcycles, flying dune buggies,” or “roadable aircraft.” Regardless of the correct term, a growing wave of these car-to-airplane machines are in various stages of development and most will be at AirVenture 2010. One of the newest entries is a kit with the lowest projected price among the group; all others […]

Politicians take actions that are often viewed negatively by small business owners, which term basically defines nearly every LSA producer. But sometimes government leaders do good things; this may be one of those stories. Even while EASA (the European equivalent to FAA) talks about job-killing regulations, perhaps the cottage industry of Light-Sport Aircraft discovered a […]